Applications for a 3 year balanced Level B position in the College of Education, Psychology & Social Work at Flinders University are open until 21 April 2025.
Anyone interested in the position is encouraged to reach out to Emma Thomas ().
The position
The position could more accurately be described as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow but it is funded also by backfill for Emma Thomas’ Future Fellowship and has a nominal teaching component (hence ‘balanced’ teaching and research overall, Level B). The idea is that the successful candidate will work with Emma Thomas and lab as a Postdoctoral Researcher on the Future Fellowship (see project summary below), but also contribute to undergraduate teaching, honours supervision etc. The position is therefore ideal for people recently graduated from PhD (in a way that a usual Lev B might not be) and beyond, and I Emma Thomas is planning for strong mentoring and emphasis on career progression for the successful candidate.
The Location
Flinders is No. 1 in South Australia for Psychology (2022 Academic Ranking of World Universities) and the University is in an expansion phase, having recorded the fastest growth in research income of any Australian university since 2018. The campus is nestled in the foothills of the Mount Lofty ranges and regularly has koala visitors (see below picture of colleague trying to help a koala exit our building via the elevator). We are seeking to grow the social psychology group which is currently comprised of Michael Wenzel, Lydia Woodyatt, and Annabelle Neall; Emma Thomas run a lab with a few postdocs, PhD students, honours students, and a joyful stream of visitors. Emma Thomas is also involved in leading interdisciplinary research on threats to democracy via the Jeff Bleich Centre for Democracy and Disruptive Technologies.
Project summary
Research into how and why people mobilise in favour of progressive social change is flourishing; but research on why people act collectively to oppose equality and inclusion is rare. Using new conceptual and methodological approaches, this project aims to understand when, how, and why people organise collectively to oppose the inclusion of migrants and transgender people; what prompts some people to escalate to political or physical violence; and how online platforms enable engagement. Expected outcomes defining the social psychology of actors, and trajectories of engagement and extremism, will support a growing collaboration with end-users in the national intelligence community to bolster social cohesion and inform de-escalation tactics.
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