We hereby invite applications for a PhD scholarship at the Department of Political Science. Enrolment will be at the Faculty of Social Sciences under Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences.

The position starting date is 1 August 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The successful candidate will be part of the research project “Moralizing Politics: The Practice of Judging Others” (MoPo), funded by the European Research Council, and led by Professor Christian Rostbøll.

MoPo investigates the role of moral judgment in contemporary politics, where citizens increasingly judge one another as good or bad people. While this moralization can reinforce democratic accountability, it also risks deepening polarization and hostility. By combining philosophical analysis with case studies on cancel culture, the dignity of work, fake news, and climate shaming, the project explores when the human propensity to judge others is pernicious versus beneficial for democracy.

You can read an abstract of the MoPo project here. For the full project description, please send an email to tpj656@ifs.ku.dk.

This PhD project will cover one of four cases covered in the MoPo project: Cancel Culture: Human Equality and Respect. Cancel culture is an obvious case of moralizing politics as a practice of judging others. It is a political practice in which people are called out—blamed, shamed, and punished—for violating what the accusers regard as fundamental moral principles for how people ought to treat and speak about other human beings. The PhD project is expected to examine the reactive attitudes (Strawson) involved in cancel culture, what kinds of moral principles are appealed to, and how it as a form of political practice relates to the ideal functions of deliberative democracy. The core normative question is whether and how cancel culture can be a legitimate form of political practice. In line with the overall approach of the MoPo project, the PhD project should apply the method of practice-sensitive reflective equilibrium, combining a qualitative case study of cancelling practices with moral philosophy and democratic theory. The candidate should formulate their own PhD project within this overall theoretical and methodological framework.

The selected candidate will write their PhD dissertation on the topic of cancel culture and collaborate with the other team members to develop a normative theory concerning the proper place and scope of morally judging others in democratic politics.

Funding is available for conference and summer school attendance, as well as field research, research visits, such that the candidate can develop their international network and research expertise.

How to apply

Please submit your application online. To apply, please click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of this page. The documents must be in Adobe PDF or Word.

  • Cover letter, detailing your motivation and background for applying for the specific PhD project. Indicate whether you are applying for the 5+3 or 4+4 program.
  • CV
  • Project description, detailing how you will conduct the case study within the overall theoretical framework of the MoPo project (max. 1.500 words, not including references).
  • Diploma and transcripts of records (BSc/BA and MSc/MA)
  • Writing sample (article length)
  • Other information for consideration, e.g. list of publications, documentation of English language qualifications (if any).

Please note that it is only possible to upload one document per attachment category. If more than one document must be uploaded in the same category, please make sure that they are scanned and collected into one file.

Further details on the documents that should accompany your application are available on this website: Admission requirements and application procedures – University of Copenhagen.

Applicants holding a degree from a university where the working language is neither English nor a Scandinavian language must include translated versions of their diploma and transcripts, verified by the issuing university. The documents must be translated into English, Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish. In addition, an official description of the relevant grading scale (e.g. diploma supplement) must be included

The recruitment process
Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the assessment committee, and each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant themselves.

Further information on the recruitment process at University of Copenhagen can be found here:  https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

For more details, refer here