What is DiViNE?

Democracies are commonly seen as able to channel contestation through institutionalized processes and nonviolent action. Yet, democratic polities frequently experience a broad range of political violence — from riots and organized electoral intimidation to extremist mobilization and criminal violence — and violence can test and, at times, erode democratic norms and institutions. Moreover, democracies themselves may respond to perceived threats with measures (e.g., militarized policing, emergency legislation, selective repression) that threaten to undermine core features of liberal democracy such as the rule of law, civil liberties and institutional impartiality. 

The DIViNE Doctoral Network (Democratic Institutions and Violence Network in Europe) consolidates comparative, historical, theoretical and methodological strands to build a coherent new research program on political violence in democracies.

DIViNE brings together leading European research environments — UvA (Amsterdam), UESSEX (Essex), UMIL (Milan), UC3M (Carlos III de Madrid) and UU (Uppsala) — combining complementary strengths in quantitative conflict research, behavioral and experimental methods, historical and archival inquiry, institutional and normative theory, and applied policy engagement.  

Call For Expression of Interest

DIViNE is looking to hire 10 PhD researchers, two for each node. The Political Institutions and Conflict- Max Planck Institute (Göttingen) will offer one further non-MSCA PhD scholarship. This is a call for expression of interest. The formal PhD vacancy call will be published between October and November 2026, with PhD positions start by January 2027. Formal applications will need to be submitted via the webpages of relevant DIViNE universities. Please note that PhD researchers recruited on the project must satisfy the MCSA mobility requirements (i.e., not have resided or worked for more than one year in the country of the institution where they are enrolled), and the program will entail mobility across the institutions and partners in the network. 

The following questions will be asked:

1. BA and MA information
2. Application motivation, research idea (question, relevant literature, arguments, methods)
3. Selected WP(s) of interest, with a short paragraph on motivation and fit
4. List of 2 referees who will support the application 

The Doctoral Training Network

DIVINE has two main ambitions: (1) to advance scientific understanding of how and why political violence persists, transforms, or is contained within democracies; and (2) to train a new generation of cross-disciplinary, multi-method scholars, capable of producing world-leading research that is scientifically rigorous and relevant to policy and stakeholders. DIViNE organizes the research around four research themes that address the overarching question from complementary temporal, institutional and analytical perspectives. 

1. Conflict inheritance and legacies in democracies. How does historical violence, patterns of repression, and transitional compromises shape contemporary political behavior and institutional functioning.  
2. Democratization and conflict resolution. How do reforms enacted during democratic transitions (transitional justice mechanisms, decentralization, land and territorial reform, constitutional redesign, power-sharing) influence incentives for violence and reconciliation.  
3. Dynamics of support for violent movements and responses. What are the micro-foundations of public support for, and tolerance of, state and non-state political violence, including how violent organizations and state actors cultivate legitimacy. 
4. Democratic resilience and violent stress. How can institutional design, public policy, and civil society enhance democratic resilience, focusing on securitization dynamics, militarization, and institutional responses that either constrain or exacerbate violence.

Doctoral Candidate (DC) Research Themes

DC1 – Historical Legacies of Violence and Democratic 

DC2 – Exogenous Shocks, Violent Legacies, and Democratic Resilience

DC3 – Endogenous Persistence of Violence after Democratization 

DC4 – The Unintended Consequences of Democratic Reforms

DC5 – Institutional Reform, Violence, and Democratic Consolidation 

DC6 – Security Externalities and Post-Conflict Democratization

DC7 – Public Support for Political Violence in Advanced Democracies 

DC8 – Militarization, Public Support, and Democratic Erosion in Latin America 

DC9 – Democratic Decline, Political Violence, and Cycles of Repression

DC10 – Recruitment Dynamics and Behavioral Output of Violent Organizations

Faculty and Partners

PhD supervisors included in the network are the following scholars: Giulia Bistagnino (UMIL), Simon Chauchard (UC3M), Ursula Daxecker (UvA-MPI), Annekatrin Deglow (UU), Hanne Fjelde (UU), Ismene Gizelis (UESSEX), Kristian S. Gleditsch (UESSEX), Kathleen Klaus (UU), Juan Masullo (UMIL), Brian Phillips (UESSEX), Paola Rebughini (UMIL), Andrea Ruggeri (UMIL) Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca (UC3M), Jessica Soedirgo (UvA), Abbey Steele (UvA) and Francisco Villamil (UC3M).

PhD Researcher will have also research stay with DiVINE partners, which include Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), Barcelona Center for International Affairs (CIDOB), Clingendael (the Netherlands Institute of International Relations),Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli (Milan), the International Catalan Institute for Peace (ICIP), International IDEA (Stockholm), Political Institutions and Conflict- Max Planck Institute (Göttingen).