Social Sciences Marie Curie Individual Fellowship

Universidad Complutense de Madrid is offering postdoctoral positions linked to the Marie Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellowship Actions within the Horizon 2020 Programme (IF-MSCA). MSCA-IF grants provide generous research funding to gain experience abroad during 12-24 months.

Are you a social sciences postdoc interested in developing your IF-MSCA project with us? Keep reading! If you think you are a good fit, send us your CV and a motivation letter. We will help the selected candidate with the application process. The candidate have to comply with the mobility rule: they should not have carried out her/his main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the last 3 years.

P2P Models aim is to build decentralized, democratic & economically sustainable Collaborative Economy organizations, aided by blockchain technologies. P2P Models is a 5-year (2018-2023) EU-funded (1.5M€) project based at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain).

Social Sciences Postdoc

We are looking for a postdoc to lead the undertaking of social research of collaborative economy communities for the development of a blockchain-based software platform grounded on social theory. P2P Models is a research project that combines social research and free/libre technologies to foster social and economic justice. Our challenge is to co-create inclusive decentralized tools and theories.  We seek practical applications for collective action. The project has three legs:

– Infrastructure: To provide a software framework to build decentralized infrastructure for Collaborative Economy organizations, providing building blocks to build “Decentralized Autonomous Organizations” (DAOs).

– Governance: To enable democratic-by-design models of governance for communities, whose rules are, at least partially, encoded in the software to ensure higher levels of equality.

– Economics: To enable value distribution models which are interoperable across organizations, improving the economic sustainability of both contributors and organizations.

In order to do this, we are performing social research on commons-oriented collaborative communities to inform the construction of a framework to build these blockchain-driven Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), enabling experimentation on new types of governance and economic models.

Minimum requirements

Candidates are expected to meet the following requirements:

    • PhD in social sciences (Sociology, Economics, Anthropology and/or Political Science)
    • Strong interest in some of these areas: sociology of organisations, sociology or economics of innovation, science and technology studies, peer production, social movements, (online) communities, emerging business models, open knowledge, media studies, collaborative economy, (digital) commons, algorithmic governance and/or Internet and politics
    • Experience of qualitative and/or quantitative research methods: ethnographic skills, conduction of interviews and/or survey design
    • Fluency in English
  • Ability to work in multidisciplinary teams, autonomy, critical thinking


Good to have requirements

In addition, the following requirements are desirable:

    • Participation in peer production communities and/or social movements
    • Experience in interdisciplinar environments
    • Experience in triangulation and multi-method approaches
  • Experience with the digital / Internet / tech world


Documents to submit

Candidates should have a PhD related to Social Sciences, (Sociology, Economics, Anthropology. Political Science). Strong interests: sociology of organisations, peer production, social movements, collaborative economy… Experience at conduction of interviews and/or survey design and ethnographic skills. Please send your CV and a short motivation letter to this email. We will start evaluating candidatures 30th May.

Working at P2P Models is an opportunity to collaborate with people passionate to create social impact, in an environment which mixes academics, hackers and activists, where it’s possible to be creative and effective. Check our Culture, Work conditions and Perks!

Culture 🌍

    • We take an action research approach: we aim both to build theory/systems, and to achieve social impact, in order to improve organisational processes, economic models, policies and technology
    • We believe technology is not neutral: we acknowledge the influence of the social and technological context and how it shapes innovation choices
    • We embrace and encourage multidisciplinarity
    • We believe in collective decision-making and co-responsibility
    • We promote transparency, critical thinking, collaboration  and autonomy.
    • We advocate free/open source software and decentralization
  • We encourage contributions to other free software and commons-oriented projects to help the ecosystem thrive.

Work conditions 🚀

    • We believe in a work-life balance, family-compatible
    • Full-time commitment
    • We are goals-driven, not hours-driven
    • Flexibility to work at home / office
    • We nourish curiosity and inspiration by supporting side projects
    • Opportunities to attend and/or speak in relevant academic and practitioners’ events
  • Possibility to spend time as visiting fellows with our partners: Harvard, MIT, CNRS, Aragon, etc.

Perks ⭐

    • Stable employment with flexible schedule
    • A passionate team of people committed to researching, building, and achieving social impact
    • Constant learning, in a cozy and interdisciplinary work environment driven by collaboration and teamwork
    • Networking with high profile researchers, activists and techies worldwide
    • Life in Madrid, with thrilling grassroots social movements, active cultural scene, fantastic weather, good food and quality of life, friendly people, a progressive town hall, and in a city cheaper than most US/EU cities.
    • The multiple social benefits from a welfare state, highlighting our public and free high quality health care system, ample vacation days and parental/sick leaves.
  • A wide diversity of benefits and expenses covered, including equipment, trips, courses, trainings, sports, cultural activities…

Commitment to Diversity

The work and well-being of our group and the university as a whole are profoundly strengthened by the diversity of our network and our differences in background, culture, experience, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, age, disability, and much more. We actively seek and welcome people of color, women, the LGBTQIA community, persons with disabilities, and people at intersections of these identities, from across the spectrum of disciplines and methods.