Doctoral network “Russian Influences in the European Periphery: Interdependencies, Narratives, Power” (INFLUENCE DN)

Project idea

The INFLUENCE Doctoral Network aims to comprehensively analyse the mechanisms, structures, and relationships that facilitate Russian influence in the Baltic States and the Western Balkans.  Concurrently, the project seeks to train a new generation of ten researchers, providing them with interdisciplinary expertise and transferable practical skills to enhance their career prospects within and beyond academia. The project also aims to improve the quality, relevance, and sustainability of doctoral studies at participating universities, deepen cooperation with the non-academic sector, and enrich expert public debate on Russian actions and foreign policy.

The interdependencies vector adopts a relational approach to analysing the role of economic, energy, and digital networks, focusing on how interdependencies are created, maintained, and exploited. The narratives vector examines how Russia uses ideas, stories, and societal divisions to shape beliefs and attitudes, emphasising cultural and societal domains within the discursive space. The power vector assesses Russia’s direct influence on political actors, decision-making processes, and political systems, focusing on how power is exerted within governance structures, electoral processes, and domestic and international institutions.

Ten individual doctoral research projects will address energy and economic interdependencies, the use of digital platforms, anti-Western narratives, the discourse of “Russophobia”, the instrumentalisation of migration, the diffusion of illiberal governance models, subversive activities, interference in electoral processes, and Russian influence within international institutions. The project will also include secondments to academic and non-academic organisations, joint training activities, and a range of knowledge dissemination initiatives.

Positions at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science:

• RP2 – Economic Interdependencies and Russian Influence: A Comparative Analysis of Power Dynamics

This project investigates the role of economic interdependencies as a tool of Russian influence in Europe’s Eastern periphery. The research has two primary objectives: first, to map the various types of interdependencies, including trade, investment, energy, migration, and services, between Russia and these selected countries, and to track their evolution since the early 2000s; second, to assess how these shifting interdependencies impact power relations and the potential for Russian influence. The project is based on the premise that patterns of interdependence significantly shape power dynamics, providing leverage for stronger actors to exert influence over weaker ones. Through a comparative analysis of interdependencies in EU and NATO member states versus non-member states, this research aims to fill a critical gap in understanding Russia’s ability to manipulate these relationships to advance its geopolitical objectives.

• RP4 – Framing the West: Russian Anti-Western Narratives in the Eastern Periphery

The project examines Russian anti-Western narratives in Europe’s Eastern periphery since 2014, focusing on their construction, internal logic, and how they challenge established understandings of Europe, Russia, and the international order. The primary method is discourse analysis (textual and cultural to capture local adaptation) used to trace how narratives reinforce one another into cohesive, persuasive messages. A secondary network-analysis component maps how these narratives are disseminated through state-controlled media, social media platforms, diplomatic channels, and proxy actors, to identify which dissemination pathways matter most. Selected case studies would anchor a comparative account of why the same narratives take hold more strongly in some states than others.

What We Offer

• 36‑month full-time EU MSCA contract and doctoral position
• An attractive remuneration in accordance with the MSCA regulations. The individual position announcement specifies the gross remuneration or salary range; amounts depend on the country correction coefficient and national taxation/social security rules.
• Competitive monthly living, mobility, and family allowances
• Joint international supervision
• Advanced research, methods and transferable skills training
• Research visits and intersectoral secondments
• Professional development opportunities and career guidance

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must hold a relevant Master’s degree or equivalent which formally entitles them to start a doctorate by the application deadline.
• Applicants cannot have been awarded a doctoral degree.
• Applicants can be of any nationality; however, they must comply with the mobility rule: must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting organisation for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date.
• All positions require excellent English language skills, some projects may particularly benefit from knowledge of Russian and/or languages spoken in the Baltic States and the Western Balkans. Some positions may also require proficiency in the language(s) of instruction and assessment at the recruiting university – see the individual position announcement.
• Successful candidates have to be ready to work in a team, travel to conferences and network training events, and to take part in academic and non-academic secondments abroad.

For further information on eligibility criteria and on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks in general, please refer to: https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/doctoral-networks.

General Selection Process:

INFLUENCE is committed to transparent, merit-based and inclusive recruitment in line with:

• the European Charter for Researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/hrexcellenceaward/european-charter-researchers;
• the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers: https://www.euraxess.de/sites/default/files/brochures/C%26C_EN.pdf;

Recruitment will take place through an open, international, and competitive selection procedure conducted in two stages.

• In the first stage, applications will be evaluated on the basis of academic excellence, research potential, methodological and disciplinary preparedness, motivation, relevant research experience, the quality and feasibility of the proposed research, and its fit with the project and available supervisory expertise.
• Candidates who demonstrate the strongest overall profiles will be shortlisted and invited to an interview in the second stage. The interview will provide an opportunity to further assess candidates’ research aptitude, motivation, understanding of the proposed research, ability to discuss and develop their ideas, and overall suitability for the doctoral project.

Key Dates

• Call opens: 15 October 2026
• Application deadline: 15 December 2026
• Shortlist of Candidates prepared: February 2027
• Interviews with Shortlisted Candidates (conducted online): February – March 2027
• Results communicated: by 30 April 2027
• Employment commences: 1 October 2027

How to Apply

Applicants should submit the following documents as PDF-files:

• a copy of the passport or any other valid identification card;
• copies of the Master’s diploma or of a higher education diploma comparable to it and their supplements;
• motivational letter;
• Curriculum Vitae;
• a research project (prospective research project should be around 20 000 symbols in length or 8-10 numbered A4 pages);
• a list of research works and their copies, conference presentations, works awarded at academic competitions (if there is any);
• recommendations by two academic referees;
• a certificate proving the level of English if master’s thesis was written in a language other than English.

Please submit your application to the Vilnius University Postgraduate (Doctoral) Studies Admission System (ISAS) (please register first)

Application deadline is on the 15 December 2026 at 23:59 (Europe/Vilnius time).

Participating institutions

• Vilnius University (Lithuania)
• University of Glasgow (United Kingdom)
• University of Helsinki (Finland)
• University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• University of Warsaw (Poland)

Associated Partners (hosting secondments):

• Atlantic Initiative
• BASIC
• Civil Resilience Initiative (CRI)
• Geopolitics and Security Studies Center (GSSC)
• Institute of New Europe (INE)
• The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE)
• The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
• The Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM)
• Why Not (Zašto ne)