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Content and context of the post-doctoral position The advertised post-doctoral position is part of an interdisciplinary social sciences team working on the project HYBRIDELEC: Electric hybrids and emerging forms of energy transition in southern cities, funded by the ANR (The French National Research Agency) (for more information on the project, see http://hybridelec.hypotheses.org). The starting point of the research is the acknowledgment that cities in the developing and emerging countries experience many problems of electricity supply, including lack of access for all as well as irregular and load quality issues, which conventional responses such as solely extending the grid cannot fix. Therefore, collective and individual alternatives such as decentralized and hybrid  systems evolve. In a relational approach to infrastructure, both shaped by and shaping the social contexts in which they are embedded, the research aims to analyse the co-evolutions of local electricity supply systems and urban change. It considers supply configurations as urban assemblages made up of actors, technical objects, institutions, economic interests, social practices and representations, and also incorporating geographical and demographic dimensions of specific areas. The objective is thus to research the under-studied mutations of these arrangements in urban and urbanizing spaces and to evaluate their impact on the future of broader national electricity systems. The research will be conducted in multiple sites (Benin, Chad, Lebanon, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa).Within this context, the candidate will take part in the research done in India. In addition to contribute to a review of the literature and debates on the topic of the urban energy transition at work in the South Asian context, the applicant will be conducting her/his own research to enrich understanding of these emerging alternatives for electricity supply and to evaluate their impact on the future of the electricity system. The research will empirically explore these emerging configurations by surveying the actors and the technologies of the market, the geographical, urban and social conditions that make them possible and the regulation practices, specifically  with  regard  to  the  interplay  of  alternative  and  conventional  socio-technical solutions. Qualitative methodologies based on long field work, focusing on local energy systems, their stakeholders (communities, industries, traders as well as inhabitants) and the articulations with the conventional system locally and as a regulatory force will be the main modality of investigation. The review of the literature will help to determine a potential list of sites where the research can be conducted, including small and intermediary towns. The job position also offers the possibility to participate in the collective workshops of the research team and will provide funding for the conduct of the field work.Position Fixed-term contract of 1-year (12 months) starting preferably from 1st September 2018. Monthly net employment earnings will range from 1,800 € to 2,000 € according to the experience and the qualifications of the applicant.Requirement and how to applyThe applicant: has a PhD degree in urban studies, geography, STS studies, political science, sociology or other disciplines in social sciences, has an excellent level in writing and oral Knowledge  of French and an Indian language, preferably Hindi, is welcome and a comparative advantage, will be spending a significant amount of time based in India, has strong experience and interest in the conduct of field.The candidate must include in his applications the following documents: a detailed motivation letter, a curriculum vitae (CV) (5 pages maximum) that includes the names of two referent persons and the list of publications, a choice of a maximum of 2 or 3 of the publications.Requests for additional information and applications are to be addressed to Marie – Hélène Zérah (marie-helene.zerah@ird.fr) and Sylvy Jaglin (jaglin@enpc.fr). Deadline for submission: 20th May 2018.&#160;&#160;