The Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies (MCAS) at Universität Hamburg invites early career researchers to apply for its junior fellowship programme for the academic year 2019–20.

The Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies is a Humanities Research Institute at Universität Hamburg led by Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Veltri. It is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation). The central aim of MCAS is to explore and research scepticism in Judaism in its dual manifestation as a purely philosophical tradition and as a more general expression of sceptical strategies, concepts, and attitudes in the cultural field.

Topic: Scepticism—Between Enquiry and Doubt (2019–20)

In the academic year 2019–20, research at the Centre will focus on the nature and scope of scepticism in the Jewish context by problematising two opposing portrayals of scepticism and investigating their presence in Jewish tradition. According to the first approach, scepticism is understood as an attitude to life which leads to tranquillity facilitated by the suspension of judgment. The second approach understands scepticism as doubt; not as a way of life, but as an epistemological obstacle, a “malady” which should but perhaps cannot be cured. Although usually taken as the dividing factor between scepticism in antiquity and its early modern counterpart, variations of these two types are found in different contexts throughout the history of scepticism, sometimes side by side.

The successful candidate’s project should fit into one or more of the following aspects: the study of these two “paradigms,” their mutual dynamics, their particular Jewish manifestations, and their appearance in other traditions.

Eligibility

Junior Fellowships are awarded to advanced PhD students and postdoctoral (up to five years from receiving PhD) researchers from Jewish studies, history, philosophy, Islamic studies, religious studies, or related fields in the humanities.

Duration of fellowship period: 6–12 months

Commencement of fellowship period: 12 months (October 1, 2019) or 6 months (October 1, 2019 or April 1, 2020)

Application Procedure

Applicants are requested to submit the following documents in one PDF file. Recommendation letters must be sent directly to MCAS by the referees.

- a research proposal of two to three pages, including the project’s relation to the annual topic, the status quaestionis of the chosen topic, the candidate’s prior research relevant to the proposed topic, a detailed programme of work with a timetable, and a description of the expected form of the outcome of the project
- a full CV and up-to-date publication list (max. 5 pages)
- a transcript of records/master’s certificate (PhD fellowship) or PhD diploma (postdoctoral fellowship)
- two letters of recommendation (PhD fellowship: one of the letters must be written by the PhD supervisor)
- completed application form (www.maimonides-centre.uni-hamburg.de/dokumente/2019/application-form.pdf)

Applications and recommendation letters may be submitted via e-mail until April 1, 2019 to maria.wazinski@uni-hamburg.de Acceptance letters will be sent out by the end of May 2019.

MCAS aims to increase the number of women in advanced academic positions and strongly encourages women to apply. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated by MCAS’s advisory board.

Further Information

For further information and questions, please contact Maria Wazinski by e-mail: maria.wazinski@uni-hamburg.de or by phone: +49-(0)40-42838-8605