The University of Kent, the Université de Nantes, the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, and the Università di Napoli l’Orientale, are hiring up to twelve post-doctoral researchers to work on our ERC Synergy Project “The European Qur’an: Islamic Scripture in European Culture and Religion (1150-1850)” (EuQu).
This is an exciting opportunity for early career researchers to be involved in a highly visible, international collaborative research project that involves leading academic institutions in Europe and beyond. We offer outstanding work and research conditions, and involvement in ventures at the forefront of cultural studies and digital humanities. You will be conducting research under the supervision of four leading scholars in the field of Christian-Muslim relations and have the opportunity to collaborate and exchange with colleagues from a wide range of disciplinary, institutional and personal backgrounds.
Candidates should propose an innovative research project on an important aspect of the role played by the Qur’an in Medieval and Early Modern European culture (find a list of possible broad themes here: http://proyectos.cchs.csic.es/corpi/sites/default/files/attachments/euqu_project_description.pdf). We also welcome proposals that apply digital technologies such as mapping, textual analysis, visualization, or the semantic web to their topic.
Their main duties will be to carry out cutting edge research on their chosen topic and to contribute to one or more of the collective volumes listed in the EuQu project description. S/he should also propose a monograph or peer-reviewed articles stemming from his or her own research.
Depending on the specific research topic, other responsibilities and duties may include the providing of data and entries for our database, and participating in regular team meetings, seminars, teaching etc.
The researcher will be hired on a one-year renewable contract employed by one of the EuQu institutional partners, for a total maximum of four years of employment. S/he will be based at one of the EuQu institutional partners. The researcher will be expected to reside in the city of employment for the period of employment and will be provided with office space. The researcher will travel frequently for conferences, workshops and research stays with partner institutions in Europe.
Annual Salary will vary depending on institution of employment. At the University of Kent it will be Grade 7 £34,189 - £39,609 per annum and appointment is likely to be made at £34,189 pa. A travel allowance will cover costs for participation at work meetings etc.
Qualifications
Applicants should have a PhD in a relevant discipline in the humanities by the time of application, or at least strong assurance that they will obtain the PhD by August 2019. Expertise in Medieval and Early Modern Studies and knowledge in the field of Christian-Jewish-Muslim relations are desirable. Candidates should be fluent in English and have strong skills in other languages appropriate to their research topics (e.g. Arabic, Latin, German, French, Russian). Paleographical and codicological skills, or / and interest and experience in digital humanities are desirable.
The contract start date will be negotiated on hiring: it will be no earlier than September 1st 2019.
Applicants should send an application, consisting of a letter of application, a project description, a curriculum vitae, and names of three references (with titles and e-mail addresses).
In the letter of application, candidates should specify which of the EuQu partner institutions they would prefer to be affiliated with, in order of preference: The Université de Nantes, the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Università di Napoli l’Orientale, the University of Kent or the University of Amersterdam.
The project description (5 pages maximum) should outline how the candidate’s previous research is germane to the themes of EuQu and how the candidate would contribute to the EuQu project, giving specific examples of material that s/he would integrate into the database and a tentative description of his/her contribution to one of the planned collective volumes. Before writing the project description, candidates should carefully read the full description of the EuQu project available at
http://proyectos.cchs.csic.es/corpi/sites/default/files/attachments/euqu_project_description.pdf
All documents should be sent in PDF format to euqu@cchs.csic.es by April 1st, 2019.
Selected applicants will be interviewed 21-23 May 2019. The interviews will be conducted by EuQu’s four principal investigators. Applicants will be interviewed via videoconference. Those candidates who prefer to be interviewed in person may come to Madrid for interviews, but no travel expenses will be paid to interviewees. Fuller details about interviews will be sent to chosen candidates before May 1st. Applicants will subsequently be informed of the results of their application by the end of May.
Informal enquiries are encouraged - please contact Dr Jan Loop, Kent (j.loop@kent.ac.uk), Prof. John Tolan, Nantes (john.tolan@univ-nantes.fr), Prof, García-Arenal, Madrid (mercedes.garciaarenal@cchs.csic.es), or Prof. Roberto Tottoli, Naples (roberto.tottoli@fastwebnet.it)