Founded in 1409, Leipzig University is one of Germany’s largest universities and a leader in research and medical training. With around 30,000 students and more than 5000 members of staff across 14 faculties, it is at the heart of the vibrant and outward-looking city of Leipzig. Leipzig University offers an innovative and international working environment as well as an exciting range of career opportunities in research, teaching, knowledge and technology transfer, infrastructure and administration.

The Department of History at the Faculty of History, Art and Area Studies seeks to fill the above position from 1 September 2024. This PhD position is part of the MECANO project (Mechanics of Canon Formation and the Transmission of Knowledge from Graeco-Roman Antiquity), which has received funding from the Horizon Europe Programme for Research and Innovation under the MSCA Doctoral Networks 2022, Grant Agreement No. 101120349: https://www.kuleuven.be/lectio/research/mecano-msca-doctoral-network.

MECANO aims to advance the understanding of the mechanics of canon formation and knowledge transmission of ancient Greek and Latin texts. It will look at a) how texts, ideas or authors become canonical by being cited, translated, studied, imitated, excerpted, or compiled by later authors, and b) how such implicit canons have changed across time and space by being received in different cultural, intellectual and linguistic environments. To study the dynamics of canonicity from a longitudinal perspective, MECANO will combine qualitative approaches to intellectual history and reception studies with applications of digital and computational methods on extensive text corpora. MSCA Doctoral Networks are research and training programmes with the goal of training highly skilled doctoral candidates, stimulating their creativity, enhancing their innovation capacities and boosting their employability in the long term. For MECANO, this means responding to the need for historically conscious and digitally skilled humanities PhDs and training PhD candidates to tackle the challenges of modern engagement with the topics of canonicity, diversity, and cultural heritage. Being part of an MSCA Doctoral Network means taking part in networking activities and spending time abroad. Each PhD candidate will be co-supervised by two academics within the consortium; they will be based at one of the universities of MECANO and visit the university of their co-supervisor for a research stay, as well as having a shorter internship at an associated partner. They will be expected to take part fully in the training programme, consisting of summer schools, workshops, a regular online seminar, and other activities. MECANO is committed to creating an environment in which all talented people can develop to their maximum potential, regardless of gender, age, cultural origin, nationality or disability. We particularly encourage candidates from traditionally underrepresented groups to apply.

Vacancies are open to applicants of all nationalities who comply with the mobility requirement of not having resided in the country of the MECANO university that will host them (university of the main supervisor) for more than 12 months in the 36 months prior to appointment. Applicants must not hold a doctoral degree in any other field or have failed a corresponding doctoral examination at another higher education institution. Please note that MECANO is advertising positions for a total of 10 candidates within its framework, who will be based at 5 participating universities. Applications for each position must be submitted separately. It is possible to apply for more than one position, in which case the applicant must send a separate email to info@mecano-dn.eu, stating this and indicating their preference. The recruitment process will be handled centrally by the MECANO selection committee.

PhD project description (“Detecting and Retrieving Lost Historians”)
This is a full-time PhD position expected to start in September 2024. It will be based at Leipzig University under the main supervision of PD Dr. Monica Berti (Faculty of History, Art and Area Studies, Department of History). The PhD candidate is expected to visit the University of Leuven (Belgium) for a research stay of 6 months, to be co-supervised by Prof. Dr. Stefan Schorn (KU Leuven, Faculty of Arts, Ancient History), and to complete an internship of 4 months at Brill Publishers in Leiden (Netherlands).
The general objective of this PhD project is to study ancient historians whose works are lost and preserved through quotations and paraphrases in later sources. Classical scholarship defines them as ‘fragmentary historians’, because it is possible to find traces of their work by extracting chunks of texts (‘fragments’) from still extant sources. Our extant textual heritage shows that only 5% of all Greek historians have been preserved in full and that the picture we get of ancient historiography on this basis is very limited and uneven. Collections of fragmentary historians have been published in printed format, but we still lack a deep analysis of these traces within their context of transmission. This PhD project will analyse the language used by extant authors to quote and paraphrase authors who are now lost. The specific objectives of this project are, among other things: (1) to discover why and how authors who are not in the traditional canon were quoted and referred to by still extant authors; (2) to understand, on the basis of the quotation types and other features, the literalness and functions of quotes; (3) to create a linguistic catalogue with names of fragmentary authors and titles/descriptions of their fragmentary works in extant ancient Greek and Latin sources. For further questions, please contact Monica Berti (monica.berti@uni-leipzig.de) and Daria Kondakova (info@mecano-dn.eu).
Leipzig University will award the academic degree of doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.) on the basis of a written academic thesis in accordance with the provisions of the doctoral regulations. An additional doctoral degree (Cotutelle) in History may possibly be awarded and contractually regulated between Leipzig University and KU Leuven. Regulations and documents are available at https://www.gkr.uni-leipzig.de/forschung/promotion.

ABOUT THE POSITION
- Fixed term of 36 months
- 100 % of a full-time position
- Planned remuneration: gross amount of approx. 3200 euros (3750 euros if eligible for family allowance).

DUTIES
- Completion of a PhD thesis (in English) within 36 months
- Participation in the general training programme of the MECANO doctoral network
- Presentation of intermediate research results at workshops and conferences
- Participation in the intellectual life of the institutions of the supervisors of the PhD project
- Internship at Brill Publishers, Leiden, Netherlands (4 months) and research stay at KU Leuven, Belgium (6 months).

REQUIREMENTS
- Master’s degree in ancient history (or in history with a focus on ancient history), classical philology or any other relevant field of expertise, held by the time of appointment, with an excellent MA thesis (if the degree has not yet been obtained at the time of application, a statement by the applicant’s supervisor must confirm that it will be obtained by the time of appointment)
- Very good knowledge of ancient Greek and Latin
- Very good knowledge of English. Reading comprehension of German and other modern languages of research in the humanities such as French and Italian would be desirable.
- Skills in the Digital Humanities are not a requirement, but are an asset for the selection of the PhD candidate, since the use of digital data is requested in the doctoral network of which this PhD project is a part.
- Mobility rule (as part of the MECANO programme): the candidate must not have resided in Germany for more than 12 months in the 36 months prior to appointment.

WHAT WE OFFER
- A highly dynamic, collaborative and interdisciplinary working environment in a modern workplace
- Flexible working hours and work-life balance
- English as working language
- Leipzig as an attractive city with rich culture and beautiful surroundings, where international visitors usually find it easy to settle in.

APPLICATION DOCUMENTS
Please send your application electronically as a single PDF, quoting reference number 15/2024, to Monica Berti, monica.berti@uni-leipzig.de, by 29 February 2024. Please note that it is not possible to guarantee confidentiality and rule out unauthorised access by third parties when communicating by unencrypted email. You are also welcome to send your application to Universität Leipzig, Historisches Seminar/ Dr. Monica Berti – persönlich – Beethovenstraße 15, 04107 Leipzig. If you are invited as a candidate, all interviews will be held virtually. Please provide the following documents as part of your application:

- Cover letter (600–800 words) covering which qualifications make you suitable for the position and how this PhD position aligns with your scholarly interests, as well as your motivation for being part of an MSCA Doctoral Network which includes international mobility and an internship period.
- Names and contact details (email address) of two academic referees. You must have the permission of the academic referee to use their name and contact details. They may be asked to provide a reference letter at a later stage.
- Master’s degree and transcript of records. If the degree has not yet been obtained at the time of application, a statement by the applicant’s supervisor should confirm that it will be obtained by the time of appointment.
- Writing sample (ca. 7000 words); this may be a published paper or a significant part of your master’s thesis.

The recruitment process will be handled centrally by the MECANO selection committee. Leipzig University aims to increase the proportion of women in positions of responsibility and therefore expressly invites qualified women to apply. Severely disabled persons – or persons deemed legally equal to them under Book IX of the German Social Code – are encouraged to apply and will be given preference in the case of equal suitability.