Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Humanities (m / f / d)

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Institut für Geographie der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

The successful candidate will join our dynamic academic community to conduct and publish outstanding research, deliver excellent teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and develop their academic profile at the intersection of Cultural Geography and Nature-Society Geography. We are especially interested in applicants whose work addresses urban environmental challenges and who bring expertise in areas such as urban political ecology, climate urbanism, critical infrastructure studies, critical landscape studies, urban environmental history, feminist/postcolonial geographies, posthuman/animal geographies, and/or environmental inequalities and justice.

This is a 100% full-time equivalent (FTE) position, based on a fixed three-year contract with the possibility of a three-year extension. Remuneration is in accordance with pay grade E13 of the German public-sector collective agreement (TV-L). If you meet the criteria ( 71 BayHIG), you may receive temporary civil servant status and obtain remuneration in accordance with pay grade A13. The envisioned start date is 1 June 2025.

Job description

• Working largely independently, you will have manifold opportunities to advance your own research agenda and develop an internationally competitive track record of publications in leading academic journals or with academic publishing houses.
• Pursuing an independent research project corresponding to the profile of the Society-Environment Research Group, you will have the possibility of completing a Habilitation.
• You will plan, administer, and deliver classes of five lecture hours per week (5 SWS). Your teaching and supervision efforts will mainly be centred on students pursuing degrees in cultural geography. The courses you will teach may range from introductory classes for bachelor?s programmes all the way to advanced, research-oriented seminars for the master?s programmes.
• You will take on responsibility for a fair share of administrative and organisational tasks at the Chair in Cultural Geography and Society-Environment Research and contribute to academic self-management at the Institute of Geography.

Notwendige Qualifikationen:

We are looking for a candidate who:

• has successfully completed a university degree (MA/MSc., Magister, Diploma) and a doctorate (PhD/DPhil) with excellent results in human geography or a related field such as urban studies, political ecology, environmental humanities, anthropology, sociology
• has an emerging, strong track-record of peer-reviewed publications in major international journals, and/or a monograph under contract with/published by an internationally leading publishing house
• has excellent written and spoken English language skills (incl. academic writing) and has good knowledge of German or willingness to learn German (CEFR B2 certificate after three years)
• is able to work independently, as well as collaboratively within an international research team
• has proven knowledge of working empirically with qualitative social science/human geographical research methods
• has enthusiasm for and experience in university teaching, especially in cultural geography and/or nature-society geography
• ideally has proven experience in the acquisition of third-party funding/grant writing.

What we offer

• This full-time postdoctoral position comes with an internationally competitive salary, stipulated in accordance with the German collective agreement for the public sector (TV-L E13; minimum gross salary: 65,000? p.a.) or the A13 pay grade for civil servants.
• A fully equipped workplace at the Institute for Geography
• You will have the chance to collaborate and exploit synergies between your own work and ongoing projects of the Society-Environment Research Group, including the Cluster of Excellence ?Matters of Activity? and its affiliated leading international scholars.
• As member of the newly established Society-Environment Research Group, you will have the opportunity to shape its future research and teaching activities, collaborate on grant applications, design workshops and conferences, and develop innovative outreach formats (e.g., film screenings, public talks, exhibitions, podcasts) together with the other members of the group.
• You will be encouraged to vigorously pursue your own ideas, strengthen your track record of independent academic publications, and energetically advance your own academic career.
• You will receive mentoring and support in your academic career development by the Chair, Professor Sandra Jasper, who has an exceptionally successful track record of mentoring early career researchers (DFG Walter-Benjamin, Alexander-von-Humboldt-Fellowship, DAAD Professorship).
• Generous support for participation in a wide range of national and international conferences, workshops and methods-training courses
• A high level of freedom when it comes to establishing your work processes with flexible working hours, remote work options, and excellent family-work compatibility.

As the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg wishes to raise the proportion of women in research and teaching, female academics are expressly encouraged to apply. This post may be available part-time, provided a suitable number of candidates are willing to work on a work-share basis. Furthermore, this post is suitable for those who are registered disabled. Registered disabled persons are given preference over non-disabled applicants who do not otherwise have statutory preferential status if their overall personal aptitudes, skills and qualifications are equal.

How to apply

Please send your application by email as a single PDF file (max. 5 MB) to Prof. Dr. Sandra Jasper (). The application should include:

• Your curriculum vitae
• Your bachelor?s and master?s degree certificates as well as your doctoral certificate
• Letter of motivation (maximum two pages) stating why you would like to join the Chair in Cultural Geography and Society-Environment Research and potential areas of collaboration with the Society-Environment Research Group
• A three-to-five-page proposal outlining your envisioned research programme for the next three years
• One to three pieces of academic writing (for instance, your doctoral thesis, a journal article or a book chapter)
• Names and contact details of two referees, e.g., from the supervisor(s) of a previous thesis

The application deadline is Friday, 28 March 2025. Interviews will be online and take place on the 3rd and 4th of April, 2025. If you have questions about the position, you can contact Prof. Dr. Sandra Jasper ().