Post Doctoral Research Associate for the Project ‘Kafka’s Transformative Communities’

The Faculty of Medieval & Modern Languages is seeking to appoint a fixed-term, full-time postdoctoral research associate for three years, starting on 1 January 2024, as part of our AHRC-funded project Kafka’s Transformative Communities.

The postholder will be based at the University of Oxford; they will be part of a dynamic team of researchers based at Oxford and the Free University of Berlin. The appointee will pursue an independent research project on Franz Kafka’s legacy in world literature and/or in other media. They will also be fully involved in all aspects of the project, including its academic, cultural, outreach and public engagement programme. They will be a member of the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Language’s ECR network, and of Oxford University’s Researcher Hub.

The postholder will be a member of the Project’s Steering Group, which includes the PI, Professor Carolin Duttlinger, and the Co-Is, Professor Katrin Kohl and Professor Barry Murnane (Oxford) and Professor Lucia Ruprecht (Free University Berlin).

They will be jointly mentored by Professors Carolin Duttlinger and Barry Murnane. The post is open to applicants working in literary studies, art history, film and visual studies, music or performance studies. Applicants must be proficient in the German language. 

Applicants will have, or be close to completing, a PhD in a relevant subject area, and possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to work within established research programmes. They will have excellent communication skills, including the ability to write for publication, present research proposals and results, and represent the research group at meetings.

This is a full-time post and is available from 1 January 2024 for a fixed term until 31 December 2026.

What we offer 

As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including:

• An excellent contributory pension scheme
• 38 days annual leave
• A comprehensive range of childcare services
• Family leave schemes
• Cycle loan scheme
• Discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans

Applications  must be made online by 12:00 noon on Monday 30 October 2023.  You will be asked to upload a CV and supporting statement explaining your suitability for the post. The supporting statement must explain how you meet each of the selection criteria for the post using examples of your skills and experience. This may include experience gained in employment, education, or during career breaks (such as time out to care for dependants). Please also outline the research project on Kafka’s legacy in world literature and/or in other media which you are planning to pursue as part of this project.

Please ensure all documents are uploaded as PDF files. In addition, please ask two referees to send their reference, quoting the vacancy reference 168359, to:  

The HR Administrator 

Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, 41/47 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JF

Email: hr@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk 

A letter by email is sufficient. Referees should preferably not all be from the same institution and whenever possible one should be your current, or most recent, supervisor. NOTE: reference letters must be received from your referees by the closing date for your application to be complete.

Interviews are anticipated to take place in the week commencing Monday 13 November 2023.

As part of the process shortlisted candidates will be asked to send a sample of recent research of no more than 6,000 words, ahead of the interview. 

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