Postdoctoral Fellow

The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG), part of the Max Planck Society (MPG), is renowned worldwide as a hub for reflection on the role of the sciences in politics and society. At the MPIWG, around three hundred scholars from all over the world investigate the sciences past and present, working together on a collective, collaborative, and transdisciplinary basis. 

Department Artifacts, Action, Knowledge, Director: Prof. Dagmar Schäfer, seeks a 

Postdoctoral Fellow 

• For three years, with employment contract, TVöD-Bund pay scales (E13) – starting on 1 April 2024. 

Your responsibilities:

• Support collaborative research efforts within the department.
• Conduct an individual research project under the "Reclaiming 'Turtles all the way down" working group.
• Contribute to research questions on integrating scholarship from historically minoritized communities (e.g., Indigenous Knowledges, nomadic knowledges, knowledges of resistance) and histories of science into a common discourse.
• Coordinate a multi-year lecture series titled "Manners of Reckoning: Epistemology, Cosmology, Ontology, and Worlding" across departmental units.
• Facilitate understanding of different concepts of temporal normality in various knowledge systems.
• Participate in the research activities of the Institute and departmental activities, and present your own work. 

Your profile:

• Hold a university degree (Master or German university degree “Diplom”) and a Ph.D. degree before starting employment.
• Possess experience in long-term or deep-time studies of Animal-Plant-Human interactions, spanning ancient history to the age of encounter and the recent past. 

What we offer:

• Flexible working hours; the opportunity to work from home as arranged with your superior; the opportunity to work part-time
• Annual year-end bonus; occupational pension (VBL); subsidy for public transportation within Berlin or Germany (“Jobticket”); paid leave on Christmas Eve (December 24) and New Year’s Eve (December 31) in addition to regular annual leave
• An international setting with staff and guests from more than forty countries 

The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunity employer that strives to foster an inclusive workplace. As an institute of the MPG, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science supports a working community for all free from discrimination and harassment. We explicitly encourage applications from qualified individuals who belong to groups that are often underrepresented in the workplace due to age, disability, ethnicity, family status, gender, nationality, race, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or religion. 

Your application:

Please submit your application with complete documents, preferably without a photograph, through our application portal

To apply, please submit the following documents:

• Cover letter (in which candidate indicates interest in Departmental project(s))
• Curriculum vitae, including list of publications
• Research prospectus (maximum 750 words)
• Writing sample (5000-8000 words)
• Names and contact details of at least two referees.

Please note that only complete electronic submissions uploaded to this link (not by email) will be accepted. Applications may be submitted in German, English, or French.

Applications must be received by 1 December 2023 (23:45 CET).  

Applications will be reviewed in late January and short-listed candidates will be interviewed by mid-February 2024. Only successful candidates will be notified.

For questions concerning the research project and Department III, please contact Lisa Onaga (lonaga@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de). For technical questions regarding the application portal or for administrative questions concerning the position and the Institute, please first contact the Department assistant (schaeferoffice@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de).

Further information on the MPIWG can be found at https://www.mpiwg-ber­lin.mpg.de/ 

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstr. 22, 14195 Berlin

Advert information