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CFA: Two Postdoctoral positions at CEFRES 2024–2025

Deadline for submission: 15 October 2023   Extended ⇒ 8 November 2023 for Post-doc 2 
Publication of the results: 31 October 2023
Period: 1st January 2024—31st  December 2025
Application Language: English
Address for submission:  mateusz.chmurski@cefres.cz (send a copy to: claire.madl@cefres.cz)

Two post-doctoral researchers will be recruited from 1 January 2024 for two years at CEFRES. They will be both affiliated to CEFRES and to a relevant department for their research at Charles University (UK). The selection of both post-doctoral researchers will be based on the quality of their research project and its adequation to the research area or the research project it intends to contribute to. 

Charles University & CEFRES joint postdoctoral positions

Charles University (UK) and CEFRES jointly finance two high-quality post-doctoral research fellows who reside elsewhere than the Czech Republic when applying  and have also defended their PhD dissertation in a university outside the Czech Republic. Both post-doctoral researchers will be assigned to CEFRES as a hosting institution of the Post-Doc research program of Charles University: “Junior Fund”.

These two positions are one-year fixed-term contracts renewable once and start on 1 January 2024 at CEFRES.

The gross monthly salary is 47 258 CZK (1887 € according to the diplomatic exchange rate).

UK-CEFRES post-doctoral researchers will be affiliated to both CEFRES and a relevant department of one of the faculties in social sciences and humanities of the Charles University according to their main discipline.

Eligibility criteria
  • Be a high-level young researcher from abroad (resident of a country out of the Czech Republic), who defended a PhD dissertation no more than 5 years prior to the application deadline in a university outside the Czech Republic (exceptions to this rule apply for parental or medical leave; for other reasons please contact us directly).
  • Conducting a research befitting one of the CEFRES Research areas (postdoc 1) or a Tandem project (postdoc 2)
  • Good command of English is mandatory, French is a plus.
Counterparts

UK-CEFRES post-doc research fellows are expected to:

  • contribute through their own research to the research area/project, within which they apply;
  • take part in the scientific life of the CEFRES;
  • submit a yearly report on their research to the director of CEFRES;
  • come to live in Prague from 1 January 2024
Evaluation

The applications will be evaluated by a commission chaired by CEFRES Director and composed of researchers from and outside of the CEFRES, to represent the applicants’ various disciplines.

The two postdoctoral calls are detailed as follows:
Postdoc 1. One postdoctoral position within CEFRES research areas.

Call open from 20 June until 15 October 2023

The first post-doctoral position is intended for researchers whose research project can be part of one of CEFRES’s three research areas:

1 – Displacements, “Dépaysements” and Discrepancies: People, Knowledge & Practices
2 – Norms & Transgressions
3 – Objects, Traces, Mapping: Everyday Experience of Spaces

Research projects whose object is located in Central Europe, connected to this area and other areas or in comparison with other “cultural areas”, will be prioritized.

Application Package

Applicants must submit the complete application package consisting of the following elements:

  1. The application form duly filled in (to be downloaded here).
    The application form includes the description of the personal research project and must:
    1. specify the CEFRES research area you want to apply to and how the personal project will benefit it
    2. include:
      1. an explanation on the methodology and inputs of your own research, as well as a selected bibliography (max. 1 page-long)
      2.  expected outcomes (publications, conferences, and so forth).
  2. One letter of reference from the former PhD supervisor of the candidate. Please use the following model form to be downloaded here. The letter must mention the title of the PhD, the date of defense etc.
  3. A detailed CV
  4. A list of publications
  5. A copy of the PhD diploma

Application packages must be submitted by 15 October 2023 at 23:59 CET electronically in an email entitled “YOUR LAST NAME_CEFRES-UK” at: mateusz.chmurski@cefres.cz (send a copy to: claire.madl@cefres.cz). Please send the application form in both PDF and as a Word-document.

Postdoc 2 – A two–year post–doctoral research position at CEFRES in the frame of an international TANDEM incubator project (January 2024 – December 2025) between Dr. Martin Ďurďovič (Czech Academy of Sciences) and Dr. Gilles Lepesant (CNRS), based at CEFRES, Prague, Czech Republic

Call open from 20 September until 15 October 2023 Extended ⇒ 8 November 2023

The position is cofounded by Charles University and CEFRES in the frame of the CEFRES Platform cooperation, a Czech-French scientific cooperation platform in Humanities and Social Sciences. 

The position is suitable for young researchers with a background in social sciences and/or humanities whose research is related to energy, climate, sustainability, environmental issues or technologies, and whose academic interests intersect with the general framework of the TANDEM project entitled Contested energy transitions. Conflicts and social innovations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, and France.

This project aims at providing a better understanding of transition resistance and stakeholder conflicts arising as a result of the EU and national energy transition policies by comparing four member states: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, and France. Based on desk research, interviews, and participant observations, country-specific and transnational patterns of transition resistance and stakeholder conflict will be investigated, and social innovations for overcoming them will be identified.

  • The successful candidate is expected to stay in Prague, Czech Republic, for most of the time.
  • Besides carrying out her/his own research, she/he will assist the team in data collection, organizing seminars, preparing project proposals for research grants (Horizon Europe financing schemes incl. ERC grants, as well as French Science Foundation – ANR calls), and publications.
  • Strong organizational and interpersonal skills are required as well as fluency in either Czech, Slovak, German, or French.
  • A very good command of written and spoken English is also requested. Experience in participating in international research projects would be appreciated. 

The young scientist will be affiliated with CEFRES and benefit from collaboration with the Institutes of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences and a chosen Department at Charles University. The position can lead to further project–based collaboration.

Application package

Applicants must submit the complete application package consisting of the following elements:

  1. The application form duly filled in (please download it here). The application form includes the description of the personal research project and must:
    1. specify the name of the TANDEM research project and explain how the personal research work will benefit it;
    2. include: an explanation on the methodology and inputs of your own research, as well as a selected bibliography (max. 1 page-long)
    3. expected outcomes (publications, conferences, and so forth).
  2. A letter of reference from the former PhD supervisor (please use and download the form here). The letter must mention the title of the PhD, the date of defense etc.
  3. A detailed CV
  4. A list of publications
  5. A copy of the PhD diploma

Please send the application form in both PDF and as a Word-document.

Application packages must be submitted electronically in an email entitled “YOUR LAST NAME_CEFRES-UK” at: mateusz.chmurski@cefres.cz

Please send a copy to: