PhD Scholarship (Medical Humanities)

The Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), and the Centre for Culture and the Mind invite applications for one PhD scholarship, starting no later than 1 April 2026.

The position is funded jointly by the DNRF Centre of Excellence, Centre for Culture and the Mind (CULTMIND) and The Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies (ENGEROM).

The successful candidate will work closely with the Centre leader Ana Antic and Co-PI Jessica Carlsson Lohmann, Head of Research at the Competence Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry, Ballerup. The candidate will join a dynamic international and interdisciplinary research team, based at the Centre.

The Centre for Culture and the Mind explores the puzzling relationship between cultural differences and the human psyche from a variety of disciplinary perspectives: historical, anthropological, psychiatric, literary and psychological. It zooms in on the core questions about the universality or otherwise of the human mind, which remain as difficult to answer today as they were a century ago.

The Centre proposes that the issue of culture-mind relationship lays at the core of many social, political and medical debates: within cross-cultural psychiatry/psychotherapy, in trauma studies, and in migration and refugee studies. It explores how the human mind and common humanity have been imagined in different cultural, sociopolitical and disciplinary contexts, examining the assumptions and forces which shaped such definitions. By analysing how different cross-cultural models of the psyche were formulated and critiqued, the Centre’s interdisciplinary team aims to develop a new framework for understanding cross-cultural interventions and their politics, and to arrive at a more nuanced model of interaction between socio-cultural contexts and ideas of the psyche.

The Centre consists of four interrelated thematic strands: cross-cultural research in human sciences; cross-cultural notions of trauma and resilience; cross-cultural therapeutics and creative mind; and cross-cultural encounters and population movements (migration).

Introduction
PhD studies consist of research programmes that qualify students for independent and wide-ranging research, development and teaching at international level. The main emphasis is on PhD students organising and conducting their own research project (under supervision). The programme culminates in the submission of a PhD thesis, which the student must defend in public. The PhD programme must be undertaken as a three-year full-time study within the framework of the 5+3 study programme. 

A PhD opens a range of career opportunities in academia and elsewhere. As well as writing a thesis, PhD students work in active research environments in Denmark and abroad. They contribute to the academic environment, take research training courses and convey the results of their research in teaching, at academic conferences and to the public.

Qualification requirements
The PhD student will be a core member of the Centre’s thematic strand on cross-cultural exchanges and population movements. This strand, informed by multiple disciplines such as anthropology, history, literature and clinical practice, explores how different ‘psy’ and social science disciplines have conceptualised the mind and its socio-cultural attributes to address questions and problems related to cross-cultural movement, communication and understanding. It focuses on the fields of migration and refugee psychiatry, exploring their complex histories and their vital role in shaping present-day discussions about migration and refugeedom. Among other themes, it explores the role of translation and interpretation in the context of refugee and transcultural psychiatry, and asks how displacement, cultural adaptation and integration became constructed as fields of psychiatric intervention.

The PhD student will work on a project that focuses on clinical encounters between patients and psychiatrists with different linguistic (and cultural) backgrounds and explores the role of interpreters in contextualising and translating psychological and emotional concepts, social practices and expectations, and culturally specific beliefs about mental illness. The perspective will be sociolinguistic and/or anthropological. How are cross-cultural meetings in psychiatric contexts organised and facilitated? What is the role of interpreters in cross-cultural psychiatric clinics, and how does their work interact with clinical concerns, cultural assumptions and broader societal and political expectations? What specific challenges and problems might emerge in the clinical encounter as a result of cross-cultural translation/interpretation? These are some of the questions guiding the project, but the successful candidate will be able to adjust and develop them in accordance with their interests. It is expected that the project will focus on interviews with interpreters, psychiatrists, nurses and social workers, focus groups with patients, and textual analysis of transcripts and recordings of psychiatric sessions. The primary setting will be CULTMIND’s core partner, Competence Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry (CTP). Knowledge of one of the core languages of the clinic (Arabic, Farsi, Ukrainian) is an asset.

The successful candidate is expected to work both independently and in collaboration with the Centre’s research team.

Qualification requirements
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to master’s level related to the subject area of the project, e.g. literature, modern languages, linguistics, anthropology or medical humanities. They should be interested in expanding their knowledge in the field of translation, migration studies, cross-cultural communication and transcultural psychiatry.

If you have completed your education in Denmark, you must have a master’s degree covered by the collective agreement for academics in the state sector. If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, you must either have a master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years) or as minimum a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor’s degree (three years) and be assessed as having professional qualifications at master's level.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, we will obtain an assessment of your education from the Danish Research Agency.

The candidate will be expected to conduct original research, and to produce a doctoral dissertation focused on analysing the relationship between language, culture and mental illness in a clinical setting.

Within the Centre’s research team, the candidate will take part in broader intellectual and methodological discussions around the project’s goals and general directions. Experience with collaborative and interdisciplinary work will be an asset. The candidate should be able to teach in global history, anthropology and global medical humanities under the auspices of CULTMIND.

The position is co-financed by the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies. The department provides a framework for research and education in English, German, Italian, French and Spanish and their associated literatures, cultures and societies. The candidate is expected to contribute to the department’s teaching and research environment.

Applicants must possess skills in written and spoken academic English at a high level. If deemed necessary, the department may request that applicants document their English skills.

Application
All applications must be submitted online, in PDF or Microsoft Word format, via the link “Apply now” at the bottom of the page.

The application must include:

1. Cover letter (max. one page detailing your motivation and background for applying with the specific PhD project).
2. CV   
3. Project description (no more than 3 pages not including bibliography).
4. Project abstract (please fill in the “Project abstract” box in the application form. Must not exceed 1,200 characters).
5. Diploma and transcripts of records (bachelor’s and master’s degree).
6. Other relevant material (statements of consent, e.g. regarding access to special archives and approval of studies abroad, may be submitted along with the applications. It is not necessary to include commitments from supervisors).

Please do not upload or submit recommendations, publications, theses, etc.

Assessment criteria
The following criteria are applied when assessing PhD applications:

• The quality, originality and feasibility of the PhD project
• Research qualifications, as reflected in the attached CV and project description
• Competencies and knowledge of relevant fields of academic research
• Level (grades obtained) of bachelor and master’s studies.

The recruitment process 
After the deadline for applications, the Head of Department considers advice from the Appointment Committee and then selects applicants for assessment. All applicants will be notified whether they have been shortlisted. After this, the Head of Department sets up an expert Assessment Committee to assess the shortlisted applications. The selected applicants will be informed who is serving on the committee. Individual applicants will be offered the opportunity to comment on the committee’s assessment of their application before the appointment is announced.

For further information about the application procedure, please refer to the University of Copenhagen website: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

Enrolment
It is a prerequisite for employment that successful applicants enrol at the PhD School of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen.

For further information about the structure of the PhD programme, please refer to: https://phd.humanities.ku.dk/phd-programme/structure/.

For further information about the guidelines for PhD studies at UCPH, please refer to: https://phd.ku.dk/english/.

Salary and terms of employment
Terms of appointment and salary will be in accordance with an agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The salary range starts at approximately DKK 31,242 (EUR 4,182) + an 18.01 % contribution to the pension scheme.

According to the agreement, the PhD Fellow is required to carry out tasks at the relevant department to an extent corresponding to 840 working hours (6 months) without additional pay. The work obligation can include teaching, for instance.

An equal opportunity workplace
University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the diversity of society, and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their personal backgrounds. For more  information on the diverse working place environment at the university and the university’s participation in the HRS4R, please see: https://employment.ku.dk/working-at-ucph/eu-charter-for-researchers/.

International applicant?
The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about these services as well as information on entering and working in Denmark here: https://ism.ku.dk/.

Contact
Further information about the application procedure is available from HR at hr-soendre@adm.ku.dk. Please refer to ID number 211-2283/25-2H #2.

For further information, including more details on the Centre for Culture and the Mind, please contact Ana Antic at ana.antic@hum.ku.dk.

If you have any questions about the academic content of the PhD programme, please e-mail the PhD coordinator at the Department of English, Germanic and Romance studies, Martyn Bone at bone@hum.ku.dk.

The deadline for applications is 23 November 2025 at 23:59 CET.

Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered. However, changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline.