Postdoctoral position: Times in Crisis, Times of Crisis: The Temporalities of Europe in Polycrisis

Centre for Comparative Culture Studies at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), invites applications for a 22-month postdoctoral position on the topic of TIME, CRISIS and MIGRATION to be filled by 1 September 2025, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Introduction
The postdoctoral position is opened in the framework of the international, collective research project ‘Times in Crisis, Times of Crisis: The Temporalities of Europe in Polycrisis’, which is funded by the CHANSE (March 2025 – February 2028). The postdoc will join a large research consortium led from University of Copenhagen with partner universities in Norway, Austria, Czechia, Slovenia and the UK. The post.doc will work closely together with the Work Package on Migration under the leadership of PL, Associate Professor Andreas Bandak.

The postdoc will work in the interdisciplinary research environment at the Centre for Comparative Culture Studies at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen. As part of a team of researchers coming from anthropology, ethnology, and memory studies the postdoc must be willing and able to participate in regular research and outreach activities where we engage in cross-disciplinary discussions.

Duties and responsibilities
We seek someone with expertise in contemporary migration in Scandinavia, who is able to design and undertake a research project on vernacular understandings of Crisis and Time. Centered in anthropology and working across art, history, ethnology, memory studies, and philosophy, this project critically places time at the heart of crisis work, asking what it means to live in times of crisis, how crisis changes over time, and how crisis is perceived in hindsight. Critically, what distinguishes ‘crisis time’ from ‘normal time’? The postdoc will work in the Migration Work Package (WP), where research will be conducted in Denmark and/or Norway with recent migrant arrivals, and related experiences of crisis. In what ways do migrants embody times of crisis by carrying crisis with them across borders and relocating to a different political system, and how do the receiving society experience migrants as presenting a crisis? The postdoc and the other team members will collectively and through their individual ethnographic studies respond to these research questions.

The postdoc is expected to actively participate in weekly meetings and reading groups at our centre and in the Migration WP with our partners in Bergen, and in the framework of the overall project with our partners in Slovenia, Czechia, Austria and the UK. There will accordingly also be online activities in the larger project as well as possibilities to co-organise seminars, workshops, and conferences. The applicant should also be aware that postdocs at the UCPH are expected to work full-time and will be asked to spend up to 20% of their working hours on teaching or supervision within the department’s curriculum, or perform other relevant tasks. The department can offer postdocs who teach up to 20% of their working hours, the Teaching and Learning in Higher Education programme without hourly compensation.

Qualification requirements
In order to be considered for the position, applicants must have research qualifications at least corresponding to what can be achieved as part of a successfully completed PhD within a relevant field.
For further details about the qualification requirements for postdocs, please refer to the job structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2013: https://ufm.dk/en/legislation/prevailing-laws-and-regulations/education/files/job-structure-for-academic-staff-at-universities-2013.pdf
For further information about the position, please contact the PI Andreas Bandak, e-mail: bandak@hum.ku.dk  

Introduction
The postdoctoral position is opened in the framework of the international, collective research project ‘Times in Crisis, Times of Crisis: The Temporalities of Europe in Polycrisis’, which is funded by the CHANSE (March 2025 – February 2028). The postdoc will join a large research consortium led from University of Copenhagen with partner universities in Norway, Austria, Czechia, Slovenia and the UK. The post.doc will work closely together with the Work Package on Migration under the leadership of PL, Associate Professor Andreas Bandak.

The postdoc will work in the interdisciplinary research environment at the Centre for Comparative Culture Studies at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen. As part of a team of researchers coming from anthropology, ethnology, and memory studies the postdoc must be willing and able to participate in regular research and outreach activities where we engage in cross-disciplinary discussions.

Duties and responsibilities
We seek someone with expertise in contemporary migration in Scandinavia, who is able to design and undertake a research project on vernacular understandings of Crisis and Time. Centered in anthropology and working across art, history, ethnology, memory studies, and philosophy, this project critically places time at the heart of crisis work, asking what it means to live in times of crisis, how crisis changes over time, and how crisis is perceived in hindsight. Critically, what distinguishes ‘crisis time’ from ‘normal time’? The postdoc will work in the Migration Work Package (WP), where research will be conducted in Denmark and/or Norway with recent migrant arrivals, and related experiences of crisis. In what ways do migrants embody times of crisis by carrying crisis with them across borders and relocating to a different political system, and how do the receiving society experience migrants as presenting a crisis? The postdoc and the other team members will collectively and through their individual ethnographic studies respond to these research questions.

The postdoc is expected to actively participate in weekly meetings and reading groups at our centre and in the Migration WP with our partners in Bergen, and in the framework of the overall project with our partners in Slovenia, Czechia, Austria and the UK. There will accordingly also be online activities in the larger project as well as possibilities to co-organise seminars, workshops, and conferences. The applicant should also be aware that postdocs at the UCPH are expected to work full-time and will be asked to spend up to 20% of their working hours on teaching or supervision within the department’s curriculum, or perform other relevant tasks. The department can offer postdocs who teach up to 20% of their working hours, the Teaching and Learning in Higher Education programme without hourly compensation.

Qualification requirements
In order to be considered for the position, applicants must have research qualifications at least corresponding to what can be achieved as part of a successfully completed PhD within a relevant field.
For further details about the qualification requirements for postdocs, please refer to the job structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2013: https://ufm.dk/en/legislation/prevailing-laws-and-regulations/education/files/job-structure-for-academic-staff-at-universities-2013.pdf
For further information about the position, please contact the PI Andreas Bandak, e-mail: bandak@hum.ku.dk  

Application
Submit the application online in Adobe PDF or Word format.
Please click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of this page.
The application must be written in English and include the following enclosures:

• Application letter/cover letter (max 1 page).
• Curriculum vitae (with applicant’s email and telephone number).
• Documentation of qualifications (examination certificates/PhD diploma, etc.).
• Project description and research plan, including a short description of previous research and a plan for the proposed project that includes an account of how the applicant will contribute to the overall project ‘Times in Crisis, Times of Crisis: The Temporalities of Europe in Polycrisis.’ (max 5 pages).
• Documentation of teaching qualifications and research dissemination, if any
• Publications. Applicants may choose a maximum of three publications for assessment. Publication dates must be clearly marked on the publication list. The publications selected must be uploaded as attachments and listed from 1 to 3.
• Complete and numbered list of publications. The list must be structured systematically and divided into the following categories:
• Peer-reviewed publications:
  • Monographs and anthologies
  • Articles in journals
  • Book chapters/anthology contributions, etc.
• Non-peer-reviewed publications:
  • Publications disseminating research findings, etc.

The enclosed publications must be marked with *.
Should any material submitted consist of work with named co-authors, or work that is otherwise the result of collective academic endeavours, the extent of the applicant’s contribution to the work must be clearly stipulated. The Faculty may ask for a signed statement from the co-authors stipulating the extent and nature of each individual’s contribution.
Only material in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and English can be expected to be assessed.

Appointment procedure
Once the deadline for applications has expired, the Head of Department will consider advice from the appointment committee and select applicants for assessment. All applicants will be notified whether they have been shortlisted. The Head of Department will then set up an expert assessment committee to consider the applications. The selected applicants will be informed who is serving on the committee. They will be offered the opportunity to comment on the committee’s assessment of their application before the appointment is announced.
Further information about the application procedure is available from HR South (HR), e-mail: hr-soendre@adm.ku.dk. Please refer to ID number 211-2187/25-2I

Salary and conditions 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 DKK 38,700.00 per month, (EUR 5,184) + a 17,1 % contribution to the pension scheme. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis.
The Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC) have further agreed on a protocol that makes it possible for international researchers employed by the University to achieve a pension exemption, whereby the pension contribution will be paid out as salary. For more information about the different pension schemes, please read more here: https://ism.ku.dk/salary-tax-pension/pension/
If you consider applying from abroad, you may find useful information on how it is to work in Denmark and at UCPH here: http://ism.ku.dk, http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/frontpage.htm and https://www.workindenmark.dk/
UCPH wishes to encourage everyone interested in this post to apply, regardless of personal background.

Applicants must submit the application electronically no later than 1 June 2025 at 23:59 (11:59 pm) [CEST]

Applications or supplementary material received thereafter will not be considered.