Postdoctoral position in the ERC Consolidator Project INNER_LEAGUE at the Saxo Institute at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen

The Saxo Institute, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), invites applications for a postdoctoral position in the ERC Consolidator Project INNER_LEAGUE, from 1 January 2026.

The position is a fixed term position for 30 months.

Introduction
INNER_LEAGUE is a 5-year ERC Consolidator Project (2025-2030), headed by Haakon A. Ikonomou (PI). INNER_LEAGUE provides a comprehensive social-bureaucratic history of the League of Nations Secretariat. The project will investigate the inner life of the secretariat to (a) understand how it shaped the professional lives of the ca. 4000 people that worked there. And (b) how this global workplace shaped the lasting bureaucratic infrastructures of multilateralism it serviced.

To deliver on its undertaking, the project implements an approach combining social, institutional, and digital history across three work packages: (i) Communities, (ii) Hierarchies, and (iii) Infrastructures.

To operationalize its approach, INNER_LEAGUE has several concrete objectives:

1. To systematically uncover and analyze the emergence, endurance, change and impact of professional, educational, epistemic, social, and emotional communities within the League Secretariat.
2. To examine the often-contested formation of hierarchies within the League Secretariat via state-of-the-art digital approaches.
3. To investigate how processes of community building and hierarchization impacted upon the professional lives of the staff of the League Secretariat.
4. To study and explain how, and under what material circumstances, these hierarchized communities of officials and staff built, maintained, operated, and passed on new infrastructures of multilateralism.

The project is hosted at the Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen. The Saxo Institute at the Faculty of Humanities is dedicated to the study of human societies past and present, with degree programs ranging from History to Archeology, Ethnology, Classical Languages and Migration Studies.

Duties and Responsibilities
We are looking for a historian (PhD degree) with experience in researching (and publishing on) the history of international organizations, international public administrations and multilateral diplomacy in the 20th (and 21st) century. Experience in working with IO-archives and proficiency in reading and writing in English and French is a requirement. A proven ability to work with social historical, cultural historical, prosopographical and/or biographical approaches is desired.

The postdoc will focus on three aspects:

1. The emotional communities constructed in the publications, memoirs, biographies and reminiscences of the officials and staff of the League Secretariat, at the time of its existence (1919-1947) and afterwards.
2. The educational backgrounds and professional communities of officials and staff within the League Secretariat, and their educational and professional relationships to outside institutions.
3. The careers of officials and staff when leaving the League Secretariat.

The postdoc is expected to write at least three single-author peer-reviewed articles in leading and relevant journals (unless other arrangements are arrived at with the PI), to contribute to the project’s substantial collective prosopographical work (among other things with the aim of creating a new version of VisuaLeague), and to work together with other project members constructively to further the overall research ambitions of the project.

The postdoc will include collaborations with relevant research partners in Europe, including the United Nations Library and Archives in Geneva, and extended archival missions.

Qualification requirements and assessment criteria
Employment as a postdoc requires academic qualifications at PhD level.

More information on careers at UCPH and the requirement for the different academic positions is available on:
Career at The University of Copenhagen – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk)

For more about postdoc positions and qualification requirements, see the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities: Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities (in Danish only).

Applicants will primarily be assessed in relation to their research qualifications, including their publications, ability to conduct independent research and participate in research collaborations, and their experience of research management. In addition, the applicant’s research plan and research potential will be assessed in relation to the overall and specific research requirements of INNER_LEAGUE described above.

Teaching qualifications are not a requirement.

Application
Applications must be submitted online in PDF or Word format. Click on the “Apply now” button at the bottom of this advertisement to apply.
Applications should be written in English and must include the following attachments:  

1. Letter of motivation
2. CV
3. Documentation of qualifications (exam certificates, Masters and PhD diploma) 
4. Complete publication list (attached publications must be marked with an asterisk). 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.​​​​​​​
   • Applicants can attach a maximum of 3 publications. The publication dates must be clearly marked on the list. The selected publications must be uploaded as attachments and numbered 1-3. 
5. Research proposal (3-5 pages relating to the description of the position above)

Only documentation in English will be assessed.  

Applicants are invited to familiarize themselves with the faculty’s strategic landmarks here: Strategic landmarks – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk)

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 approx. DKK 38,700 (approx. EUR 5,185) + a 17,1 % contribution to the pension scheme. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis.

The recruitment process
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 on the recruitment process at University of Copenhagen can be found here: Recruitment process – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk)

An Equal Opportunity Workplace
The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc. For more on the diverse working place environment at the University and the University’s participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in Research, see HR Excellence in Research – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk)

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: For international researchers at the University of Copenhagen – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk)

Contact information
Information about the recruitment process is available from HR, email: HR-SOENDRE@adm.ku.dk, please refer to ID number: 211-2191/25-2I #2.

Additional information about the position can be obtained from Haakon A. Ikonomou, email: ikonomou@hum.ku.dk, phone +4530238132.

The deadline for applications is 23:59 CEST on 3 August 2025.  

Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered.