colloquium lecture
18:15 pm, IW3 0330 / hybrid
Introduction for students.
Muriel Nägler (FSO)
Doctoral Researchers / Phd candidates (f/m/d)
Within the Research Training Group 2686 "Contradiction Studies - Constellations, Heuristics and Concepts of the Contradictory", funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), 12 positions are available at the University of Bremen – subject to approval – as
- Doctoral Researchers / PhD candidates (f/m/d)
Salary group 13 TV-L / 75%
The positions are to commence on June 1, 2022 with a duration of three years and aimed at obtaining a doctorate degree within this timeframe.
The employment is fixed-term and governed by the Act of Academic Fixed-Term Contract, §2 (1) (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz – WissZeitVG). Therefore, candidates may only be considered for appointment if they still have the respective qualification periods available in accordance with § 2 (1) WissZeitVG.
The newly established interdisciplinary research training group comprises Empirical Cultural Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, German and Interdisciplinary Linguistics, Literary and Cultural Romance Studies, North American and Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies, Medieval and Early Modern German Literary Studies, Jurisprudence, Human Geography, Political Science, East European History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies.
We invite applications related to one or more of the above subjects.
About the Research Training Group
The Research Training Group (RTG) “Contradiction Studies” brings a variety of academic fields into dialogue. We seek to develop new interdisciplinary perspectives that investigate how people, groups, institutions and states negotiate concepts of contradiction and demands for non-contradiction, and how they might develop ways of dealing with the contradictions of coexistence.
The underlying assumption of the RTG is that the demand to resolve contradictions often is in tension with our everyday lives, where the contradictory remains unresolved. The RTG asks how and under which conditions concepts of the contradictory emerge, when and where they become visible as such and sometimes are even tolerated, and when they are made invisible and/or considered unacceptable. In this context, it is also important to unearth where the imperative of freedom from contradiction has its limits.
Constellations of contradiction, avoidance of contradiction, contradictoriness and practices of dissent are explored systematically from the perspectives of the humanities, social sciences and law, and in dialogue with postcolonially oriented discussions of the cosmopolitization of knowledge production.
We offer our fellows an intellectually stimulating place for further academic qualification and mutual exchange. We understand ourselves as a laboratory of cooperative forms of work in academia with flat hierarchies. In addition to the principles of good scientific practice and an ethos of responsible research, the RTG supports the compatibility of research, family and care, as well as a diversity of perspectives on the basis of respect, mutual recognition and cooperation. Fostering diversity and international exchange are core concerns of the RTG.
For further information on our research program and on the researchers involved in the Research Training Group who are available to supervise your doctoral research, please visit
https://contradictionstudies.uni-bremen.de/en/the-research-training-group/research-program/ and
https://contradictionstudies.uni-bremen.de/en/faculty-en/
The Research Training Group is part of the interdisciplinary research platform "Worlds of Contradiction" (WoC) at the University of Bremen: https://www.woc.uni-bremen.de
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for recent graduates with dissertation projects that fall into one of the academic disciplines participating in the RTG, and that are of interdisciplinary relevance within the framework of Contradiction Studies. Empirical or theoretical projects as well as combined approaches are welcome.
In your letter of motivation and in the outline of your dissertation project, we invite you to consider one or more of the following questions:
- How do people live with contradictions?
- In which social arenas and with what consequences are contradictions bound to the imperative of their resolution?
- How can we describe practices of negotiating diversity and incompatibilities that take a critical stance toward the principle of non-contradiction?
- How can contradiction be questioned or decentered as part of the foundations of Western/Northern knowledge production?
- In which academic discipline/field are you and your dissertation project situated, and how are interdisciplinary perspectives relevant to your own research?
Qualification Program
As a doctoral fellow you will participate in the qualification program of the RTG; your physical presence in Bremen is required. Our qualification program aims to promote early scientific independence, interdisciplinary exchange and cooperation. Extensive supervision of your doctoral project is a matter of course. For this purpose, supervision teams are formed and supervised peer mentoring and a modularized training program are implemented.
A variety of resources are available to support your work on the dissertation, including funding for international research stays, conference participation, and publications.
More information about the qualification program can be found at
https://contradictionstudies.uni-bremen.de/en/the-research-training-group/qualification-program/
Tasks of the doctoral fellows include
- Writing a doctoral dissertation consistent with the research topics and questions of the RTG
- Participation in the qualification program
- Taking an active role in shaping the RTG’s central research colloquium
Requirements
- Above-average university degree (usually a 2-year Master's degree) in one of the subjects of the RTG or in a related subject
- Interested in conducting research with interdisciplinary methods
- High communicative and social competence
- Good command of English and/or German
To apply, please submit the following documents combined into one PDF-file
Please note that all application documents must be submitted in either German or English. Any document submitted in a third language must be accompanied by a translation into either German or English.
- Application form (available to download here: https://contradictionstudies.uni-bremen.de/en/application/)
- A-Levels or equivalent (Matura, Abitur, High School Diploma, baccalauréat …)
- Copy of your Master’s degree certificate in a subject relevant to the RTG, including complete transcripts
- Two-page curriculum vitae; please do not include a photograph
- Two- to three-page letter of motivation explaining how your research interest fits into the thematic framework of the RTG and how you intend to contribute to the RTG; if applicable, please include information on specific methodological competencies and further knowledge and experience relevant to the RTG
- Short exposé of your dissertation project of up to five pages, including a brief research bibliography situating your project in current academic debates
- Two letters of recommendation from university teachers
- Optional: any further degrees or certificates indicating particular qualification for the RTG
Letters of recommendation can either be submitted as part of your application, or sent directly to us by your university teachers within the application deadline.
Please send your application by February 15th, 2022 (date of receipt) to:
University of Bremen, FB9, Graduiertenkolleg Contradiction Studies, Attn: Prof. Dr. Michi Knecht/Prof. Dr. Ingo H. Warnke, Postfach 33 04 40, 28334 Bremen, Germany.
or in electronic form (PDF), by e-mail to the spokespersons of the Research Training Group, Prof. Dr. Michi Knecht and Prof. Dr. Ingo H. Warnke.
- E-mail address for applications and letters of recommendation: grk2686@uni-bremen.de
- Please name the PDF containing your application documents as follows: Application_GRK2686_[insert your last name here].
Please refrain from mailing any original documents / please only send copies of diplomas etc. Note that all application material received will be destroyed after the selection process.
Interviews will take place via Zoom, most likely starting in the second half of February 2022, and are subject to strict data protection requirements.
If you have questions about the RTG or the application process, please take a look at our website and especially at the FAQ for applicants:
https://contradictionstudies.uni-bremen.de/en/application/faq-en/
If you do not find an answer to your question there, please feel free to contact Dr. Birte Löschenkohl: loeschen@uni-bremen.de.
The University of Bremen strives to increase the number of women in the academy and strongly encourages applications from female candidates. The University of Bremen has received awards for its diversity strategy and is certified as a family-friendly university. We expressly welcome applications from candidates with a migration background, international applications especially from the “Global South”, and applications from candidates belonging to any social groups currently underrepresented at the university. Disabled candidates will be given preference if their professional and personal qualifications are essentially equal.
The University of Bremen is a leading European research university and an inspirational place of education – it is diverse, socially responsible, cooperative, and creative. Its international nature is characterized by close cooperation with universities and research institutions worldwide, as well as by its role in shaping one of the first expressly European universities. Around 23,000 people learn, teach, research and work on our international campus.