At Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, within the “Transcultural Studies”-Research Centre financed by the German Excellence Initiative, the Research Group “Transcultural Heritage of Northwest Australia: Dynamics and Resistances” seeks to appoint one
“Akademische/n Mitarbeiter/in” (PhD Position) - 50 %

Starting date: 01. October 2014.
The position is limited to one year and will be extended for another two years pending positive evaluation.

The Research Group (RG) will examine the unique transcultural heritage of northwest Australia whose preservation is at the root of new alliances between environmentalists and local community members, scientists, tourists and travellers, in opposition to the large-scale industrialization of the region. In light of this, focus of the RG will be on how transcultural heritage preservation and sustainable development can be conceived of differently, namely as ecological projects of biocultural hope that take indigenous knowledge seriously.

The PhD project should be grounded in a transdisciplinary approach drawing on anthropology, archaeology, environmental humanities, history (especially art history), as well as geography (especially human geography). Preference will be given to candidates with a background in one (or more) of the above disciplines, who can present a clear understanding of how to combine methods from their home discipline with ethnographic practice and fieldwork.

Requirements:

- Outstanding university degree in anthropology or a related discipline relevant to the RG outline.
- Active participation in workshops, colloquia, and other projects of the RG such as conference organisations, publications, seminar presentations.
- Ability to work in a team.
- Applicants are expected to take residency in Heidelberg.

We offer a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary work environment, extensive supervision and exceptional resources (work space, research material, fieldwork support). You will be given the opportunity to work independently, context oriented, and to publish your findings. The payment will be according to the German system TV-L (Entgeltgruppe 13 TV-L, 50%).

Your application (in English or German) should include:
1. CV
2. Motivation letter
3. Project proposal (max. five pages, including workplan)
4. Degree certificates
5. Contact details of two academic referees

Please send your application preferably by email in ONE pdf document to ‘transcultural.studies[at]uni-heidelberg.de’ or by post to Dr. Carsten Wergin, Transcultural Studies, Marstallstraße 6, 69117 Heidelberg. Further enquiries can also be directed to the above addresses.

Deadline for applications: 31. July 2014.