The University Research Priority Program (URPP) Asia and Europe of the University of Zurich explores exchanges and encounters between Asia and Europe that have taken and continue to take place in the areas of culture, law, religion and society. It promotes research by junior graduate scholars at both doctoral and post-doctoral levels within a structured and interdisciplinary research environment.

We invite applications for

Starting date: 1 January 2013

The positions are assigned to the first or the second research field of the URPP Asia and Europe and are intended for PhD candidates. Post-doctoral applications will not be taken into account. Candidates are expected to enroll in the URPP’s graduate program, where discussions are conducted in German and/or English. Candidates should therefore have adequate knowledge of German or be ready to acquire the necessary language skills upon notice of election. The applications should submit an original research project relating to one of the following research topics:

Research Field 1: Concepts and Taxonomies

The research field currently focuses on the concept of religion. It is particularly interested in analyses of con­ceptual maps of the religious field (or a religious field) which concern appellations and descriptions of denominations, structures of religious „subject area“ and expertise, or identifications of institutions and their components from both an „inside“ and an „outside“ perspective. The overall goal is to contribute to the concretization and differentiation of the concept of religion in terms of its historical semantics.

Research Field 2: Entangled Histories

The main focus of this field is currently in two areas:

Projects that seek to integrate theories and methods from cultural studies and natural sciences in order to develop an innovative approach to environmental, spatial or bodily discourses and agencies are particularly welcome.

Requirements: M.A. or equivalent academic degree qualifying the candidate to submit a PhD thesis in one of the following disciplines: Chinese Studies, East Asian Art History, Gender Studies, General and Comparative Literature, Geography, History, Indian Studies, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Japanese Studies, Law, Political Science, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Study of Religions, Theology.

Employment conditions: PhD-position at the University of Zurich for the duration of one year. Employment at the URPP Asia and Europe serves to prepare an application for funding with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and other institutions funding research. The salary is according to the University’s regulations for PhD-students. PhD dissertations are to be submitted at the University of Zurich.

We offer: a stimulating, demanding and competitive disciplinary and interdisciplinary research environment (4 fa­culties, 14 disciplines).

Applications should be submitted electronically in a single PDF-Document by 23 July 2012 according to the application guidelinespublished on our website (www.asienundeuropa.uzh.ch/aboutus/application.html). Please send them to the following email address:

bewerbungen@asienundeuropa.uzh.ch

For further information, please contact:

For questions regarding Research Field 1: Dr. Ralph Weber, Senior Researcher and Lecturer URPP Asia and Europe, email: ralph.weber@uzh.ch

For questions regarding Research Field 2: Prof. Dr. Sven Trakulhun, Assistant Professor for Modern History of Asia, email: sven.trakulhun@uzh.ch 

For questions regarding organizational matters: Roman Benz, Acting Executive Manager URPP Asia and Europe, phone: +41 44 634 07 38