"Area of Free­dom, Se­cur­ity and Justice"

The Centre of Excellence in Law, Identity and the European Narratives (www.eurostorie.org) Subproject Migration and the Narratives of Europe as an "Area of Freedom, Security and Justice"

The University of Helsinki (https://www.helsinki.fi/en) is an international scientific community of 40,000 students and researchers. It is one of the leading multidisciplinary research universities in Europe and ranks among the top 100 international universities in the world. We are an equal opportunity employer and offer an attractive and diverse workplace in an inspiring environment with a variety of development opportunities and benefits.

The University of Helsinki Faculty of Arts https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-of-arts is Finland’s oldest and largest unit of teaching and research in the arts in terms of the organization and selection of its disciplines. The Faculty is also a significant international community of research, education and culture.

The Faculty of Arts invites applications for the position of

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER

for a four-year fixed term period from 1 January 2022 onwards (or as agreed) to contribute to the subproject Migration and the Narratives of Europe as an "Area of Freedom, Security and Justice" of the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Law, Identity and the European Narratives (EuroStorie, www.eurostorie.org).

The CoE is a part of the interdisciplinary Centre of European Studies. The purpose of the CoE is to launch a new, third generation inquiry that critically explores the emergence of narratives of Europe as responses to the crises of the twentieth century and how these narratives have shaped the ideas of justice and community in Europe. It studies the foundational stories that underlie the contested idea of a shared European heritage in law and culture, such as the ideas of rule of law, equality, tolerance, pluralism and the rejection of totalitarianism, and their relevance for current debates on identity and history. The CoE is divided into three subprojects. For descriptions of the subprojects and their aims, please see https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/law-identity-and-the-european-....

The subproject Migration and the Narratives of Europe as an "Area of Freedom, Security and Justice" traces narratives of Europe, traversing through both historical and current experiences of displacement. It focuses on the impact of displacement on shaping the European legal, social and religious/cultural narratives. The subproject breaks up with the perception of displacement as one-sided and static transfer of knowledge and approaches it as dynamic and generative process. It traces the role of the experience of displacement and refuge in constructing the European legal and theological thought, in particular, the European identity grounded in the idea of rule of law and human rights. We encourage new and ambitious projects focusing on (but not limited to) digital borders and digitalisation of mobilities, institutional ethnographies, different regional perspectives, mobility histories, and research that would combine thematically two or three EuroStorie subprojects. We welcome applicants with a multidisciplinary academic background and experience in conducting high-level research in interdisciplinary groups. We offer an exciting and stimulating multidisciplinary research community.

QUALIFICATIONS

An appointee to the position must hold a doctoral degree in a relevant field of anthropology, sociology, human geography, law, or equivalent. Moreover, they are expected to have the ability to conduct independent scientific research and possess the teaching skills required for the position. The period following the completion of doctoral degree must not exceed five years, excluding family leave and equivalent periods of absence.

An appointee must be able to provide a clear contribution to the theme of the CoE and to its general development, together with full-time researchers, postdocs, visiting faculty, Ph.D. students, and graduate students working as research assistants. To fulfil the research requirements of the position, the applicant chosen is expected to be physically present on a regular basis and actively participate in the research and teaching activities of the CoE. An appointee is expected to contribute 2 months of the annual work time to joint projects at the CoE, develop her/his own and our common research agenda, and contribute to collective academic tasks such as teaching, seminars and joint academic papers. The teaching requirement is 5% of working time.

WHAT WE OFFER

We are an equal opportunity employer and offer an attractive and diverse workplace in an inspiring environment with a variety of development opportunities and benefits.

The salary shall be based on level 5 of the job requirement scheme for teaching and research staff in the salary system of Finnish universities. In addition, a salary component based on personal performance will be paid. The annual gross salary range will be approx. 41.000 – 50.000 depending on the appointee’s qualifications and experience. In addition, occupational healthcare will be provided. The employment contract will include a probationary period of six months.

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit your application through the University of Helsinki Recruitment System via the link Apply for job. Applicants who are employees of the University of Helsinki are requested to submit their application via the SAP HR portal. The deadline for applications is 23 April 2021.

Applicants are requested to enclose with their applications the following documents in English as a single pdf file:

1. A curriculum vitae (max 4 pages).
2. A numbered list of publications on which the applicant has marked in bold her or his five key publications to be considered during the review. (You do not need to send copies of the publications themselves.)
3. A statement (max 2 pages) outlining how the applicant’s expertise could contribute both to research conducted at the CoE and to cross-disciplinary collaboration between the subprojects of the CoE.
4. A research plan (max 6 pages) with an outline of how the study would contribute to the SP3 aims.

For instructions, please see https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-of-arts/faculty/instructions-to-appli....

Further information about the position, and about the research theme Migration and the Narratives of Europe as an "Area of Freedom, Security and Justice", may be obtained (in English and Finnish) from Prof. Reetta Toivanen (reetta.toivanen@helsinki.fi). and from the team leader Prof. Magdalena Kmak (magdalena.kmak@helsinki.fi). In case you need support with the recruitment system, please contact rosa.beckmann@helsinki.fi.

Due date

23.04.2021 23:59 EEST