Full-time doctoral student position.

Application Deadline Prolonged until: 31.3.2022

Project: ‘Romani Atlantic: Transcontinental Logic of Ethno-Racial Identities,’ Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia.

Funded Ph.D. position

We are pleased to announce a position available on the project funded by the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Job Title

Doctoral Student (Full-time)

The Institution

Institute of Ethnology pursues both the basic and applied research in the field of ethnology and cognate fields. The general aim of the Department of Mobility and Migration, where the project is based, is to understand the role of mobility and migration in the contemporary world and to describe and theorise how identities, practices, discourses, institutions, and places are formed and transformed as a function of movement through space and time.

Position

Under the supervision of Dr. Martin Fotta, the candidate will conduct ethnographic research in northern Brazil and other Lusophone locales. The doctoral student will work as a part of a research team within the project ‘Romani Atlantic: Transcontinental Logic of Ethno-Racial Identities’ funded by the Lumina Quaeruntur Award of the Czech Academy of Sciences. CAS is a research-only institution, so the student will simultaneously be based at and receive their PhD degree from Charles University*.

Job information at a glance

• Expected start date: 01.07.2022 (or 01.09.2022 latest)
• Duration: 4.5 years
• FTE: full-time position
• Workplace: Prague (a candidate must be prepared to relocate to Prague)
• Salary: a gross salary of EUR 1250 per month (In addition, if the applicant receives their PhD through Charles University, they will be paid an additional EUR 400 per month for three years as the state stipend).

Your qualifications

• Master’s degree in anthropology or related discipline.
• Highly organized researcher with a demonstrated capability of working autonomously.
• Excellent oral and written English skills are required; working knowledge of Romani, Portuguese or Czech would be an advantage.
• Familiarity with critical race studies, decolonial and postcolonial theories is an advantage.
• Experience with different ethnographic methods and/or with archival research will be highly valued.

* A successful candidate will have to apply and be accepted to the doctoral program at the Institute of Sociological Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. The details and the procedure will be explained during the interview.

We offer

• Opportunities to work alongside experienced scholars within an innovative research project.
• Possibility to learn different skills, such as ethnographic fieldwork methods, coding, analysing qualitative data, writing journal articles and funding applications.
• Funding for fieldwork and to participate at conferences.
• Training seminars and workshops to further professional qualifications and for personal development.
• Institutional affiliation with the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Charles University in Prague.
• Pleasant working environment in the centre of Prague.

Application process

The application must contain following documents:

• Motivation letter
• CV
• Writing sample
• Copies of your university degrees and of official transcripts
• The names and contact details of two potential referees

The deadline for the application is 31.03.2022, 5 pm Central European Time. Please email a single pdf file to office@eu.cas.cz under the subject ‘Romani Atlantic PhD position.’

About the project

The project ‘Romani Atlantic: Transcontinental Logic of Ethno-Racial Identities’ recasts Roma from ‘the largest European minority’ to a pan-Atlantic diaspora shaped by the processes and relationships that structure the globalized world. It advances our understanding of the relational nature of identity formation and social classifications. Despite the centuries-long presence of Roma in the Americas and Africa, scholarship remains methodologically Eurocentric. Romani identities are commonly treated in isolation from global connections that shape how they view themselves and are viewed relative to other ethno-racial communities. Alternatively, the project proposes to investigate Romani identity within comparative, transnational, and intercultural frameworks. The team will conduct ethnographic and archival research in the South Atlantic (Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde) and examine Romani social position in relation to other ethno-racial projects (e.g., Atlantic slavery). This will generate insights into how different racial contexts impact their belonging and interethnic interactions.

Further information

If you have further questions or want more information, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Martin Fotta by email (Fotta@eu.cas.cz).

Institute of Ethnology CAS aims to employ more women researchers. We particularly encourage female and non-binary candidates to apply. Romani applicants of equal aptitude will be given preference.

We are looking forward to receiving your application!

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