Postdoc in Migration Ethics (PA2024/526)

The postdoctoral position is connected to the project “Faith-Based Refugee Relief in Europe: Connecting the Empirical and the Ethical (FABRIC)”, funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant. FABRIC aims to understand and utilize the moral insights and the moral ideas that faith-based refugee relief organizations develop in practice for the cross-disciplinary debate about the ethics of forced migration in Europe. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) have been at the forefront of the challenge of forced migration, preventing the collapse of the infrastructures of care, combatting racist discourse and religious discrimination. Yet there is very little knowledge about the refugee relief of these FBOs so their significance for the ethics of migration has been neither analyzed nor assessed.

FABRIC addresses this lack by conducting a comprehensive and comparative empirical exploration of FBOs, covering activities by FBOs from all three Abrahamic faiths in mono- and multi-religious settings across Europe. Countering the lack of interaction between empirical and evaluative approaches so characteristic of the study of forced migration, this exploration enquires into the conditions, constraints, and consequences of practicing justice. It offers a concrete account of faith-based refugee relief in order to formulate a concept of mobility justice that considers cross-connections between social, racial, and climate justice on regional, national, and global scales.

Candidates are expected to apply to the postdoctoral position with a research proposal that contributes to the overall project. Proposals can approach faith-based refugee relief from a variety of angles. Proposals that draw on public and political theology to connect empirical and ethical perspectives on multi-faith-based refugee relief in Europe are particularly welcome.

The postdoctoral position is placed at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (CTR) within the subject of Global Christianity.

The person appointed is expected to contribute to FABRIC, led by Professor Ulrich Schmiedel. This contribution includes both administrative and academic tasks, especially fieldwork with faith-based refugee relief organizations across Europe. In addition, the person appointed will undertake their proposed research project.

The person appointed is expected to contribute to the research environment through active participation in research-related activities at CTR. The duties require regular attendance at the workplace.

Teaching, supervision, and other teaching-related duties may be involved within the framework of the position, but for not more than 20% of working hours.

• You are to have completed a Ph.D. or an international degree deemed equivalent in theology or a theology-related subject. This requirement must be fulfilled no later than the date when the decision to appoint is made, and as an applicant, you are responsible for supplementing your application with documentation that confirms the completed doctoral degree. The supplement should be emailed to Head of Department Hege Markussen . The position is a career development post, and its purpose is to act as an initial step on a career path. The candidate most likely to come into question is one who has completed a doctoral degree no more than three years prior to the application deadline. If there are special circumstances such as leave of absence because of illness, parental leave, position as elected representative in trade union organisations, military service or service/assignments relevant to the subject area, this time can be deducted from the time elapsed since the doctoral degree was completed.
• Advanced proficiency in English and sufficient proficiency in languages relevant to the proposed research project.

• Good ability to develop and carry out high-quality research.
• Teaching skills.

The main criterion for a postdoctoral fellowship is research expertise. To aid in the assessment of qualifications, you are to submit a project plan of the research you intend to carry out during your employment. Only applicants whose research plan and previous work could strengthen the research team of FABRIC as a whole will be considered for the position of postdoc.

If you have undergone teaching and learning in higher education training equivalent to two weeks in accordance with the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions’ recommendations, you are deemed to have teaching skills. If the person appointed does not possess this, or equivalent training, and if teaching is part of the work duties, such training is to be offered within the framework of the position.

• documented research output with relevance to FABRIC
• documented ability to conclude similar research projects
• documented research specialization in public theology, political theology, or comparative theology
• documented experience of conducting fieldwork
• documented experience of working in a research team
• documented experience of participating in interdisciplinary and international research collaborations
• documented experience of public engagement
• documented experience of organizing academic conferences.

The appointment is limited to two years and is full time in accordance with the “Agreement regarding fixed-term employment as a postdoctoral fellow,” collective agreement made between Swedish Agency for Government Employers and OFR/S, Saco-S, on 19 November 2021.

Lund University is a public authority which means that you receive specific benefits, generous annual leave and an advantageous occupational pension. Read more about being an employee at Lund University on the University website Work for us.

Training in teaching and learning in higher education equivalent to two weeks in accordance with the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions is offered within the framework of the position if teaching is part of the work duties.

The application should be written in English.

You can find instructions on how to compile an application here: https://www.ht.lu.se/en/the-faculties/academic-vacancies/how-to-apply-for-a-postdoc-position-at-the-joint-faculties-of-humanity-and-theology/ .