University Assistant Predoctoral, Philological and Cultural Studies

45 Faculty of Philological and Cultural Studies
Startdate: 01.03.2024 | Working hours: 30 | Collective bargaining agreement: §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc)
Limited until: 29.02.2028
Reference no.: 1672

The Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies ranks among the largest university centres for the philological-cultural study of South Asia and Tibet in the German-speaking world and is the home of several third-party funded research projects. Through cooperation with numerous academic institutions worldwide, the Department is very well connected with the international scholarly community.

Your field of activity:

As a University Assistant Praedoc you will support the Assistant Professor of Buddhist Studies, Dr Christopher Jones, in the areas of research, administration and teaching in Buddhist Studies.

You will support our team in the fields of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies. You will have a focus on Buddhism and the pre-modern period, with interest in the religious, cultural and intellectual history of South Asia, and perhaps also that of Southeast, Central, and/or East Asia.

Your future tasks:

• You will be actively involved in research, teaching and administration, i.e:
• You will take up a doctoral project in the department. The thesis should be in one of the core areas of pre-modern Buddhist studies at the Institute, in particular on an aspect of pre-modern Buddhist literature, history, religious doctrine or philosophy, using a philological-historical and cultural studies methodology. The focus should be on Buddhism in a South Asian context, and possibly on its transmission to other parts of Asia, such as East Asia, Tibet, Southeast Asia and/or other regions.
• You will work on the department's research projects in the above-mentioned areas, and participate in activities associated with the Cluster of Excellence 'Eurasian Transformations' (https://medienportal.univie.ac.at/en/media/recent-press-releases/detailansicht-en/artikel/discovering-the-eurasian-miracle/ ).
• You will teach courses independently in accordance with the provisions of the collective agreement.
• You will take on administrative and other tasks at the Institute.

Your profile:

• Completed studies (Diploma, Mag.phil., MA, MPhil, or comparable degree) in the field mentioned under "Your field of activity" subject area. These studies should have developed competence in Sanskrit. Knowledge of at least one other Buddhist scriptural language is desirable.
• Good knowledge of the German language, if not a native speaker.
• Good general computer skills and familiarity with IT applications and solutions relevant to text-based pre-modern Buddhist studies (word processing, databases, digitization, optical recognition of characters etc.).
• Interest in familiarizing yourself with relevant aspects of the "Digital Humanities".
• Ability to work in a team, good organizational skills, reliability and thoroughness.

What we offer:

Work-life balance: Our employees enjoy flexible, family-friendly working hours, remote/hybrid and/or part-time work (upon agreement).

Inspiring working atmosphere: You are a part of an international academic team in a healthy and fair working environment.

Good public transport connections: Your workplace in the center of beautiful Vienna is easily accessible by public transport.

Internal further training & Coaching: Opportunity to deepen your skills on an ongoing basis. There are over 600 courses to choose from – free of charge.

Fair salary: The basic salary of EUR 3277,30 (on a full-time basis) increases if we can credit professional experience.

Equal opportunities for everyone: We look forward to diverse personalities in the team!

The employment duration is 4 years. Initially limited to 1.5 years, the employment relationship is automatically extended to 4 years if the employer does not terminate it within the first 12 months by submitting a non-extension declaration.

Please apply:

• With your letter of motivation with details of a possible research project for the doctorate.
• With a scientific curriculum vitae.
• If applicable, with a list of publications.
• With two letters of recommendation to be sent by the recommenders directly to [email protected].
• Via our job portal/ Apply now - button

If you have any questions, please contact:

Christopher Jones  

[email protected]

We look forward to new personalities in our team!
The University of Vienna has an anti-discriminatory employment policy and attaches great importance to equal opportunities, the advancement of women  and diversity . We lay special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions among the academic and general university staff and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.

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​Application deadline: 02/02/2024 

Prae Doc