Job advertisements

The Seminar for Ancient History at the University of Tübingen invites applications for the position of a

Postdoctoral Research Assistant (m/f/d, 100%)

to work as part of the project

Land and Loyalty: the politics of land in the later Roman World (4th-6th c.)

funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), to be part of a team led by Dr Carlos Machado (Classics, St Andrews, UK) and Prof. Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner (Alte Geschichte, Tübingen, Germany). The postdoctoral researcher on the position advertised here will be based at Tübingen, working with Prof. Schmidt-Hofner; another postdoctoral research assistant will be appointed at St Andrews, to work with Dr Machado. Candidates are welcome to apply to both positions, but each application should be done separately and only one position will be offered. The position in Tübingen has a duration of three years (36 months), starting at the earliest convenience in 2024. Salary will be defined according to the remuneration scheme for public service in the German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg (TV-L E13); this amounts to an annual salary between 52.000 to 75.000 €, depending on previous experience, plus allowances for children.

This is an excellent opportunity for a dynamic and dedicated researcher working on the late antique period, broadly conceived. The project will study the politics of imperial and royal grants and confiscations of land and rights over it, across the late empire and the polities that succeeded it. The team will produce an online database collecting all surviving evidence for such transactions, as well as a study of this phenomenon over this long geographic and chronological span. The Tübingen team will focus mainly on material related to the eastern part of the Roman world, but will work in close collaboration with the team based in St. Andrews, which will focus on the West.

The postdoctoral researcher will be responsible for the collection of the material and the preparation of the database, besides producing independent work to analyse this material. They will also help organise international workshops and a conference, as well as helping edit a collective volume deriving from the conference, and also co-authoring a monographic study of the politics of land in the late Roman world. Due to the strong collaborative nature of the project, the researcher will be expected to travel to St Andrews, for short meetings as well as for a period of three months to carry out research and network with UK colleagues. The language of the project and of the publications (including the database) will be English.

As a member of the Seminar for Ancient History at the University of Tübingen, you will join a dynamic and international community of students and researchers, with a vibrant and lively Centre for Late Antique Studies. Although this position does not require it, you might be able to offer some limited teaching in the area of your expertise during the duration of the fellowship.

Your profile

• You will have a PhD in hand (or submitted by the day before the deadline for applications) on ancient history or a related field.
• Excellent knowledge of Latin and Greek

The university seeks to raise the number of women in research and teaching and therefore urges qualified women to apply for these positions. Equally qualified applicants with disabilities will be given preference in the hiring process. The university is committed to equal opportunities and diversity. It therefore takes individual situations into account and asks for relevant information.

The employment will be carried out by the central administration of the University of Tübingen.

How to apply

Your application must include

• A letter of application – this should include an overview of your research profile, how your interests and/or experience fit in the project, and your future plans for research.
• A curriculum vitae, including a list of publications (if already existing)
• Degree certificates
• Contact information of two (2) referees
• Writing sample of no more than 10,000 words of recent academic work. This can be published or unpublished (e.g., a draft article or a chapter from your thesis). If this is part of a longer piece of work, please indicate which part should be read and, in this case, provide a brief explanation (c. 300 words) explaining the broader context of the section submitted.

Please send these documents as one pdf to Prof. Schmidt-Hofner via julia.hagenlocherspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de.

For inquiries about the job please write directly to sebastian.schmidt-hofnerspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de.

Closing date for applications: 22 January 2024.