Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d)

Organisation/Company UNIVERSITÄT PADERBORN Research Field History Philosophy Religious sciences Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) First Stage Researcher (R1) Established Researcher (R3) Country Germany Application Deadline 30 Jun 2025 - 00:00 (UTC) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Starting as soon as possible with regular working hours of 100 %. The position is limited for a fixed term of 42 months corresponding to the job profile within the approved project period. The opportunity for further scientific qualification is given.

The position is financed as part of an ERC Synergy Grant on the “Cultures of the Cryosphere. Infrastructures. Politics, and Futures of Artificial Cooling” (CultCryo), which, is an internationally highly visible research project.

As an ethnographic oriented postdoc, you will be working in an interdisciplinary, international team at the forefront of cultural studies! CultCryo’s overarching objective is to historically reconstruct and map the emergence of the “cryosphere” (the modern dependency on artificial cooling) starting in the 1950s, and to analyze its dependence on cultural factors (norms, values, practices, time regimes, concepts) in four paradigmatic research fields (food, air condition, biomedicine, computing), comparing different world-regions. The postdoc is expected to closely collaborate with a PhD-student to undertake an ethnographic case study of the use of blockchains to securitize food supply chains (e.g., the “IBM Food Trust”), thereby interlocking two of our paradigmatic research fields. This work will include an overarching analysis of the political regulations and normative assumptions that inform the use of blockchain for food securitization, a critical review of the concept of digital sustainability, and discourse and policy analysis of the sociotechnical imaginaries (e.g., digital solutionism) that accompany the application of blockchain to the globalisation of food supply and security. “CultCryo” started in September 2024 and will run for six years: https://cryocultures.org/ .

• Research in the context of the ERC Project “CultCryo” (100%)
• Ethnographic case study in collaboration with a PhD student on the application of blockchain for securitizing food supply chains
• De and reconstruct the values, norms, and socio-technical imaginaries perpetuating the associated politics and linked practices (discourse analysis, policy analysis, expert interviews)
• Mentoring the PhD-student methodologically
• Preparing and analyzing qualitative research data to support the mapping of the cryosphere and its related history of concepts, utilizing natural language processing tools
• Cooperation with other researchers from CultCryo (“computing”, “values, norms, imaginaries”)
• Analyze and evaluate alternate futures of artificial cooling
• Contribution to the “Cryogenic Cultures Archive” (a collection of alternative ways of cooling)
• Creation of (joint) scientific publications
• Co-organization of and participation in project-related scientific events (regular workshops and internal team meetings)
• Presentation of project results at national and international conferences
• Project management, reporting-duties

Hiring requirements:

• Academic university degree (Master) in Sociology, Science and Technology Studies, Anthropology or related fields
• Doctorate in Sociology, Science and Technology Studies (STS), Anthropology or related fields
• Expertise and solid experience in ethnographic field work
• A very good command of written and spoken English, basic German (or willingness to develop this)
• Willingness to travel (field work in different world regions)

We offer:

• Participation in one of Europe’s most visible research projects
• Exciting, highly relevant research topics in a vibrant team environment
• Flexible work arrangement including mobile work
• Attractive fringe benefits such as childcare facilities and sports activities
• Opportunities for internal and external training and development
• Additional benefits in accordance with the collective agreement of the federal states (TV-L) such as annual bonus and capital-forming benefits as well as

Applications from women are particularly welcomed and, in case of equal qualifications and experience, will receive preferential treatment according to state law (LGG). Part-time employment is generally possible. Likewise, applications of disabled people with appropriate qualifications are explicitly requested. This also applies to people with equal status according to the German social law SGB IX.