PhD position in migration and environmental memory in Eastern Europe (1.0 FTE) (V25.0406)

This fully funded PhD at the University of Groningen (NL) is an independent research project titled Where Rivers Speak and Landscapes Remember. The selected candidate will develop and carry out the project under the supervision of Dr. Senka Neuman Stanivukovic, Dr. Ksenia Robbe, and Dr. Florian Lippert. Together, they bring expertise in environmental humanities, memory studies, migration studies and IR, and support collaborative, creative, and interdisciplinary ways of working.

We are looking for a motivated and thoughtful researcher who is excited to explore how landscapes—rivers, forests, mountains—can act as living archives of migration, resistance, and survival. This project invites you to engage closely with stories of displacement and border crossings, particularly in lesser-explored border regions of Eastern Europe or Western Eurasia, and to consider how these experiences are remembered, represented, and inscribed in the landscape itself.

You will work with ethnographic and creative methods, combining scholarly analysis with field-based, artistic, or community-engaged approaches. The position offers space to develop your own trajectory, while contributing to a shared inquiry into how migration struggles are documented, remembered, and narrated beyond conventional archives.

You will join a dynamic research environment grounded in interdisciplinary collaboration, social engagement, and experimental practice. The project is embedded in a broader network of academic, artistic, and activist partners working across regions and disciplines.
We encourage applications from candidates with backgrounds and perspectives that are underrepresented in academia, including those shaped by migration experience, first-generation academic status, racialized or minoritized identities. We value lived experience and community-based knowledge alongside academic achievement.

You do not need to be based in the Netherlands before applying, and knowledge of Dutch is not required for the position.

Project Scope and Expectations
The successful candidate will be encouraged to develop an individual research line within the broader contours of the Where Rivers Speak and Landscapes Remember project. Possible directions may include:

• Studying how traces of migration are embedded in natural environments and border ecologies.
• Investigating how these traces are remembered, interpreted, or mediated through artistic and community-based practices.
• Explore cultural mediations of migration memories and experiences, and potentially also experiment with creating and sharing new archives by means of e.g. sound installations, visual storytelling, participatory mapping, or community-engaged exhibitions.

We particularly welcome applicants who are open to combining academic analysis with creative modes of knowledge production and dissemination.

Responsibilities

• Designing and conducting fieldwork in selected border region(s), using a combination of ethnographic and creative methodologies. This may include participant observation, interviews, analysis of cultural mediations of migration memories, engagement with local communities and mapping of border environments.
• Collecting and analysing diverse research materials, such as poems, oral histories, site-specific commemoration practices and memorials, visual sound recordings, photographs, and community maps, and integrating these into both scholarly and creative forms of analysis.
• Developing artistic or community-engaged outputs that communicate research findings in accessible, reflective, and innovative ways—such as an exhibition, sound pieces, participatory mapping, or visual storytelling.
• Collaborating with academic and non-academic partners, including artists, local communities, and cultural or activist organizations, contributing to knowledge exchange and public engagement.
• Actively participating in team activities, including research meetings, reading groups, workshops, and international conferences, and contributing to a collegial and interdisciplinary research environment.
• Undertaking relevant academic training, including methods courses, seminars, and skills development workshops offered by the Graduate School of the Humanities and other university bodies, to support your research and professional development.
• Producing academic publications and completing a doctoral dissertation (cumulative) within four years, with the support of a supervisory team.

We are looking for candidates who demonstrate the following:

• A completed MA or equivalent degree in anthropology, cultural studies, environmental humanities, migration studies, or a related field.
• Strong interest in migration, memory, and environmental narratives.
• Experience or a demonstrated interest in creative or practice-based research methods.
• Willingness to carry out extended fieldwork and engage with interdisciplinary approaches.
• Good collaborative skills and ability to contribute to team-based research.
• Excellent command of spoken and written English (additional regional languages are a plus).

We are looking for a candidate who meets the following criteria:

• A (research) Master’s degree in a relevant discipline, such as:

o Cultural Studieso Anthropology / Ethnography
o Visual Studies or Art History
o Cultural Geography
o Environmental Humanities
o Migration Studies
o Memory Studies
o Artistic Research
o Or a related field

• Demonstrated interest or experience in at least one of the following:

o Field-based ethnographic researcho Artistic practices (e.g. sound art, documentary photography, installation, mapping, performance)
o Interdisciplinary or community-based research.

• Strong motivation to work across academic, artistic, and activist contexts.
• Ability to work independently, creatively, and collaboratively within a research team.
• Excellent communication skills in English, both spoken and written.
• Knowledge of Dutch is NOT a requirement

Desirable (but not required):

• Knowledge of or interest in a region of Eastern Europe or Western Eurasia.
• Familiarity with audio, video, or visual documentation and analysis tools.

We offer in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement for Dutch universities:

• A temporary 1.0 FTE appointment for a specified period of four years. The candidate will first be appointed for twelve months. After 11 months, an assessment will take place of the candidate’s results and the progress of the PhD project, in order to decide whether employment will be continued.
• A salary, depending on qualifications and work experience, with a minimum of € 2,901 to a maximum of € 3,707 (salary scale P) gross per month for a full-time position.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• Participation in a pension scheme for employees.
• Favourable tax agreements for non-Dutch applicants may be applicable.
• The PhD candidate is expected to conduct 0.4 FTE teaching spread over the second, third and fourth year of their appointment.
• Willingness to move and reside in the Netherlands.

Do you want to become a member of our team? Please send your application to us, by submitting the following documents in English:

• Letter of motivation (1 A4):

We are especially interested in hearing your authentic voice—how your ideas, experiences, and research interests connect meaningfully to the themes of this project. Please avoid generic or AI-generated content. We are not looking for perfection, but for a clear sense of how you think, what drives you, and how you hope to contribute to this interdisciplinary and creative research environment.

• Your letter should address the following points:

o Your motivation for applying: What draws you to the Where Rivers Speak and Landscapes Remember project? How do its themes of migration, memory, and landscape resonate with your background or interests?
o Your academic and/or creative background: What experiences—academic, personal, or artistic—have prepared you for this kind of research? What methodologies or approaches have you worked with?
o Your potential contribution to the project: What specific research questions, case studies, or artistic strategies might you wish to explore? How do you see your skills or perspectives enriching the broader project?
o Your interest in interdisciplinary, field-based, and collaborative work: Describe any experience with community-based, artistic, or activist projects. How do you imagine working across academic and non-academic spaces?
o Your long-term goals and intellectual ambitions: How does this PhD fit into your wider trajectory as a researcher, artist, or practitioner?

• Curriculum Vitae: Please include details of your education, relevant experience, publications (if applicable), and any artistic, engaged or field-based work you wish to highlight. We encourage you to also think about also non-traditional forms of engagement (e.g. community work, curatorial practice, grassroots organizing) if relevant to your research interests.

• Copies of (Re)Master diploma and transcript of grades: If candidates are still studying for their (Re)Master diploma, a written statement from the supervisor is required commenting on performance and expected date of completion. If you have not yet completed your degree, please include a brief statement from your supervisor confirming your current status, performance, and expected date of completion. We recognize that educational timelines vary and welcome applicants who have followed non-linear academic paths.
• Copy of your (Research) Master’s thesis:

If the thesis is not in English, please provide a summary in English (max. 1 page). If you worked collaboratively or produced non-textual work, feel free to include a brief explanation of your role and contribution.

• A writing sample.

This may be a substantial research essay, peer-reviewed article, or other publication that demonstrates your writing, critical thinking, or methodological engagement. If you wish, you may also submit a hybrid or experimental format (e.g. a practice-based piece with a reflective text).

• Contact information of two academic referees:

Please provide the full names, institutional affiliations (if applicable), and email addresses of two referees who can comment on your research potential and relevant experience. If you feel a non-academic referee (e.g. from an arts, community, or activist context) would better represent your strengths, you may include one academic and one non-academic reference.

You may apply for this position until 1 September 11:59pm / before 2 September 2025 Dutch local time (CEST) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

The selection interviews will take place in mid-September. The selected candidate is expected to start in December 2025 or January/February 2026 in case of VISA applications.

The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and-strategy/diversity-and-inclusion/

Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/nl/sollicitatiecode and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

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