Call for postdoc candidates interested in applying for a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship in Social Anthropology (or a related field)

UiT The Arctic University of Norway has established «The Arctic MSCA-PF program» (uit.no/project/arcticmsca) to recruit excellent young researchers planning to apply for a Marie Skƚodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) to pursue a career in research. We invite applications from promising young researchers within the field of social anthropology (or a related field). The selected candidate will write a proposal for a 24-month MSCA-PF at UiT together with Prof. Jennifer Hays. This is an opportunity to accelerate your research career while living in the urban research city of Tromsø, uniquely located at the top of the world surrounded by some of Europe’s last pristine wild nature.

This call is one of 33 from pre-selected supervisors at UiT The Arctic University of Norway through the “Arctic MSCA-PF program” (uit.no/project/arcticmsca/list-of-participants). Successful postdoc candidates will be invited for a three-day MSCA-PF symposium June 6-8, 2023 (hybrid physical/digital event, see details at uit.no/project/arcticmsca/program-structure). At this event, the candidates will present their past research achievements, discuss future plans with their potential supervisor and learn how to write a successful MSCA-PF application. The selected candidates will, jointly with the supervisor, write the MSCA-PF application by the deadline of September 13, 2023.

In this call we search for talented, young researchers within the field of social anthropology (or a related field) as presented by Prof Jennifer Hays:

Hunter-gatherer communities worldwide, especially those in the Global South, must increasingly negotiate formal education systems as opportunities for engaging in traditional subsistence strategies are narrowed due to sedentarization and land loss. While schooling provides access to skills and knowledge needed to engage with the dominant society, success in such systems remains elusive. The limited participation they do have often undermines local knowledge, skills, languages, values, culture, and relationships – all of which are central to traditional forms of livelihood and relations with nature. Recent comparative studies and literature reviews focusing on hunter-gatherers and school indicate both that there are clearly identifiable broad patterns affecting hunter-gatherer communities, and also that local situations are characterized by extreme diversity – thus pointing towards a need for small-scale, locally driven educational efforts informed by global understandings. How are particular communities and individuals navigating their educational options? What challenges are they facing? In connection with the Research and Advocacy Group for Hunter-Gatherer Education (HG-Edu), this call seeks talented researchers to contribute to a comparative project that focuses on participatory research with hunter-gatherer communities. The research will connect education with traditional knowledge and skills, land use, biodiversity, food systems, language, identity, and/or human rights.   

Please send your CV (max 3 pages) and describe a research project that will strengthen and complement the presented research (max 2 pages) to jennifer.hays@uit.no by Feb 17th 2023. Mark your application "Arctic MSCA". Successful candidates will be contacted in late March 2023.