Islamic studies, Gender studies, Islamic and Gender studies - Looking for MSCA candidates

• Are you thinking about spending one or two years as a postdoc in a very active and international research environment?
• Are you a highly motivated and enthusiastic researcher looking for a competitive project?

Professor Linda G. Jones, established at the Department of Humanities of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), is interested in receiving Expressions of Interest from potential candidates for the MSCA-PF on any topic related to
her lines of investigation focused on medieval or early modern Iberian Peninsula, the Maghreb, or the Mediterranean, and which as a complement, could be extended to include West and East Africa. These research lines include Islamic religion and culture of al-Andalus and the Maghreb; intersections of gender (masculinity and femininity) and religion in al-Andalus/Iberian Peninsula, the Maghreb, and the Mediterranean; cultural studies, especially the history of the emotions or history of the body in Islam; Christian-Jewish-Muslim relations and transcultural studies; and medieval or early modern Islamic preaching, rhetoric, and oratory studies.

The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships scheme (MSCA-PF) is a prestigious European funding programme that supports mobility, career development, and training within and beyond Europe. The scheme offers highly competitive salary and research costs. 

About us

Professor Jones has an interdisciplinary background in Religious Studies and Comparative Religions; Islamic Studies; Medieval History, and Religion and Gender studies. She applies these interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the religious and cultural history of medieval Iberia and the Maghreb; (trans)cultural interactions between Muslims and Christians in these regions and the broader Mediterranean; the study of Islamic masculinities and comparative gender studies in the pre-modern period; and the study of medieval Islamic oratory and rhetoric. She has published her research findings in numerous internationally renowned publishing houses, including Cambridge University Press—The Power of Oratory in the Medieval Muslim World (New York, 2012) and high impact journals, including Medieval Encounters and Speculum (“Representations of Hegemonic Masculinities in Medieval Leonese-Castilian and Almohad Chronicles,” Speculum 93.7 (July 2022). She has been the Principal Investigator of three funded international research projects, including the current project, “Intersections of Religion and Gender in Transcultural Contexts: Pre-modern Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Iberia and the Mediterranean” (RELGEND II). She is currently sponsoring a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow and thus has experience supervising postdoctoral researchers.

The Department of Humanities has been very successful in obtaining MSCA-PF projects: since 2015, 28 researchers have joined the Department with such contracts.

Eligibility criteria

MSCA-PF are for Postdoctoral Researchers of up to 8 years after the PhD. Applicants from any country may apply, but must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the submission deadline to the European Commission (11/09/2024). 

Selection process

Applicants should check that they fulfil all the eligibility criteria and then send an expression of interest consisting of a CV, a summary presentation of the research proposal (c. 2 pages) and the contact information of at least two referees.

Expressions of interest must be submitted by email by April 21^st. The title of the e-mail must be "MSCA application – Prof. Linda G. Jones – your name and surname"

Proposals will be preselected on the basis of internal evaluation.

Support program

In addition to receiving multiple feedback from your supervisor, if chosen to submit the proposal to the European Commission, you will also receive advice from a dedicated research advisor at UPF's Research Service, who will provide you feedback. Additionally, you will be invited to join an online internal Info session where you will get to know the do's and don'ts of these fellowships.