PhD position Latin America as an Alternative Starting Point

Job description

This fully-funded, four-year PhD position Latin America as an Alternative Starting Point: Rethinking International Relations and the Social Sciences at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen (intended start date: October 2025) will take Latin America as an alternative starting point for rethinking International Relations and/or the History of the Social Sciences. It will blend archival research with extensive secondary source reading in Spanish and/or Portuguese to pursue a combination of historical and theoretical aims.

This PhD position offers a unique opportunity to work in an inspiring international and diverse environment and to acquire valuable research experience at a top-ranked European university. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to develop their research and academic writing skills, undertake archival work in Latin America, present their research at national and international conferences and workshops, and gain relevant teaching experience. The PhD candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School for the Humanities and will be embedded in the Department of International Relations and International Organization.

The call especially encourages candidates from Latin America who are already inserted into local contexts and who are interested in furthering relationships between these contexts and the University of Groningen, including through the RUG’s Strategic Partnership Framework.

The PhD Project

In the PhD project, jointly supervised by Dr Christine Andrä (International Relations), Dr Ian Merkel (Latin American History), and Dr Konstantin Mierau (European Culture and Literature), the selected candidate will identify their own research focus and interest. We are open to proposals that bring together History and International Relations with a Latin American focus, so long as the candidate makes a convincing case for how the supervisory team is a good fit for their project. The two suggested framings below are meant to be indicative – the final project is to be defined by the PhD candidate.

A history of the social sciences in Latin America

The history of the social sciences has been an established field in Latin America since at least the early 2000s and has more recently been brought into dialogue with international currents. A feasible project along these lines could examine a Latin American academic institution, group, field, or intellectual whose work was transformative for the internationally oriented social sciences including, but not limited to, the discipline of International Relations. The project could take on the form of a new intellectual biography of canonical figures (for example, Darcy Ribeiro in Brazil); an examination of indigenous, Afro-descendant, or women intellectuals’ thought; a disciplinary history of a subfield of IR in a Latin American context; or an intellectual history of social-scientific ideas generated outside the academy, for instance in a Latin America-based international institution. Such a project could tie in with and significantly extend scholarship that is currently developing alternative histories of the discipline of International Relations.

A critical history of the international in/from Latin America

Critical International Relations scholarship has mobilized and cultivated multiple historical approaches – conceptual history, contrapuntal analysis and history from below, counter-archival practices, genealogy, historical ontology, narrative history, and philosophy of history, to name but a few – towards various critical ends. A possible project could utilize one or another of these approaches to develop a Latin America-centered critical history of a key concept, idea, or institution of international politics and/or the study thereof. While we are in principle open to different empirical foci falling under this broad rubric, project proposals focused on a history of Latin American thinking on conflict, violence, war, peace, and/or related phenomena would be particularly welcome. No matter its focus, the project should take on a global perspective and critically reflect back upon the chosen critical approach, thereby contributing to ongoing discussions about how the inherent limitations of European/Western-centric historical critique in and for International Relations might be overcome.

You will be asked to

• Complete the PhD in the specified timeframe (4 years).
• Take the lead in developing, conducting, and writing up the research project.
• Carry out archival research in Latin America.
• Present the research at academic conferences and workshops and prepare at least one peer-reviewed publication in addition to the thesis.
• Teach in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year (0.4 fte over the course of three years).

Organisation

Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has established an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative university offering high-quality teaching and research. Its 34,000 students are encouraged to develop their own individual talents through challenging study- and career paths. The University of Groningen is an international centre of knowledge: It belongs to the best research universities in Europe and is allied with prestigious partner universities and networks worldwide.

The Faculty of Arts is a large, dynamic faculty in the heart of the city of Groningen. It has more than 5,000 students and 700 staff members, who are working at the frontiers of knowledge every day. The Faculty offers a wide range of degree programmes: 15 Bachelor's programmes and over 35 Master's specialisations. Our research, which is internationally widely acclaimed, covers Archaeology, Cultural Studies, History, International Relations, Language and Literary Studies, Linguistics and Media and Journalism Studies.

Qualifications

• A Research Master’s or Master’s degree in International Relations, History, Political and Social Sciences, or another discipline related to the proposed project, with an above-average final grade.
• Excellent academic writing skills in English.
• Fluency in Spanish and/or Portuguese (or, at the very least, a high proficiency and a willingness to work towards fluency).
• A broad interest in Latin America and a national or regional specialty (e.g. the Amazon, the Southern Cone, the Andes).
• The ability to develop your own research interests and academic profile, in collaboration with your supervisors.
• Prior experience with archival or other historically based research, for instance through the MA thesis or a student research assistantship, is not expected, but would be a distinguishing asset.

Organisation

Conditions of employment

In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, the University of Groningen offers you:

• A salary of € 2,901 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,707 gross per month in the final year, based on a full-time position.
• A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income.
• An 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance.
• A temporary 1.0 FTE appointment for a specified period of four years. The candidate will first be appointed for twelve months. After six 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.
• The PhD candidate is expected to conduct a total of 0.4 fte teaching spread over the second, third and fourth year of their appointment.
• Excellent work-life balance.
• Willingness to move to and reside in The Netherlands.

The appointment will commence on 1 October 2025 at the very latest. We allow 3 months from selection in case of visa applications.