Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level 1 or 2 - x3 - 33 months

Applications are invited for a temporary 33-month post of a UCD Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level 1 or 2 within UCD School of History.

This post-doctoral fellowship is part of the ERC Starting Grant project ‘Land Limits: Towards a connected history of population, environment, capital and conflict in Russian Eurasia, 1860s-1920s’, led by Dr Jennifer Keating. Land Limits explores the environmental impact of population increase across rural northern Eurasia during the last decades of the Russian empire and the early years of the Soviet state. These impacts include but are not limited to, deforestation, shifts in land and water management, mining, new agricultural technologies, enclosure, irrigation and drainage, and species modifications and eradications. The research team of three post-doctoral fellows, a research assistant and the Principal Investigator aims to analyse the multiscalar economic and political implications of these ecological changes, working from local and regional to imperial and trans-imperial. At heart, the project aims to critically analyse the ways in which ecological shifts were integral components of evolving socio-political relations and tensions, by considering local communities and their relationships with the state and with private enterprise within and beyond imperial borders. Ultimately, we aim to deepen the understanding of the connections between environmental change, economic growth and political violence in northern Eurasia, and to contribute to broader conversations about the breakdown of states and the birth of new political entities.

The research undertaken during the fellowship will focus on one of the three specified regions from the 1860s until the 1920s: The Governate of Kuopio (Kuopioskaia guberniia – present day Finland), the Governorate of Kutaisi (Kutaisskaia guberniia – present day Georgia), the Governorate of Kielce (Keletskaia guberniia – present day Poland).

Applicants must clearly state which case study site they are applying to work on in their cover letter (the Governate of Kuopio (Kuopioskaia guberniia – present day Finland), the Governorate of Kutaisi (Kutaisskaia guberniia – present day Georgia), or the Governorate of Kielce (Keletskaia guberniia – present day Poland)), and include a 200-300 word overview of a research project situated within this region that would address (some of) the project’s key objectives and aims above. If shortlisted for interview, candidates will be expected to provide in advance a 1500-word overview of this proposed research and to present this idea at the beginning of the interview. It is expected that candidates will have linguistic competency in the languages most relevant to their chosen case study.

Fixed salary for PD1: €44,847 per annum

Fixed salary for PD2: €52,715 per annum

Closing date: 12:00 noon (local Irish time) on the 21^st of November 2024.

Applications must be submitted by the closing date and time specified. Any applications which are still in progress at the closing time of 12:00 noon (Local Irish Time) on the specified closing date will be cancelled automatically by the system. UCD are unable to accept late applications.

UCD do not require assistance from Recruitment Agencies. Any CVs submitted by Recruitment Agencies will be returned.

The PD1 position is intended for early-stage researchers, either just after completion of a PhD or for someone entering a new area for the first time. If you have already completed your PD1 stage in UCD or will soon complete a PD1, or you are an external applicant whose total Postdoctoral experience, inclusive of the duration of the advertised post, would exceed 4 years, you should not apply and should refer to PD2 posts instead.

The PD2 post is intended for researchers who have completed PD1. As with the PD1, if you have already completed your PD2 stage in UCD or will soon complete a PD2, or your total Postdoctoral experience, inclusive of the duration of the advertised post, would exceed 6 years, you should not apply and should refer to Research Fellow posts instead.

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