Two Full-Time PhD positions

The PhD candidates are expected to ➢ design and implement an independent doctoral research project and PhD dissertation within the scope of the ERC project in UK (PhD 1) or Germany (PhD 2), including desk research and around a year of ethnographic fieldwork. ➢ participate in comparative analysis across different jurisdictions in collaboration with the ERC Project team and partners. ➢ support the team with organizational, administrative, and public outreach tasks within the scope of the ERC project, including events, database and website management. ➢ contribute to academic publications. ➢ contribute to academic life at the Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies, and the Institute of Social Anthropology. ➢ be based at the University of Bern (Switzerland), except during periods of fieldwork and international research stays in project partner universities (UK, Germany). Required qualifications ➢ Masters degree (MA/MSc) or quivalent in social sciences (anthropology, human geography, sociology, criminology, political ecology or related disciplines), and/or legal studies ➢ Familiarity with and interest in critical theory, social movements, climate politics, and critical perspectives on law and human rights ➢ Solid training in social science theory, qualitative methods and textual analysis ➢ Good knowledge of domestic and international law, legal norms and principles ➢ Good knowledge of discourses and practices around repression, criminalization, and human rights in the study country ➢ Solid analytical skills and ability to engage critically with debates across the social and legal sciences ➢ Interest in interdisciplinary research across the law and social science divide ➢ Excellent writing skills in English (for the candidate working in the UK) ➢ Excellent writing skills in English and German (for the candidate working in Germany) ➢ Very good organisational and communication skills ➢ Openness to interdisciplinary team-work What we offer ➢ A fully funded PhD positon for four years. ➢ The possibility to write a PhD thesis within the scope of a timely research project, and a dynamic, interdisciplinary academic environment at the Institute and the Department. ➢ The opportunity to collaborate in international research networks, including short-term visits at partner Universities in UK (PhD 1) and Germany (PhD 2). Application should include the following documents as individual pdf files 1. Motivation letter (max. 2 pages) 2. CV 3. List of publications (if available) 4. University degrees and certificates (merge into a single pdf if several documents) 5. Referees (contact details of two to three academic referees) 6. Writing sample (Master thesis, academic article or similar)