18-Month Postdoc Position at Aarhus University

The School of Culture and Society at Aarhus University invites applications for an 18-month postdoctoral fellowship. The postdoc will be part of the research project ‘Anthropogenic Heathlands: The Social Organization of Super-Resilient Past Human Ecosystems’ (ANTHEA) headed by Professor Mette Løvschal and funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The position is full-time and is expected to begin on 1 January 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter.

More than 5,000 years ago, small-scale agropastoral communities of Northern Europe began the first fire-based management and expansion of naturally occurring heather. Pollen evidence suggests that there was an exceptional continuity of some of these enormous landscapes, covering thousands of hectares, until the 18th-19th century. Heathlands have traditionally been regarded as pristine, depleted landscapes, but their survival strongly suggests the existence of highly specialized human-nature entanglements and social organization based on grazing and controlled burning with a unique capacity to persist. This project envisages a new cultural history of past grazing and fire-management regimes by investigating how institutions of land use in prehistoric Northern Europe organized in order to establish and sustain large-scale permanent grazing areas.

The successful applicant will be co-responsible for the work package on the land-use organization of anthropogenic heathlands. The work package is based on case study areas in Northern Europe, including Western Jutland, Southwestern Norway, Southwestern Britain, Northwestern Germany, Northeastern/Central Netherlands and Western-Central Ireland (c. 3000 BC-AD 1000) and three chronological focus periods shared with the project team, pertaining to the earliest emergence and expansion of heathlands. By focusing on one or several of these areas and periods, the postdoc will investigate the ecological dynamics of anthropogenic heathlands. Potential questions to be explored include management and use practices, grazing intensity, burning frequency, succession patterns or questions of resilience.

The successful applicant will be part of the ANTHEA research team, which also consists of:

  • Two other postdocs in landscape archaeology and social anthropology: Mark Haughton and Zachary Caple
  • Four external experts in archaeology, quantitative research and nonlinear dynamics in big data, and modelling of pollen dispersal
  • Professor Mette Løvschal, Aarhus University and Moesgaard Museum, expert on the organization of anthropogenic landscapes between 1500 and 50 BC.

The successful applicant will be based in Aarhus at the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, and will be expected to participate in teaching, activities at department level and in the Material Culture and Heritage research programme.

Research and postdoctoral project

For this assignment, we are looking for an innovative and dedicated researcher with previous experience related to environmental archaeology, including for example studies in palynology, macrofossils, micromorphology, sedaDNA, landscape archaeology, or quantitative vegetation reconstructions. The applicants should have good social and communication skills to cooperate cross-disciplinarily with project team members and establish external collaborations.

Applicants are asked to submit a research proposal, up to three-pages in length, in which they present an environmental archaeology perspective on prehistoric heathland management practices, including suggestions for concrete analyses and outputs. The applicant is free to define the scope of their intended research, with preference given to proposals which seek to answer questions relating to the extent, spread, management and/or use of heathlands during the project’s period of focus. The research proposal should indicate how they would carry out the research task(s) during their prospective contract, providing details on the content, timeline and expected scientific output of the work. The applicant may also wish to combine their practical skills with other analyses provided by collaborators, either in the project or externally.

There is room within the position for scholars to bring their own, ongoing research as long as this explicitly ties into the overall ambitions of the workpackage.

In addition, applicants should also submit:

  • a concise statement of motivation for applying for the position (max. one page) 
  • publications (maximum five articles or book chapters)
  • teaching portfolio
  • CV
  • List of publications

The successful applicant will be expected to:

  • develop their research within the framework provided by the grant awarded, in cooperation with the team leader
  • present their research at international meetings and publish results in peerreviewed, international scientific journals (min. two) in a timely fashion
  • contribute to the organisation of research workshops and an international conference by the end of the postdoc period
  • assist the principal investigator in preparing a volume of papers for publication, following the project’s main academic conference
  • teach at BA or MA level in her/his area of expertise
  • contribute to a vibrant, enjoyable and friendly work environment

Qualifications and job requirements

Applicants must hold a PhD degree or equivalent qualifications in archaeology, history, bioscience, ecology, geoscience or similar.

Other requirements are:

  • Experience related to environmental archaeology, including for example methods in palynology, macrofossils, micromorphology, sedaDNA, landscape archaeology, or quantitative vegetation reconstructions.
  • Documented international and relevant research profile of high research quality, including experience of international publication and research dissemination.
  • Good social and communication skills to cooperate cross-disciplinarily with project team members and external collaborations.
  • Fluency in oral and written English, as English is our everyday language. Danish/Scandinavian language skills can be advantage but is not obligatory.

Please upload a maximum of five publications alongside your application.

Only submitted publications will be assessed; a list of publications is not sufficient. As a result, applications without submitted publications will not be assessed.

Professional references or recommendations should not be included. Applicants who are selected for an interview may be asked to provide professional references.

The research activities will be evaluated in relation to the actual research time. We therefore encourage applicants to specify any periods of leave they may have had without research activities (e.g. maternity/paternity leave), so we can subtract these periods from the span of their academic career when evaluating their productivity.

Applications must be submitted in English

For further information about the position and the ERC project (including a full project description), please contact ANTHEA project leader Mette Løvschal by e-mail [email protected].

For more information about the application, please contact HR supporter Marianne Birn by e-mail [email protected]