About the Project
The Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, University of Aarhus (AU), in collaboration with the University of Oslo (UiO), invites applications for one joint fully-funded 3-year PhD fellowship in Anthropology of Human Security in Africa Starting on 1 September, 2018.
ANTHUSIA
AU and UiO have embarked on the collaborative project ANTHUSIA: Anthropology of Human Security in Africa run by a consortium of four universities in Aarhus (Denmark), Edinburgh (United Kingdom), Leuven (Belgium) and Oslo (Norway). The consortium draws together academics, practitioners and activists with expertise in understanding and enhancing human security in Africa. This programme enables candidates to combine interdisciplinary insights from Anthropology, Human Security and African Studies in order to develop analytical tools to critically understand and contribute to strengthening human security in Africa, and beyond. In this process, students will be encouraged to critically explore how human security has been conceptualised; how and why particular issues are classified as human security issues; and how these understandings shape everyday interventions. This critical approach can be applied to a range of phenomena, such as the expansion of young populations, processes of urbanisation, unequally distributed growth, recurring conflicts, emerging health issues, and population displacement.
The research network offers an academically stimulating and interdisciplinary working environment, an innovative training programme that allows the PhD fellows to obtain specialist knowledge on a specific research topic as well as transferable skills that can be employed in non-academic institutions. The ANTHUSIA PhD education includes one year of fieldwork in Africa, with a 2-3 month period of secondment to a non-academic partner organisation, annual summer/winter schools and a 6 months stay with the secondary university.
The Universities of Aarhus and Oslo are equal opportunity employers and strive for diversity among the ESRs. We encourage candidates from all continents to apply.
Available position
ANTHUSIA will recruit altogether 16 PhD fellows, referred to as Early Stage Researchers (ESRs). You can find all the projects on www.anthusia.eu/available-phd-projects/. As part of the project, AU and UiO invite applications for 1 joint PhD fellowship in the field of anthropology where the two universities have mutual strengths and can offer excellent research environments. The available position is hosted by Aarhus University (Primary University) and University of Oslo (Secondary University):
Project 1: Epidemics and Health Security: Threats and Opportunities in One Health
Epidemic disease outbreaks and disease control and management have human security repercussions. This PhD project will describe and compare the development and effects of one or several selected epidemics (e.g. Ebola, AIDS, TB, Qfever or brucellosis) in a part of East Africa in a human security perspective, including health systems, infrastructures, environment, demography and social structures. The study will explore retrospectively and ethnographically the surveillance, recognition and management of epidemics and endemic diseases among policy makers, health, professionals, patients and families. This includes exploring syndemic effects - interacting diseases and interacting social and environmental conditions that shape the spread of disease. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among health planners, medical professionals and health care institutions, and/or among patients and families, the project may also involve citizen research approaches to complement existing epidemic response structures. The project will be based on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork, including 3 months of secondment to a non-academic institution working in the field of disease control, during which the PhD student will take part in on-going research and intervention programs. One possibility for secondment is the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI).
Applicants are invited to send a proposal, which elaborates on the project description above.
Please contact Lotte Meinert if interested.
Eligible candidates must have an internationally recognised Master’s or an equivalent degree in anthropology or related social sciences and humanities disciplines. They must have received their Master’s degree or equivalent (120 ECTS) no later than August 31, 2018. They must have less than four years of research experience after their Master’s degree and not hold a PhD degree. All applicants must have achieved a high grade point average in their BA and Master’s studies and must have fluent oral and written communication skills in English and submit their dissertation in English. All applicants must document English language qualifications comparable to an ’English B level’ in the Danish upper secondary school (’gymnasium’). Please see this page for further information: http://talent.au.dk/phd/arts/application/english-test/. Applicants can be of any nationality. We encourage applicants who have African language skills and relevant experience outside the academy. However, in order to be eligible, candidates have not resided more than 12 of the last 36 months in Denmark before the recruitment date.
Funding Notes
ANTHUSIA offers an attractive salary, the opportunity of favourable pension benefits as well as funding for research, travel, conference participation and dissemination, books and equipment.
The positions are funded by the EU Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020, under a grant by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Networks (MSCA-ITN). The successful candidates must commence their PhD degree programme on 1 September, 2018.The salary will include social security and be composed of living and mobility allowances and a family allowance where appropriate, as outlined in Table 2, p.69 and 70 of the MSCA Work Programme 2016/2017: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/2016_2017/main/h2020-wp1617-msca_en.pdf.