12 PhD Positions (TV-L 13, 65%)
Ruhr-University Bochum (RUB) is one of Germany’s leading research universities. As a reform-oriented campus university, it brings together an exceptional range of academic fields in one place. The dynamic coexistence of different disciplines and disciplinary cultures presents researchers and students alike with unique opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.
The university’s Faculty of Philology invites applications for
12 PhD positions (TV-L 13, 65%)
in the DFG-funded research training group
Documentary Practices: Excess and Privation (GRK 2132)
with a start date of October 01, 2022.
The research training group is primarily aimed at doctoral candidates from the fields of media, cultural, film, literary and theatre studies and art history/theory. The positions are fixed-term employments, limited to the finalization of the candidate’s doctoral studies or a maximum of three years.
The research training group investigates the different media forms of documentary practice – especially audio-visual, textual and digital forms – and the cultural conditions under which particular types of media come to dominate this practice. One particular area of focus concerns the tension between the ubiquity of documentary forms in today’s digital cultures and the unavoidable need for selectivity – a phenomenon that can be investigated by attending to the blind spots of documentary practices and their experimental forms and aesthetic dissociations. This investigation is subdivided into four work areas: ‘Formal History and Theorization of Documentary Practices’, ‘Visual and Textual Cultures of Documentary Practice’, ‘Self-Documentation and Cultures of Affect’ and ‘Techno-Politics and Aesthetics of Documentary Practice’. The group is intended to provide structured training for German and international postgraduate researchers, who are selected according to the criteria of an outstanding academic profile and an exceptional proposal for an interdisciplinary PhD project that can be completed within the funding period. The PhD candidates will be required to work on an independent research project (thesis) and to actively participate in the group’s research and study programme. They will also be expected to regularly present interim results from their doctoral project.
Your application You will need to provide the following:
- Evidence that you have completed a degree in one of the disciplines included in the research training group
- Detailed academic CV
- Statement describing how you plan to contribute to the research training group
- Thesis proposal of around five to max. ten pages in length, including a schedule and an explanation of how your proposed project fits into the structure of the group’s research programme and its areas of investigation
- Applicants from universities outside Germany will require the equivalent of the relevant German qualification and evidence of German language ability equivalent to DSH 1/TestDaF 3/B 2
Ruhr-University Bochum is committed to promoting the career of women, people of color and genderqueer applicants in areas where they are underrepresented. Applications are also welcomed from suitably qualified candidates with severe disabilities. Please direct any enquiries to the group coordinators, Dr. Julia Eckel and Dr. Robin Schrade (das-dokumentarische@rub.de, Phone: +49 (0) 234-32-27008). Further information can be found on our website: https://das-dokumentarische.blogs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/en/
All applications must be submitted in electronic form (in one PDF file, sent to bewerbung-grk2132@rub.de) by April 17, 2022. They should be addressed to the speaker of the research training group, Prof. Dr. Friedrich Balke, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, DFG-Graduiertenkolleg „Das Dokumentarische. Exzess und Entzug“, Universitätsstr. 105, 44789 Bochum, Germany.