Postdoctoral Researcher (all genders) for the department “Knowledge and Participation” in Prague

The Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) is one of the world’s leading research and educational institutions for the study of the history and culture of Central and Eastern Europe. Our wide-ranging, interdisciplinary approach and broad historical scope are distinctive: from antiquity to the present day, we explore the unique features and transformations of this historically and geopolitically significant region. The GWZO’s research focuses on some of the most urgent issues of our time: the dynamics of globalisation and migration; knowledge systems and competing historical narratives; and environmental challenges and violence. Based in the heart of Leipzig since 2010 and also in Prague’s centre since 2025, the GWZO employs around 90 staff members from Germany and abroad.

For our department “Knowledge and Participation” in Prague (headed by Dr Michal Frankl), we are seeking, from 1 February 2027, a 

Postdoctoral Researcher (all genders)

Reference number: 26_11_P

The position is initially fixed-term for four years and full-time (40 hours per week). Subject to satisfactory performance and sufficient funding in the Institute’s budget, conversion to a permanent position is envisaged.

The place of work is Prague. The successful candidate will be expected to travel regularly to Leipzig to participate in central Institute events. Employment will be governed by Czech labour law and remunerated at the customary local rate.

The department “Knowledge and Participation” examines the diverse and sometimes fraught relationships between academic and non-academic knowledge production. Its focus is on participation in knowledge and scholarship in the past and present of East Central Europe, an approach that has become widely known in recent years as citizen science.

The department’s research is organised into the thematic fields “Marginalised Knowledge” and “Digital Participation”. On the one hand, the department focuses on actors from marginalised groups, past and present. Among other questions, it asks how knowledge “at the margins” is articulated, heard, preserved, or interpreted. Drawing on approaches from Postcolonial Studies, the department’s projects critically reflect on hierarchies and exclusions in archives created and organised by state institutions. Particular critical attention is also paid to the influence of new digital tools on the production of scholarly knowledge, since digital technologies — especially artificial intelligence (AI) systems — are changing how knowledge is created and received.

The successful candidate’s research will address this thematic spectrum. Possible projects may concern marginalised knowledge as well as the effects of different forms of participation and crowdsourcing formats. We particularly, but not exclusively, welcome projects dealing with archives, oral-history accounts, and other forms of knowledge production by refugees, migrants, or other persecuted or marginalised groups; with collaborative platforms such as Wikipedia; or with digital memory projects in East Central Europe. Studies of the effects of AI on small languages and in non-academic participatory contexts are also of interest. Projects with a participatory citizen-science component are expressly encouraged.

Your responsibilities:

• independent historical, cultural-studies, or literary-studies research on the thematic spectrum of the department “Knowledge and Participation”, to be published at an international standard in peer-reviewed journals and with renowned publishers (typically working towards a second book or habilitation);
• involvement in Citizen Science projects;
• linking the candidate’s own project with research conducted in other disciplines within the department “Knowledge and Participation” and across the GWZO as a whole;
• participating in core departmental tasks, including organising lectures and conferences and preparing external funding applications;
• contributing to the further development and ongoing refinement of the department’s concept, through which it maintains international visibility as a methodological laboratory for Citizen Science and as an important centre for research into the history of knowledge in East Central Europe;
• helping to strengthen the presence of the GWZO, its publications, and its research findings among Czech and East Central European audiences; contributing to the development of new communication formats at the interface between specialist scholarship and the interested public.

Your profile:

• an above-average doctorate in one of the cultural-studies or humanities disciplines represented at the GWZO;
• relevant publications at a high international standard;
• willingness to conduct interdisciplinary research;
• initial experience in securing external funding and in scholarly communication;
• experience in the digital humanities is an advantage;
• very good command of English and very good command of at least one language of the region under study;
• good command of German, or a willingness to acquire it within three years;
• communication and teamwork skills;
• willingness to travel regularly to Leipzig;
• willingness to undertake regular professional development.

We offer:

• a competitive salary within the Czech academic system;
• 30 days of annual leave;
• a creative and motivating working environment with flat hierarchies;
• a vibrant social culture, openness, and a collaborative atmosphere based on trust;
• opportunities to develop an individual academic profile and pursue further qualifications;
• family-friendly working conditions and flexible working hours;
• a workplace in central Prague as well as in the heart of Leipzig, close to Leipzig University’s campus.

If this position appeals to you, please send a complete application in German or English, together with the relevant documents, including a cover letter, CV, list of publications, a 2–3-page project outline, and two published works, quoting reference number 26_11_P, by 22 November 2026 to the Director of the GWZO (Prof. Dr Maren Röger, Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Europa (GWZO), Reichsstr. 4–6, 04109 Leipzig) or by email to: bewerbung(at)leibniz-gwzo.de. Please note that submitting an application by email entails data-protection risks. The sender assumes full responsibility for these risks.

Interviews are expected to take place in Prague or Leipzig in January 2027.

For further information, please contact the head of department, Dr Michal Frankl (Michal.Frankl(at)leibniz-gwzo.de).

Since July 2021, our Institute has held the TOTAL E-QUALITY award for equal opportunities. Applications from women are particularly welcome and, where qualifications and suitability are equal, will be given preference, as the post is located in an organisational unit in which women are underrepresented. Applications from people with severe disabilities are expressly encouraged and will be given priority where qualifications are equal.

Further information about the GWZO and its department in Prague is available on our website www.leibniz-gwzo.de.

Data protection information:

Any personal data contained in your application documents or obtained during an interview will be processed solely for the purpose of the selection procedure for the position advertised here. The legal basis for processing is Section 11(1) of the Saxon Data Protection Implementation Act in conjunction with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The controller responsible for the application process is the recipient of applications named above in this advertisement. During the application process, your personal data will be shared within the Institute with

• the members of the selection committee,
• Human Resources,
• the Equal Opportunities Officers, and
• the Inclusion Officer

within the scope of their organisational or statutory responsibilities.

Your personal data will be deleted no later than six months after the selection procedure has concluded. Under the GDPR, and where the relevant statutory conditions are met, you have the following rights vis-à-vis the recipient of the application: the right of access (Article 15 GDPR), the right to rectification of inaccurate personal data (Article 16 GDPR), the right to erasure (Article 17 GDPR), the right to restriction of processing (Article 18 GDPR), and the right to object to processing (Article 21 GDPR). If you have any questions, you may contact the GWZO’s Data Protection Officers. You also have the right to lodge a complaint. The supervisory authority responsible for the GWZO is the person appointed by the Saxon State Parliament for data protection.