ERC Project BOAR: Veterinarization of Europe? Hunting for Wild Boar Futures in the Time of African Swine Fever

We are pleased to announce a postdoctoral position available on the project, Veterinarization of Europe? Hunting for Wild Boar Futures in the Time of African Swine Fever – BOAR, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), 2021-2025 (a consolidator grant, PI: Ludek Broz). BOAR is a collaborative, ethnographic, investigation of the relationship between three understudied subjects in anthropology – veterinary medicine, European hunting and wild boars – and how African Swine Fever is radically changing the dynamics between them. This project has two main objectives: first, to examine how European hunting and porcine futures are intertwined, and the role of veterinarians in shaping these futures, and second, through human-boar relations, study how society is becoming increasingly veterinarized, i.e. shaped by veterinary expertise beyond the immediate human-animal relations.

Along with BOAR team members, the postdoctoral researcher will conduct their research at the Department of Ecological Anthropology, Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS).

What a postdoc with the BOAR team offers:

• to work as part of an international, ambitious, friendly, and supportive team
• to pursue a cutting-edge social scientific research subject in relation to a politically topical issue in Europe (African Swine fever, biosecurity, human-animal borderlands)
• a gross salary of equivalent of EUR 2700 (approximately equivalent of EUR 2008 after taxation) per month, for three years
• funding for fieldwork and conference travel

What we expect from a postdoctoral research fellow:

• to be highly motivated and have the capacity to independently develop a research plan dedicated to the subjects and objectives of the BOAR project while under the guidance of the BOAR team’s principal investigator
• to conduct extensive ethnographic research in a European country – we are particularly interested in Romania, Bulgaria, former Yugoslavia and other Eastern European countries where human-wild boar relations are being fundamentally reconceptualized due to African Swine Fever and/or other factors
• very good command of English, both written and spoken
• a PhD in social anthropology, ethnology, sociology, social geography or related discipline
• to present papers at international conferences, publish articles in high quality journals, and contribute to public communication (website, social media)
• readiness to live and work in Prague, Czech Republic

The deadline for the application is 21 June 2021. The successful candidate is expected to take up the position in October 2021 (negotiable).

If interested, please submit a single PDF file (named according to the format: LAST NAME_Postdoc BOAR) comprising the following documents:

• motivation letter
• research proposal of maximum 3 pages (the proposal is obviously preliminary but should indicate where the project will be undertaken, what questions related to the umbrella ERC project it will seek to ask, and the disciplinary and theoretical literature that will be engaged)
• CV including list of publications (publications are important but at this stage of your career do not have to be plentiful – quality is what matters)
• copy of your academic degrees
• contact details of two referees who can provide recommendations for you

Candidates who will obtain their PhD after the application deadline but before October 2021 are eligible. However, they must submit a statement from their supervisor confirming that they will finish their PhD studies on time to take up the position.

Applications should be emailed to office@eu.cas.cz under the subject “BOAR Postdoc position” no later than 21 June 2021, 6 pm Central European Time.

We strongly recommend that prospective applicants contact Ludek Broz (broz(at)eu.cas.cz) for further information regarding the BOAR ERC project, work conditions, and to discuss potential postdoctoral research proposals, prior to submitting the application.