CFA: 3 two-year postdoctoral positions in philosophy based at the University of Barcelona.
The call will open on 10 May, 2023. The deadline for applications is set for 31 May, 2023. Applications received before the opening date or after the deadline will NOT be considered.
Successful candidates are expected to start their contracts by 1 October, 2023 (and, for non-EU citizens who have to apply for a work and residence permit, no later than 1 January, 2024).
From 2010 until 2014, the LOGOS Research Group in Analytic Philosophy (University of Barcelona) teamed up with the Philosophy and Law Research Groups at the Universities of Girona and Pompeu Fabra for a collaborative research project financed by the Spanish Ministry’s prestigious Consolider programme (CSD2009-00056).
To formalize the partnership between the three research groups involved, in 2016, the three universities came together to create BIAP. In December 2022, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation recognized BIAP as a María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence, a status conferred for 5 years and involving award of a €2M grant for a 4-year collaborative research project on the nature and role of evidence. As part of its strategic research programme, BIAP seeks to attract national and international talent working on issues within the project’s remit. This call is part of its effort to do so.
The project’s core objectives are (i) to explore and systematize the different roles, and scope, assigned to evidence in a variety of well-defined contexts of enquiry, (ii) to develop a coherent overall conception of the nature of evidence, and of evidential support, across the aforementioned contexts of enquiry, and (iii) to determine the lessons to be drawn from this conception for the uses and roles that evidence should have in the public sphere. The project is articulated into a total of six research work packages, with a seventh work package dedicated to outreach and transfer of knowledge activities. The three postdoctoral positions offered in this first call are for the following three research work packages led by members of the University of Barcelona:
[WP1] Evidence in epistemology (led by Sven Rosenkranz)
[WP4] Evidence in philosophy of mind (led by Josefa Toribio)
[WP5] Evidence and philosophical method (led by Manuel García- Carpintero)
Each of the three postdoctoral positions advertised here is allocated to exactly one of these three work packages. Successful candidates are expected to work on issues within the remit of the relevant work package they apply to join (for further details concerning the research objectives of each work package, go to https://www.ub.edu/biap/).
Each candidate can apply for at most one of the three positions. Applicants must mention the corresponding work-package-specific call identifier (see below).
Selection criteria
Candidates from any country can apply, including non-EU members. To be eligible, candidates must hold a PhD degree in philosophy. Apart from the standard scientific criteria, selection will be guided by the following criteria:
- Candidates should command the English language in both written and spoken form.
- Candidates should have a solid background in analytic philosophy.
- Depending on the position they apply for, candidates should be familiar with
o formal tools for addressing issues in epistemology (WP1),
o neuroscience, psychology, and/or information theory (WP4),
o tools for addressing issues in philosophical methodology, in particular with methods of experimental philosophy (WP5).
BIAP strongly encourages applications from women and members of other groups underrepresented in the profession.
Application material
The application package should include all of the following:
- motivation letter,
- curriculum vitae (incl. list of publications, if any),
- PhD certificate or equivalent,
- research proposal,
- 2 writing samples (in English and of reasonable length*),
- 2 confidential letters of reference (to be submitted by academic referees under separate cover).
*Entire theses will not be accepted.
Application procedure
Applications, including all the requested application material, must be submitted before the deadline. The requested confidential reference letters must also be submitted before the deadline.
All application documents (except the confidential reference letters) should be converted to PDF, not exceeding 2MB in total.
Applications, including all the requested application material, must be submitted via
https://www.ub.edu/insgenct/inici.php?idioma=eng
with the work-package-specific call identifier mentioned under ‘details of request’. The work-package-specific call identifiers are:
BIAP_POSTDOC_WP1
BIAP_POSTDOC_WP4
BIAP_POSTDOC_WP5
The requested confidential reference letters must be submitted separately in the same way.
To this end, it is necessary for applicants and their academic referees to first register as users on the portal https://www.ub.edu/regper/web/inici.php?id=03
Detailed instructions are available at https://www.ub.edu/biap/news/
Selection and recruitment procedure
There will be a selection committee for each of the three positions. Each selection committee will review all applications for the respective position, check for eligibility, and, in close collaboration with the corresponding work package team, draw up a longlist from among those candidates reaching an evaluation score of at least 50%. Longlisted candidates will then be invited for interview. Online interviews are expected to be held within 10 working days after the deadline. After the interviews, and no later than mid June, each panel will draw up a shortlist, ranking the shortlisted candidates according to standard scientific criteria and the extent to which the candidates’ academic profiles fit the institute’s research agenda. The successful applicant will be notified shortly after the shortlist has been agreed.
Successful candidates then have a maximum of 10 working days to reach a decision. If the candidate ranked 1st declines the offer, the candidate ranked 2nd will receive an offer, and so on, until the end of the shortlist is reached. If no shortlisted candidate accepts the offer, a new call will be issued. (The same applies if no applicant reaches an evaluation score of at least 50%.) In case of acceptance, successful candidates then have a maximum of 2.5 months (if EU-citizens) or 5.5 months (if non-EU citizens) to provide all necessary documentation and sign the contract. (For non-EU citizens, the date of incorporation may thus deviate from the orientative start date mentioned above.)
For non-Spanish citizens, the necessary documentation will include an official recognition of equivalency of their PhD by the University of Barcelona’s ‘Escuela del Doctorado’, a Spanish social security number (NASS), and evidence of the holding of a Spanish bank account. For non-EU citizens, it will also include a work and residence permit (visa) for Spain, to obtain which will require additional documentation to be presented at a Spanish consulate/embassy (e.g. a police clearance certificate). The University of Barcelona will issue a document certifying the offer of employment that will have to be submitted alongside these documents to obtain a work visa. Non-Spanish EU citizens must obtain a NIE (an identification number for foreigners) within 90 days after signing the contract; non-EU citizens must obtain a TIE card (an identification card for foreigners) upon their arrival.
Deadline for applications
The deadline for applications for all three positions is 31 May, 2023 at midnight (CET).