Philosophy as Conceptual Engagement: The Concepts We Have and the Concepts We Want

8 PhD- Positions

The FWF doc.funds project PACE at the University of Vienna (pace.phl.univie.ac.at/) is filling up to 8 predoctoral positions at the Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy (VDP, vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/). PACE examines questions about the subject matter and the methods of philosophy, exploring in particular the hypothesis that philosophy often involves conceptual engagement (see project description).

The successful candidate(s) will enroll in the University of Vienna doctoral programme in philosophy and join the VDP. They can pursue a doctoral research project in any area of philosophy, using any philosophical method. They will, as part of the project PACE, be expected to conduct their research with special attention to their own method, and also to participate in discussions on philosophical method.

The main duties are:

to develop a PhD research plan and have it approved by the doctoral board within the first 12 months.
to sign a supervision agreement within the first 12-18 months, which sets out the trajectory to successful completion of the research.
to complete some coursework in line with the doctoral programme (at least 24 ECTS).
to participate actively in VDP and PACE research activities.
to contribute to the organization of VDP and PACE events, such as seminars, workshops, conferences, and summer schools.
to complete and submit the doctoral thesis within four years.

There are no teaching duties associated with these positions but there will be some opportunities to teach certain undergraduate courses in the department (for extra pay).

These are four-year positions with a gross monthly salary of around 2458 Euros. In Austria 14 monthly salaries are paid out in a year. (Net salaries can be calculated on this page: onlinerechner.haude.at/BMF-Brutto-Netto-Rechner/.) Funding is available for conference trips and stays abroad. The contracts are initially for two years and will be renewed for another two years after successful completion of the first two years, including approval of the research plan.

Applications should contain the following documents (in pdf-format) and should be sent by 31 May 2023 to Raphael Aybar, the VDP-coordinator, on vd.philosophy@univie.ac.at:

a cover letter (anonymized) mentioning two potential supervisors from the VDP faculty, including at least one from among the PACE faculty.
a CV (anonymized), containing at least the following rubrics: academic qualifications, areas of expertise and competence, publications (if any), presentations (if any), admin/organizational experience (if any), career breaks (if any).
a PhD research proposal (anonymized), of no more than three pages length.
one or two writing samples (anonymized), of a maximum of 5000 words length each.
degree certificates and academic transcripts.
a document containing identifying information as well as contacts for two people who can provide a letter of reference (letters of reference will be requested only after shortlisting).

NB: documents 1–4. must be anonymized in order to allow for an anonymous first round of selection.

Selection Process: We expect to shortlist candidates for interview by 15 June and hold online interviews on 5, 6 and 7 of July 2023.

IMPORTANT. If your application is successful and you accept a position at the University of Vienna, you will need to move to Vienna before you can start the employment. You will need to submit degree certificates and transcripts that have the required legalization. Degree certificates or transcripts that are not in German or English must be translated into one of these two languages. The translation must be done by a court sworn translator after the documents have been legalized.

Any questions can be directed to the VDP coordinator Raphael Aybar at vd.philosophy@univie.ac.at and will if necessary be forwarded to the relevant person.