PhD position “Stone age heritage as shared landscapes” in the HORIZON Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Network “Archaeological Coastal Heritage: Past, present and future of a hidden prehistoric legacy”

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Doctoral Candidate 8 “Stone age heritage as shared landscapes: Mapping concerns, actors & perspectives” 

General information on the DN ArCHe: 

The Doctoral Network ArCHe (https://www.arche.uio.no/) will train 10 PhD fellows for increasing the scientific and public value of Europe’s archaeological coastal heritage, focusing on the legacy of Stone Age hunter-fisher-gatherers (c. 12,000–2000 calBC). Including some of the earliest remains of human activity, this fragile and very heterogeneous legacy is crucial for understanding human engagement with the coast. Today, it is embedded in a variety of geographic settings across Europe, differing in environmental development, which face massive environmental and human threats, and is approached in various ways in cultural heritage management. ArCHe addresses the challenges of this fractured field with an innovative past–present–future approach focused on connecting the legacy from the past, its present status as archaeological heritage and prospects for its future protection and integration into lived landscapes. With six beneficiaries and nine associated partners, ArCHe unites academic research centres and non-academic organizations (cultural heritage sector, specialist organisations, museums and media). Within this joint platform for research and training, customized PhD projects will allow for cross-fertilization of knowledge among researchers and partners through scientific courses, workshops, conferences, applied secondments and transferable skills tuition. Training in archaeology, anthropology, critical heritage studies, heritage management, bioarchaeology, geology, oceanography, coastal engineering/preservation and communication relevant to coastal heritage and environment will equip the ArCHe PhDs with advanced interdisciplinary and cross-regional knowledge and skills applicable to various academic and non-academic fields across Europe. Through best practices, the PhD projects will contribute to the visibility, preservation and sustainable integration of the vulnerable cultural heritage in coastal areas facing global environmental and development challenges. 

Information on the PhD-position: 

Reference (ArCHe-Doctoral candidate no.)	DC8
Title of the project	Stone age heritage as shared landscapes: Mapping concerns, actors and perspectives
Recruiting institution and place of work	School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Expected Start date	15 August 2024 or as negotiated
Length of the project	48 months
- Gross salary (not including employer's social security contributions)	27 877 SEK (Swedish krona) per month
- Mobility allowance (LKP is not included)	3 923 kr (Swedish krona) per month salary
- family allowance	if eligible
Project description:	DC8 investigates how existing and future archaeological activities in shared landscapes can be made locally relevant, sustainable, and attuned to contemporary dynamics at multiple scales. DC8 examines three case study areas across Europe (Norway, W-France, Latvia) that host coastal Stone Age hunter-fisher-gatherer heritage (excavated/not excavated), mapping different actors (such as local community heritage enthusiasts, municipal administrations, builders, planners, cultural heritage management actors, scientists, and environmental protection and conservation groups), interests, challenges and opportunities that may affect future management and use of these sites. Using anthropological and social science methods, DC8 provides an in-depth understanding of the socio-material dynamics that shape these shared landscapes, ranging from structural and economic conditions to social and cultural factors and environmental concerns. The comparative knowledge will be used to identify how prehistoric hunter-fisher-gatherer traces can best be integrated into future planning and use of these landscapes in a sensitive and inclusive manner, e.g., as places of learning in sustainable infrastructure development or tourism. DC8 fosters consciousness and reflexivity among site stakeholders (including researchers and other actors), both within and beyond the network, to strengthen public dialogue and inclusiveness. This project provides training for a career in sustainable natural and cultural resource management. Expected results consist of academic and popular science outputs, the former a dissertation and two co-authored journal articles. Data will be stored at UGOT.
Academic secondments	DC8 has a cross-regional comparative perspective through secondments to SE-Norway, W-France and Latvia. Academic secondments occur at the University of Oslo (2 months), CNRS/University of Rennes, France (2 months), and University of Latvia, Latvia (1 month), with the purpose of developing a comparative understanding of stone age heritage in different case-study sites.
Non-academic secondments	Viken County Council (Norway), to learn regional management of archaeological sites and administration of cultural landscapes with diverse stakeholders (1 month).
Main supervisor	Professor Maris Gillette, School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg
Co-supervisors	Associate Professor A Mjærum, University of Oslo; Dr. Valdis Bērziņš, University of Latvia

Eligibility criteria 

The recruitment process for all Doctoral candidates in the HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN ArCHe follows a common recruitment strategy, which is based on the European Commission’s Code of Conduct of Recruitment
MSCA-eligibility criteria	- MSCA Mobility Rule: researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary (Sweden) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their date of recruitment  - All researchers recruited in a DN must be doctoral candidates (i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment)
Local eligibility criteria	According to Chapter 7, paragraph 39 of the Higher Education Ordinance, applicants must have obtained a degree in the second-cycle (master’s level), completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 are at the advanced level, or in some other way acquired essentially equivalent knowledge either within or outside of Sweden. In addition, applicants to the PhD in social anthropology must have completed least 90 university credits in social anthropology or an equivalent subject.
Enrolment in local PhD-programme	The successful applicant will be enrolled in the PhD programme in Social Anthropology, School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg.
Appropriate academic knowledge and skills	Appropriate academic knowledge and skills for DC8 include experience in qualitative social science research methods and skills related to participant-action research. Knowledge of French or Norwegian/Swedish is a merit.

Documentation to be sent in by the applicants 

- Letter of motivation 

- Project proposal (approximately 14,000 characters including spaces, references in addition) describing how the candidate would approach the given PhD-topic, with substantial reflections (not more than 4,200 characters including spaces) on how the specific PhD-project topic will contribute to achieving the general aims of the Doctoral network ArCHe as described on the ArCHe homepage (https://www.arche.uio.no/). A progress plan should be included. 

- CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work) 

- Complete list of publications and academic works 

- Proof of language proficiencies 

- Two reference persons to be contacted by the selection committee (name, relation to candidate, e-mail address and phone number) 

- Copy of MA degree diploma(s) and academic transcripts 

- A copy of the master’s thesis in English or Scandinavian, or an academic publication in English or Scandinavian 

Assessment criteria  

- Scientific excellence to fit the PhD project, including the comparative ArCHe-perspective: international, interdisciplinary, intersectoral and with a past-present-future perspective 

- Fluent (oral and written) English skills as the project operates in English language. Knowledge of the language of the host country may be considered a merit.  

Merit: French or a Scandinavian language 

- Regarding the project proposal:                 

      - Originality, independent thinking 

      - Knowledge of the state of the art and how the applicant goes beyond this 

      - Theoretical and methodological foundation 

      - Scientific ambition and innovativeness 

      - Feasibility and progress plan 

      - Suitability of the proposal not least in terms of the Doctoral network thought, and specifically regarding to ArCHe 

      - Ethics implications 

All of the above are assessed based on submitted documentation and the interview. In addition, the following soft skills are assessed during the interview: 

- High motivation for doing their PhD in a MSCA-Doctoral network, and specifically ArCHe 

- Flexibility 

- Team-mindedness 

Important additional information 

Contact person/address/telephone number in case of questions on the position

Maris Gillette, maris.gillette@gu.se, +46 73 541 90 61.  Deadline for application: May 24th, 2024

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden’s regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.