Associate researcher in the EU synergy project REM@KE - Reconstructing Embodied Musical knowledge at the Keyboard, based at the Academy of music and drama

The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 56 000 students and 6 600 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

The Artistic Faculty consists of the departments HDK-Valand – Academy of Art and Design and Academy of Music and Drama. As a combined faculty of art and learning, we are an independent, visionary and critical force in the necessary work to create a more sustainable and open society.

The Academy of Music and Drama is now looking for an associate researcher whose main task is to work as a keyboard organologist and assist in instrument documentation as well as collection and communication of knowledge within the new EU Research Project REM@KE. You will be part of the unit of classical music and church music, one of four units in the department. For more information about the Academy of Music and Drama, see to www.gu.se/scen-musik

About the project

REM@KE is a 6-year interdisciplinary program funded by the Synergy platform of the European Research Council with start date of September 1, 2025. Within the project we will attempt to build new bridges between performance research (Gothenburg), keyboard organology (Pavia) and cognitive sciences (York) using a micro-historical approach to study specific historical keyboard instruments and their wider contexts.

The beauty of artefacts built by artisans before the Industrial Revolution is that every object is different. It is difficult to explore the kinds of affordances in specific instruments from the past because we have such limited access to working historical instruments in their original form and, furthermore, time has altered both their materiality and sound. We will attmept to use micro-historical studies of four specific keyboard instruments from the Renaissance to the Romantic period to make new models of documentation, performance practice, and communication involving senior researchers, doctoral students, museum professionals, performers, builders, and new audiences. The researchers responsible for the project are principal investigators Joel Speerstra (Göteborg)  Massimiliano Guido (Pavia),  and Andrea Schiavio (York). For more information about the project, see to: remake.unipv.it

 Duties 

As an associate researcher in the project your main task is to work as a keyboard organologist specializing in the history and technology of musical instruments, including social and cultural aspects.

 The duties as an associate researcher within the project are to:

• actively participate in designing and exploring the four microecologies, their related instruments and histories
• work with instrument documentation
• visit museums for data collection campaigns
• assist researchers in organising research seminars and conferences
• keep contacts with researchers and their teams
• communicate knowledge about the project
• work on the development of the research protocol CADO (cognitive and digital organology)
• develop your own research profile through conferences, presentations, and publications

 
Business travels for conferences and research trips to document museum instruments will occur approximately six times a year.

Assessment criteria 

The following is required:

• a master’s degree in a relevant field, for example keyboard organology, musicology, museum sciences
• documented professional experience working with historical keyboard instruments
• documented track record of early-career academic publishing
• documented experience organising workshops, seminars and/or conferences
• good language skills in English

In making the appointment, emphasis will also be placed on the applicant having:

• a PhD in a relevant field
• language skills in Swedish and Italian
• experience in developing documentation practices

 
In addition to these requirements and qualifications it is important that you have good organisational skills, are responsible, take initiative, and work independently. We are looking for a person who is meticulous, structured, and creative, who has good social skills and flexibility in how they work.

We will primarily consider the person who, after an overall assessment of competence, skill and documented merits, is deemed to have the best prerequisites to carry out the relevant tasks and contribute to the positive development of the organization.

Employment

Form of employment: Permanent position. We apply a six-month trial employment period

Scope: 75% of full time

Location: Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg

Start date: September 1, 2025, or as agreed

If you are an international applicant, read more here:

Working hours are based at the Artistic Faculty  in Gothenburg with several sessions each working week. Remote work from abroad is not possible as the University of Gothenburg is a government agency.

In Sweden, there is a dependency requirement for those applying for a work permit. To find out how this affects you as an international applicant, please read about income requirements for work permits on the Migration Agency's website or contact hr@hsm.gu.se.

The official language of communication at the University of Gothenburg is Swedish, but internationalization means that English is often used in parallel. Since knowledge of Swedish is often a prerequisite for collegial cooperation, teachers, researchers and doctoral students who do not have a good knowledge of Swedish should be offered the opportunity to learn the language. This is in order to be able to take on assignments and for promotion to senior lecturer and professor where Swedish is a requirement.

Selection process 

We plan to hold interviews on 12-13 of June, 2025. Digital interviews can be possible.

Contact information

If you have any questions about the employment, please contact: Daniel Stighäll, head of the classical music and church music unit, telephone: +46 31-786 66 55 or e-mail: daniel.stighall@hsm.gu.se

If you have questions about the project and/or duties, please contact: Joel Speerstra, Senior lecturer and researcher, e-mail: joel.speerstra@hsm.gu.se

If you have any questions about the recruitment procedure, please contact: Linnea Back, Human resourse administrator, telephone: +46 31-786 40 21 or e-mail: hr@hsm.gu.se

Unions

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here: https://www.gu.se/om-universitetet/jobba-hos-oss/hjalp-for- sokande.

Application

You apply for the position via the University of Gothenburg's recruitment portal by clicking on the "Apply" button. You as an applicant are responsible for ensuring that the application is complete in accordance with the advertisement and that it is received by the university no later than the application deadline.  

The application shall include:

• Cover letter stating why you are interested in and suitable for the position
• A CV including information about your education, relevant work experience, language skills and other merits.
• Copy of master’s degree and / or doctoral certificate
• Relevant scholarly publications
• Name of two reference persons and their contact information

Publications that cannot be attached to the application online should be sent to:

HR at the Academy of Music and Drama
Box 210
405 30

and must be received by the deadline.

 

Applications must be received by: May 28, 2025  

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.