Subject to the final allocation of prospective third-party funds, the newly established Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies at the University of Bayreuth is accepting applications for

Four Post-Doc positions (E-13 TV-L)

for the Research Project “Future Africa – Visions on the Move” (funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research / BMBF):

The following positions are available:

Two historians for the sub-project “Beyond Europe: History and Narration of Future in Modern Africa” (starting in March and October 2013 respectively, both running 2 + 1 years).

Responsibilities: Researching the history of Africa’s future as envisioned by key figures, both in Africa as well as the Afro-Atlantic diaspora.

Required Qualifications: Recent doctoral degree in the fields of African History, Afro-American Studies or Atlantic History.

Desired Qualifications: Working experience in matters pertaining to the project; good knowledge of a language spoken in Africa other than English.

One Post-Doc position for the sub-project “Africa’s Future Environment – Concepts of Perceiving, Preserving, and Performing Nature (starting in spring 2013).

Responsibilities: Theory and modelling of man-environment relationships, (re)analysis of published models and data analysis from interdisciplinary studies.

Required Qualifications: PhD in one of the following subjects: Computer Science, Mathematics or Environmental Sciences.

Desired Qualifications: skills in one or several of the following subjects: multi-agent models, time-series analysis, coalgebra or modal logic.

A sociologist for the sub-project “Middle classes in transition: Conceptualisations of future between freedom, consumerism, tradition and morality” (starting in February of 2013)

Responsibilities: Empirical research on expectations and visions of the future as conceived by the middle class in Kenya as well as the development of suitable instruments for the analytical research of the sociocultural differentiation of the African middle classes.

Required Qualifications: PhD in Sociology

Desired Qualifications: Knowledge of the analysis of social structure and research experience in the global South.

All positions require expert knowledge of the English language (both written and oral) ), the ability to work in a German speaking administrative university setting as well as the willingness to participate in scientific teamwork and discussions across both disciplinary and regional boundaries.
Applications from persons with disabilities will be favoured when all other qualifications are equal. The University of Bayreuth is seeking to increase the number of female employees and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply.

Please submit your applications by 15 November 2012, either by mail or online to: Prof. Dr. Achim von Oppen, Universität Bayreuth, GWII 2.14, 95440 Bayreuth, E-Mail: achim.vonoppen@uni-bayreuth.de