PhD candidate PRESERVARE project (history) - Huygens

Location: Amsterdam 
Max hours per week: 40.00
Max salary: 3.670
Duration of agreement: 4 jaar
Apply until: 11/03/2024

The Huygens Institute (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) is looking for a PhD candidate for the project PRESERVARE - 4 years

PRESERVARE. Large-scale conservation of perishable foodstuffs in the Low Countries, 1600-1800 is a European Research Council-funded Consolidator Grant (ERC CoG) led by Dr. Marieke Hendriksen and hosted by the Huygens Institute/NL-Lab of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in Amsterdam.

The project researches the production and exchange of academic, trade, and lay knowledge of food preservation through a unique combination of archival research, digital techniques, archaeological finds, and historical reconstructions.

We are looking for an interdisciplinary PhD candidate with a background in the history of science or cultural history to join the project on 1 February 2025. This four-year position is aimed at developing a history of knowledge of brining and pickling in the early modern Low Countries through preservation as an analytical category and the use of reconstructions.

The PhD candidate will be employed by the Huygens Institute, part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and will hold a guest researcher status and be awarded the PhD degree at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The candidate will be based at the Huygens Institute in Amsterdam, taking up a central role in the interdisciplinary research team consisting of historians, data scientists, archaeologists, and food conservation experts.

To apply, we expect the candidate to answer four questions, submit a CV, a writing sample (more details below). Close collaboration with all team members is a prerequisite. The candidate will be jointly supervised by dr. Marieke Hendriksen and prof. dr. Inger Leemans.

The position starts on 1 February 2025.

The ideal candidate:

• Has finished their master’s degree (at the start of the appointment).
• Is fluent in English.
• Can read Dutch and either speaks Dutch or is willing to learn Dutch fluently as soon as possible.
• Preferably can read sources in at least one other modern European language.
• Has a background in history of science and knowledge or cultural history.
• Has a strong interest in interdisciplinary research and digital humanities.
• Is both a team player and an independent thinker and researcher.
• Can think outside the box.
• Is interested in and willing to participate in reconstruction research.

What we offer:

• A two-year position with renumeration according to the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities
• Secondairy benefits
• An international work environment with many possibilities to collaborate
• Possibilities to organize events (outreach, symposium, et cetera)

To apply please submit:

• A 2-page CV including publication details (if any) and the contact information of 2 referees (e.g. Masters supervisor)
• A 2-page document clearly addressing each of the 4 questions below:

1. Why do you want to do a PhD?
2. How does this particular PhD relate to your previous work, interests and/or future aspirations?
3. What is your personal relationship to food preservation practices such as fermentation, drying, smoking, brining and pickling?
4. What do you think is an important issue to research in relation to food conservation history or archaeology?

• Writing sample, e.g. a published paper or a thesis chapter

Please send all documents by November 3rd, 2024. Interviews will take place on Friday 15 November 2024. For questions about the content of the position, contact Marieke Hendriksen (marieke.hendriksen@huc.knaw.nl)

About the Huygens Institute 
The Huygens Institute aims to enrich, broaden, renew and make widely accessible the research on history and culture of the Netherlands. We do this by digitally opening up historical and literary data and texts from various collections and sources, connecting them and analysing them in innovative ways – across the centuries and beyond Europe’s borders.

Terms of employment
Depending on education and experience the minimum salary is 2.872 and the maximum salary is 3.670 gross per month for a full-time appointment (scale P cao Nederlandse Universiteiten/KNAW). This is exclusive of 8% vacation allowance, 8.3% year-end bonus, travel allowance, internet allowance, home working allowance and pension accrual with ABP.

The KNAW offers its staff an excellent package of secondary benefits. A package that meets the different needs of employees depending on their stage of life, lifestyle or career ambitions. For example, by working an extra two hours a week, it is possible to increase the number of days off from 29 to 41 days a year (with full-time employment).

For a complete overview of the terms of employment, please refer to the web page: werken bij de KNAW.

Applying for a Certificate of Good Conduct can be part of the employment procedure.

Diversity & Inclusion
The KNAW considers a working environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated of great importance. A working environment in which attention is paid to individual quality and where development opportunities are paramount. Together we strive for an inclusive culture in which we embrace differences. We would therefore like to invite candidates who want to contribute to this through their background and experience. In the event of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who thus enhances diversity within the Academy.

We will not respond to any supplier enquiries based on this job advertisement.