EMPSOLID Is Hiring Two Postdoctoral Researchers
The European Research Council (ERC)-funded project EMPSOLID – “Empire of Solidarities: a Connected History of Private Charity Across a Decentred Romanov Empire, 1855–1914” is pleased to announce two open positions for postdoctoral researchers (research fellows).
About the Project
By the late nineteenth century, the Romanov Empire stretched half-way across the globe, turning inhabitants of the vast territory spanning today’s Tallinn to Vladivostok into subjects of the same empire. Yet, how far did inhabitants’ horizons of sympathy extend? Did people living at opposite ends of the empire feel any emotional connection or impulse to help one another in times of need? If so, how were these solidarities expressed and enacted? EMPSOLID analyses the formation and development of horizontal connections between different regions of the Romanov Empire through a focus on intra-imperial charity, philanthropy, and aid. The project investigates how charity became a means of expressing solidarity and was shaped by — and also sometimes transcended — confessional and ethnolinguistic divides. The project’s decentring approach contributes to critical approaches to East European and Eurasian studies and imperial history by intensifying cross-regional exchanges between scholars working on different regions of the Romanov Empire (Baltic Studies, Ukrainian Studies, Caucasus Studies, Central Asian Studies etc.) and probing new ways of thinking about the empire based on horizontal entanglements between its border regions.
About the Position
The positions are full-time (100%) and offered for a duration of 2.5 years. The project is led by Principal Investigator Catherine Gibson and is based at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu.
We particularly welcome applications from candidates with expertise in the Caucasus and/or Central Asia. However, applicants working on other regions of the Romanov Empire are also strongly encouraged to apply.
The preferred start date for both positions is 1 September 2026.
Application Details
- Application deadline: 4 May
- Project website: https://empsolid.ee/
- Further details and application portal: https://lnkd.in/dPejtfYs
