Multispecies & More-than-Human Social Science
SOCIALPAT Research Group | IPNA-CSIC | Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
The Social Sciences, Heritage & Food Research Group (SOCIALPAT) at the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology (IPNA-CSIC) invites expressions of interest from outstanding early-career postdoctoral researchers wishing to apply for the forthcoming Juan de la Cierva fellowship of the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI).
We are particularly interested in researchers developing ambitious work in multispecies and more-than-human social science, broadly understood. We welcome candidates from anthropology, human geography, sociology, science and technology studies, environmental humanities, political ecology and related fields whose work examines how humans, animals, environments, institutions and technologies become entangled in contemporary processes of governance, care and socio-ecological change.
The successful candidate would be encouraged to develop an independent postdoctoral research agenda, while benefiting from close intellectual exchange with SOCIALPAT and the wider interdisciplinary environment of IPNA-CSIC.
We particularly welcome projects engaging with one or several of the following areas:
- multispecies ethnography and more-than-human approaches;
- human–animal relations and human–animal studies;
- multispecies and animal geographies;
- multispecies governance and more-than-human politics;
- anthropology of conservation and biodiversity;
- political ecology and environmental anthropology;
- care, welfare and ethics in human–animal relations;
- rural–urban relations and socio-ecological conflict;
- environmental governance and contested species;
- Science and Technology Studies and Actor–Network Theory;
- veterinary practices and animal health as social and political fields;
- law, expertise, public policy and regulation concerning animals and environments;
- gender and the organisation of multispecies care;
- conservation conflicts and coexistence;
- island and peripheral ecologies;
- digital, visual, participatory and experimental approaches to multispecies research.
Empirically, proposals may focus on any species, multispecies assemblage, landscape or socio-environmental controversy. We are particularly interested in projects that combine strong empirical research with an ambitious theoretical contribution capable of speaking to wider debates across the social sciences.
Research environment
SOCIALPAT is an interdisciplinary social-science research group working across anthropology, sociology, heritage studies, food studies and environmental research. Its members combine ethnographic, historical, qualitative and mixed-method approaches and participate in national and European research projects and international research networks.
The group provides a particularly favourable environment for developing new research on human–animal relations, environmental governance, care, socio-ecological conflict and more-than-human approaches.
From 2027, this environment will also include FRONTCAT – Beyond the Cat Wars: Reimagining Multispecies Governance and the Ethics of Care amid Rural Populism, an ERC Consolidator Grant led by Pablo Alonso González. FRONTCAT will develop comparative research on multispecies governance, care, conservation, animal welfare and socio-political conflict. Candidates whose research intersects with these questions may benefit from intellectual exchanges, seminars, networks and comparative opportunities associated with the project, although alignment with FRONTCAT is not a requirement.
More broadly, SOCIALPAT hosts and collaborates with researchers funded through European and Spanish programmes, including Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships and national postdoctoral schemes, providing an international and interdisciplinary setting for developing an independent academic profile.
Why Tenerife and IPNA-CSIC?
IPNA-CSIC combines social-science and natural-science research within the same institute, creating unusual opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration across anthropology, ecology, biodiversity, agroecology and environmental sciences.
The Canary Islands also constitute an exceptional environment for multispecies research. Questions surrounding biodiversity conservation, invasive and introduced species, animal welfare, tourism, rural transformation, urbanisation, agriculture and environmental governance coexist within a geographically concentrated archipelago with distinctive ecological and political conditions.
Research proposals do not need to focus on the Canary Islands, however, and comparative or internationally based projects are fully welcome.
Juan de la Cierva eligibility
The official 2026 Juan de la Cierva call has not yet been published.
According to the current AEI planning for the forthcoming call, candidates in the general access track are expected to have obtained their PhD between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2026, subject to the extensions, exceptions and final eligibility conditions established in the official call.
Candidates of any nationality may apply.
Applicants should also take into account the mobility requirements normally established by the Juan de la Cierva programme concerning incorporation into a research centre different from that in which their principal predoctoral training was undertaken.
The forthcoming programme is expected to fund a 36-month postdoctoral contract, with the official call currently expected during the fourth quarter of 2026.
All eligibility requirements will be checked again once the definitive AEI call is published.
Candidate profile
We are looking for candidates with a PhD — or a thesis expected to be completed within the eligible period — in areas such as:
Social or Cultural Anthropology, Human Geography, Sociology, Science and Technology Studies, Environmental Humanities, Political Ecology, Human–Animal Studies, or closely related fields.
We particularly value:
- a strong research trajectory relative to career stage;
- high-quality publications and clear potential for internationally visible research;
- an intellectually coherent and original research agenda;
- strong ethnographic, qualitative, historical, comparative or mixed-method skills;
- international experience, mobility or research collaboration;
- capacity to connect detailed empirical research with broader theoretical debates.
Professional competence in English or Spanish is expected. Knowledge of both languages is advantageous but not required at the expression-of-interest stage.
Having at least 3 international publications in respected journals is recommended.
What we offer
Selected candidates will receive dedicated support in developing a competitive Juan de la Cierva application, including:
- assessment of eligibility and competitiveness;
- development and refinement of the research proposal;
- strategic positioning of the candidate's CV and trajectory;
- articulation of candidate–host complementarity;
- preparation of the host-team component of the application;
- alignment with AEI evaluation criteria.
The researcher would join an interdisciplinary and internationally oriented academic environment while retaining substantial autonomy to develop their own postdoctoral research profile.
Information on previous calls:
https://www.aei.gob.es/en/announcements/announcements-finder/ayudas-contratos-juan-cierva-2025
Información para candidaturas en España
El grupo SOCIALPAT del IPNA-CSIC (Tenerife) busca candidatas y candidatos interesados en presentar una solicitud a la próxima convocatoria Juan de la Cierva de la AEI en líneas relacionadas con antropología multiespecie, relaciones humano-animal, geografías multiespecie, estudios more-than-human, ecología política, conservación, gobernanza ambiental, cuidados, bienestar animal, STS y campos afines.
Buscamos perfiles con una propuesta propia y ambiciosa: no es necesario trabajar sobre gatos ni integrarse directamente en FRONTCAT. El objetivo es incorporar a una persona con capacidad para desarrollar una línea postdoctoral independiente que dialogue con las líneas de investigación de SOCIALPAT y con el entorno interdisciplinar del IPNA-CSIC.
De acuerdo con la planificación actualmente disponible de la AEI, para el turno general se prevé que puedan presentarse personas cuyo doctorado haya sido obtenido entre el 1 de enero de 2025 y el 31 de diciembre de 2026, pendiente de confirmación definitiva cuando se publique la convocatoria.
Las personas interesadas pueden enviar un CV breve y una propuesta de investigación de una página a pablo.alonso@ipna.csic.es, preferiblemente antes del 1 de noviembre de 2026, para valorar conjuntamente la elegibilidad, el encaje y la competitividad de la candidatura.
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