"PhD Position: Ethics and Social Philosophy (specialisation: Health)"

Job Description

Are you a passionate PhD candidate in practical philosophy, eager to explore health, illness, death, and the existential impact of Long Covid? Apply now for this unique PhD position! Are you a highly motivated and passionate PhD candidate in practical philosophy, interested in the phenomenology of health and illness, the philosophy of death and/or patient participation and social justice? Are you interested in examining the deep existential impacts of Long Covid on patients? Then we would encourage you to apply for this PhD position, wherein you will have the opportunity to explore the existential effects of Long Covid through the prism of multi-levelled ‘deadliness’, particularly ‘living death’, social death and suicide ideation. This will be a comparative empirical/practical philosophical project of 4 years’ duration focusing on Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia) and the Netherlands. As a PhD candidate, your main responsibility will be to produce a PhD monograph about Long Covid patients’ experiences of ‘death’ and ‘deadliness’. This monograph should consist of a critical phenomenological analysis based on a literature review and data collection. This data collection will mainly consist of qualitative interviews and diary exercises with Long Covid patients in the Netherlands and Germany (NRW), which will be coded and analysed. Furthermore, together with your supervisor, you will co-author 2 public opinion pieces and 2 academic articles. And, towards the end of the project, you and your supervisor will also summarise the findings of your monograph in a high-quality policy brief (in German, English and Dutch) and the supervisor will take the lead in writing a non-academic book on this topic for a broader audience.

Requirements

• You have completed a BA/MA degree in Philosophy (or in a closely related area such as Sociology or Anthropology).
• You are fluent in German and English. Knowledge of the Dutch language would be an advantage.
• You have a demonstrable affinity with the medical humanities and/or the philosophy of death. Affinity with empirical/applied philosophy or social sciences would be an advantage.
• You preferably have experience in qualitative empirical research. This would be an advantage but is not a requirement.
• You are highly motivated, and able to work independently as well as in a team.

Conditions of Employment

We will give you a temporary employment contract (1.0 FTE) of 1.5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract). You will receive a starting salary of €3,059 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,881 in the fourth year (salary scale P). You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus. We offer Dual Career Coaching. The Dual Career Coaching assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20. Additional employment conditions include flexible working hours, various leave arrangements, working from home, and more.

Employer

Radboud University, Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies. Staff and students reflect on the great challenges of our time, exploring concepts, belief systems and worldviews. The faculty has over 180 staff, organized in eight academic departments and four support departments. Our academics collaborate in six research centres and teach more than 1,000 students.