Postdoctoral Researcher in Coptic Christianity

Your position:

Working with Dr Dan Batovici, the PI, the post holder will be part of the ERC CoG project Secondary Pseudepigraphy: Claimed Apostolically-Connected Authors and the Reception of Early Christian Literature, which will start in September 2026.

CLAIM Project tackles across five manuscript cultures (Greek, Latin, Coptic, Syriac, and Armenian) the complex literature attributed to secondary figures of the earliest Christianity that are styled as companions, followers, or otherwise interlocutors of main apostolic figures.

The post holder will be responsible for carrying out research on the literature attributed to early Christian figures styled as followers of the apostles (e.g. Clement of Rome or Hermas) and their manuscript transmission in Coptic, and for producing a critical edition of a central text in the corpus.

The successful candidate will be a specialist in Coptic studies with good knowledge of Greek, will hold or be close to obtaining a PhD in a relevant field, and will have significant experience in working with and editing Coptic manuscripts.

The position is meant as stepping stone for the development of the career of the postdoctoral researcher.

The language of the project is English.

Your future tasks:

• Manage your own academic research as well as scholarly and administrative activities as directed by the PI.
• Carry out research in relevant manuscript libraries (e.g. the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France).
• You will be contributing on the Coptic side of the CLAIM project and collaborate with your colleagues that work on the Greek, Coptic, Latin, and Armenian.
• Compile and update the list of Coptic manuscripts with CLAIM writings and feed the data in the project database.
• Co-organise the seminar, conferences and workshops of the project, and co-edit the volumes of proceedings.
• Represent the CLAIM project at external conferences, and prepare results for publications, individually or in collaboration with your colleagues.

Selection criteria:

• Excellent knowledge of Coptic and experience in working with Coptic manuscripts.
• The ability to work independently as well as in collaboration with your colleagues.
• Demonstrable experience of independent scholarly writing at a high academic level.
• Working experience on early Christian literature can be a plus but it is not a requirement.

This position is based in Vienna. It is a full-time, fixed-term position for 30 months, available from 1 September 2026, or soon after.

The closing date for application is 1 July 2026.