Call for Applications for Postdoctoral Fellowships of the Koret Center for Jewish Civilization and The Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies and Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, 2023/2025

The Koret Center for Jewish Civilization aims to support outstanding research through postdoctoral fellowships granted to scholars whose research offers genuine and original contributions to the study of the Jewish Civilization and its relative fields. The Center as a joint partnership between Tel Aviv University, ANU–Museum of the Jewish People, and the Koret Foundation, and aspires to advance the understanding of Judaism as a civilization through innovative research and creative collaborations.

The Society’s two-year postdoctoral fellowship provides generous funding for international and Israeli scholars to pursue innovative research at the highest level, while enjoying the professional mentorship of faculty members at Tel Aviv University. Candidates who have completed their PhD in any discipline involved in the study of the Jewish Civilization in the fields of Archaeology, ancient Near East, Biblical Studies, Cultural Studies, Hebrew Language, History, and Philosophy are eligible to apply.

Researchers who have completed their PhD at Tel Aviv University are not eligible for the Fellowship. Candidates must hold a PhD degree no earlier than October 1, 2018 and no later than September 1, 2023. Applicants who were on maternity leave during the past five years will be considered even if their degree was awarded one year earlier than October 2018 for each child born after the date of the degree. The fellowship is awarded without any discrimination regarding ethnicity, religion, gender, or age.

Up to four fellowships will be awarded for two years each, beginning October 1, 2023. Those accepted to the program must commit to completing a full two-year term. The fellowships are not renewable. Fellows will be asked to spend at least three days a week on campus and be active members of the university’s scholarly community. They will be required to fully participate in the activities of the Koret Society of Fellows, the Koret Center for Jewish Civilization and the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies and Archaeology. The Fellows will lead a year-long research seminar, present their scholarship at the Koret Center Biennial Conference, organize a conference centered around their research, and publish the results in the online journal of the Koret Center.

The activities of the Koret Society of Fellows will be conducted in English. Fellows will receive an annual scholarship of $36,000 + $7,000 for research and academic activities. Non-Israeli fellows will also be eligible to partially subsidized on-campus housing.

Applications should include the following documents in English: CV (including a list of publications and a list of research languages); a statement of the research plan (max. 3 pages); a summary of PhD dissertation (max. 2 page); and two letters of recommendation (one from the applicant’s doctoral supervisor). Prior to the submission of the application, candidates are highly encouraged to contact researchers from the faculty of Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies and Archaeology, who can serve as their academic hosts at Tel Aviv University. The deadline for applications for the 2023/24-2024/25 academic years is March 5, 2023.

The application process is completed online, through the following link: https://en-humanities.tau.ac.il/jstudies/koret-fellows-form

The Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University invites applications to our postdoctoral fellow positions in Archaeology and the Ancient World. Exceptional junior scholars who can enhance and strengthen our commitment to inclusive education and research and to equality and social justice are encouraged to apply. We especially welcome applicants from underrepresented groups.

We seek candidates who have demonstrated a capacity for innovative research, engaged scholarship, and cross-disciplinary thinking. We are interested in individuals whose work focuses on archaeology of the Mediterranean, Egypt, and/or surrounding regions of the Middle East and North Africa, all broadly defined, and including research focused on recent periods; we are equally interested in applications from archaeologists, whose methodological and interdisciplinary expertise  clearly transcends regional specializations, and whose research complements that of existing faculty. Applicants must have normally received their doctorate within the last five years, and the Ph.D. must be in hand prior to July 1, 2023.

We fully understand and appreciate the impact that the current pandemic has had and may continue to exert on our lives, personally and professionally, and we will read ongoing research efforts and publication records in that light.

In addition to pursuing their research, successful candidates will be expected to teach one course per semester.  Teaching may be at both the undergraduate and graduate levels; interdisciplinary offerings are desirable. Successful candidates will be expected to make substantive contributions to the ongoing development of the Joukowsky Institute, through the organization of reading or working groups, a topical symposium, or another project intended to foster a stimulating intellectual environment in which to pursue research and to develop new interdisciplinary or community connections. These will be two-year positions, with confirmation after one year, beginning on July 1, 2023.

Application Instructions
All candidates should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, short descriptions of 3-4 proposed courses (150-300 words each), a statement (150-300 words) of their experience and/or ideas for prioritizing diversity and inclusion in their teaching and research, and contact information for three references by February 15, 2023. Applications received by this date will receive full consideration, but the search will remain open until the position is closed or filled.

Please submit application materials online at apply.interfolio.com/118818. There is no need to provide hard copies of application materials for those that have already been submitted electronically.

The European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant project: The Wall: People and Ecology in Medieval Mongolia and China at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the direction of Prof. Gideon Shelach-Lavi is offering fellowships beginning October 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The successful candidates will be part of a unique interdisciplinary team. The project combines archaeological, historic and paleo-climatic research. It focuses on what is, perhaps, the most enigmatic episode of ‘Great Wall’ construction in China and Mongolia: A wall system located in North China and Mongolia that covers a distance of over 3,500 km. The construction of this complex system, which includes long earthen walls and accompanying ditches, auxiliary structures and roads, is dated roughly to the 10th to 13th centuries CE, but it is unclear who built it, for what purposes, and how it functioned. Through the understanding of this monumental wall-system our project aims to understand the context, ambitions and administration of long-wall construction in Chinese and world history. To learn more about The Wall: People and Ecology in Medieval Mongolia and China project, visit our web site: https://thewall.huji.ac.il/

The scholarships are offered in two disciplines that are part of this project: Archaeology – our team performs remote sensing work, field surveys and excavations, artifact analysis, spatial analysis (GIS and drone research), and ecology-based modeling. History – our team of historical analysis systematically ‘mine’ the historical records (in Chinese and other languages) for concrete data that are relevant to the understanding of the wall-system, such as frontier diplomacy, defense, taxation and trade policies, and of extreme climatic anomalies and their effects. We are mapping and analyzing this data using qualitative and quantitative tools.

Knowledge of relevant languages – Chinese (modern and medieval) and Mongolian as well as Japanese and Russian – is an advantage and so is the knowledge of relevant methods of data recovery and analysis.

Post-doctoral fellowships are for one academic year in Jerusalem (with a possibility of extension to two or more years). Fellows will receive a monthly stipend of 9,000 NIS and travel expenses to Israel. They will be given offices and research facilities at the Hebrew University. Travel money to participate in conferences is available on a competitive basis. The post-doctoral fellows will participate in the project's seminar and its other activities, including our field expeditions. They are expected to produce a project-related article(s) or monograph.

Interested individuals are requested to submit the following documents (in one PDF file):

(i) Cover letter describing your academic experience and motivation for participating in the project (2-3 pages); (ii) Curriculum vitae; (iii) Abstract of the PhD dissertation; (iv) A writing sample: dissertation chapter or a paper that has been published or accepted for publication (no more than 30 pages); (v) Two letters of recommendation to be sent directly to TheWall@mail.huji.ac.il

Please send the requested materials electronically in one PDF file by March 15, 2023 to TheWall@mail.huji.ac.il

The Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, will appoint two post-doctoral scholars for the 2023–2024 academic year in the fields of Archaeology, Ancient Israel Studies, or Ancient Near Eastern Cultures.

The highly competitive fellowships are offered to researchers across many disciplines and will be awarded on the basis of academic excellence.

Applicants should have received their Ph.D. in a relevant field within the last three years from an institution other than Tel Aviv University. While appropriate training in archaeology, biblical studies, ancient Near Eastern cultures and/or biblical history is required, the nature of the applicant’s specific research interests and areas of expertise is open.

The fellowship period will begin on November 1, 2023, and is for a period of one academic year. There is an option to apply for a second year as part of the 2024–2025 application circle. The appointment carries an NIS 103,275 (= approximately $30,500) stipend.

Successful candidates are expected to submit a detailed research proposal (up to 2,000 words) describing their research endeavor at the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology. They are also expected to make a substantive contribution to the institute by organizing a colloquium on a subject related to their research that will stimulate an intellectual environment and foster innovative and interdisciplinary research. The outline of this colloquium, to be held at Tel Aviv University in mid-June 2023, should be part of the research proposal. Candidates should supply letters from two leading scholars in relevant fields confirming their participation in the colloquium. The candidates will continue to develop their colloquium during their stay at the institute.

Candidates should contact researchers from the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University prior to submission of the proposal, in order to make sure that they have a potential academic host for the proposed research.

Applicants should provide a cover letter, a CV, a copy of their Ph.D. certificate and three letters of reference (to be submitted directlyby the recommenders): A letter from their Ph.D. advisor/s (all advisors must submit a letter of recommendation); A letter from a researcher outside the university in which the candidate completed their doctoral studies; An additional letter of recommendation from a researcher affiliated to a recognized academic institution, of the candidate’s choice. Post-doctoral fellows must state if they are applying for other sources of funding for the fellowship period.

The scientific committee includes Prof. Oded Lipschits, Prof. Yuval Gadot, Prof. Ran Barkai, Dr. Dafna Langgut, Dr. Lidar Sapir Hen, Dr. Debora Sweeney and Dr. Guy Stiebel.