Offene Stellen

We are seeking motivated candidates for a full-time PhD position within the MINARET Doctoral Network, funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions under Horizon Europe in the track Religious, Customary and State Law: Negotiating Plural Legal Orders (DC 7).

About the programme

MINARET Doctoral Network trains 15 doctoral candidates (DCs) in the sociology of post-imperial Islamic legal cultures, with a regional focus on Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. The programme examines the interactions between law, religion, and governance in Muslim-majority societies shaped by imperial legacies and ongoing processes of constitutional transformation. Its three core goals are:

1. Empirical and theoretical innovation on the interconnections between law, religion, governance, constitutionalism, democratization, and security in post-imperial Muslim-majority societies.
2. Sustainable interdisciplinary doctoral training across disciplines, sectors, and regions, creating a new generation of experts in Islamic legal cultures and constitutional transformation.
3. Policy outreach and societal impact, translating research findings into actionable intelligence through workshops, conferences, publications, policy briefs, and stakeholder engagement activities.

DC7 is the sub-project based at the University of Zurich. It investigates how religious, customary, and state legal systems interact and shape governance, citizenship, and social life in Muslim-majority societies. Potential field sites include Southeast Asia, the Middle East or Central Asia. It analyses how multiple legal orders compete and cooperate in defining citizenship, family relations, public morality, and economic activities. The study aims to reveal how institutional pluralism shapes social relations, perceptions of justice, and constitutional legitimacy.

All doctoral candidates will be hosted at one of 11 leading European universities within the MINARET consortium and will work closely with a wide network of academic and non-academic partners across Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and North America. They will benefit from joint supervision, international and intersectoral secondments, advanced methodological and transferable skills training, and unique opportunities to bridge academic research with policy and practice.

To read more about the MINARET project please see: https://www.soclaw.lu.se/en/article/major-eu-grant-lund-led-phd-programme-islamic-legal-cultures

Requirements

Applicants should hold an MA in anthropology or a related discipline. They should bring along a strong academic record, as well as experience in ethnographic fieldwork. High proficiency in English, both written and spoken, is expected. Knowledge of local languages, depending on the chosen field site(s) will be essential to conduct fieldwork successfully.

Doctoral candidates cannot have been awarded a doctoral degree and/or completed more than four years of full-time equivalent research experience. They must not have resided or carried out their main activity (i.e. work, studies) in the hosting country for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date.

For further information on eligibility criteria and on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks in general, please refer to: Doctoral Networks - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Your responsibilities

If selected for the position, the doctoral candidate will join the research team at the Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies, headed by Prof. Peter Finke, who will also serve as principal supervisor. They will be given sufficient time, guidance, and resources to develop their individual research, aligned with the overall MINARET project's aims. Note that they will also be required to fulfil the mandatory study requirements for doctoral students at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Zurich.

All PhD candidates admitted to the programme are required to conduct extensive fieldwork and undertake two secondments abroad, one academic and one non-academic of between two and six months duration. You will participate in training events, workshops, and conferences organized by the MINARET Doctoral Network, and collaborate with international supervisors and peers. Through collaboration with universities, civil society organisations, think tanks, public institutions, and development agencies, doctoral candidates will also gain first-hand experience of legal, political, and governance transformations in post-imperial Muslim-majority societies while developing the skills necessary for successful careers in academia, policymaking, international organisations, and the wider public and private sectors.

In addition, you are expected to contribute to departmental activities. You should have strong motivation and ability to work independently under pressure as well as good collaboration and communication skills.

For further information on eligibility criteria and on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks in general, please refer to: Doctoral Networks - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

What we offer

A dynamic, innovative and challenging research and teaching environment, an excellent opportunity for further qualifications, and a motivated and team-minded faculty interested in academic exchange.

Competitive salary plus financial support for fieldwork periods, publications and academic conferences.

PhD students at ISEK have also the opportunity to join the „Swiss Graduate Program in Anthropology“.

Place of work

University of Zurich, ISEK – Social Anthropology
Andreasstr. 15
8050 Zurich

Information on your application

Deadline for application: 31. January 2027
Start of employment: 1. August 2027
Duration: 36 months of full-time employment

We are looking forward to your application. Please enclose the following documents:

• Cover letter in English (max 1,000 words), including a brief presentation of yourself and your qualifications, as well as a short description of why you are interested in the doctoral programme
• Curriculum Vitae
• Writing sample
• Copies of your degrees
• Address of two persons who can be contacted for a letter of recommendation.
• A research plan of up to 2,000 words excluding references. The research plan must contain an overall purpose, questions that the project intends to answer, an account of the theoretical framework and the methodological approach.
• A statement certifying that the applicant has not resided or carried out their main activity (i.e. work or studies) in Switzerland for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to submit a signed Mobility Declaration covering the last 36 months, together with supporting documents (e.g., residence registration/tax certificate, employment or study attestations).

Applicants will be assessed based on the above criteria, and top-ranked candidates will be invited for an interview.

Zürich University actively promotes equal opportunities in order to offer a diverse workplace and a university characterised by an open and inclusive approach.

Contact

For questions regarding the position: Prof. Dr. Peter Finke, chair holder (0041 (0)44 635 22 33, peter.finke@uzh.ch)

For questions regarding the application process: Miriam Wohlgemuth, administrative assistant (0041 (0)44 635 22 12, miriam.wohlgemuth@uzh.ch)

Please send your documents to: miriam.wohlgemuth@uzh.ch

Starting date 01 February 2027 (or by mutual agreement). The position is limited to four years.

The successful applicant will join a collegial, dynamic, diverse and internationally oriented team. Our research is ethnographically grounded, theoretically informed and invested in research partnerships with the regions we work in.

About the Project

This project uses an ethnographic approach to explore how the desire for a ‘good life’ and the wish to realise Bildung ideals (understood as a holistic form of self-cultivation) impact the training process and subsequent implementation of skills for ‘philosophical practitioners’. Philosophical practitioners organized internationally in the early 1980s in response to critiques of academic philosophy's detachment from daily life. They share the conviction that both modern academic philosophy and religious traditions have failed to fulfil their roles in providing moral and spiritual guidance, and in leading people towards reflective, self-formative lives. Our research examines how the ideal of Bildung is shaped, negotiated and implemented by practitioners within an academic education system that has historically privileged disembodied intellectual discourse over embodied praxis. We also explore how epistemic boundaries and institutional distinctions between philosophical and religious forms of knowledge, authority and practice are established. Presumably our research will be in Norway and Austria.

Requirements

• MA degree in Social Anthropology or related disciplines
• Experience with qualitative methods and ethnographic fieldwork, preferably an emerging publication profile
• Desired, but not necessary are theoretical and empirical interests in the fields of the anthropology of religion, anthropology of ethics, in European societies and philosophy
• High proficiency in English and preferably German
• Excellent organizational and communication abilities
• Ability to work independently as well as in collaboration with the team
• For the duration of the contract, weekly presence at the Department is expected during the term.

Responsibilities

• Planning and realization of a PhD project, including ethnographic fieldwork
• Organizational and administrative tasks in the framework of the project, contribution to the overall aims of the research project by participating in regular meetings and organizing workshops
• Active participation in Department’s activities (colloquia; collaboration in media outreach)
• Presentation of research results at workshops and international conferences & Publishing
• Collaboration with institutions and relevant stakeholders
• Contribution to science communication for a non-academic audience.

We offer

An innovative and collaborative academic environment, excellent opportunities for research (including finan- cial support), start-up funds to develop your profile and visibility, financial support for the hosting and attend- ance of conferences and workshops, strong administrative backing, and a motivated and collegial department and faculty interested in academic exchange.

Terms of employment

The position offers attractive working conditions and a salary according to SNSF regulations (80% Position at the University of Zurich).

Place of work

ISEK – Social and Cultural Anthropology
Andreasstrasse 15
8050 Zurich
Switzerland

Application

We are looking forward to your application. Please enclose the following documents:

• Cover letter with an indication of your research plan
• Curriculum Vitae
• An electronic copy of your MA Thesis
• Copies of your academic degrees
• Names and contact details of two referees

Please send your documents in a single PDF file to Dr. Lydia Ginzburg (lydia.ginzburg@uzh.ch) by 31.10.2026.

Interviews will be held online via Zoom on 16.11.2026.

Application deadline: 31.10.2026

Questions

Please do not hesitate to contact us. For questions regarding the application process: Miriam Wohlgemuth, Administrative Assistant (miriam.wohlgemuth@uzh.ch)

For questions regarding the profile: Co-Project Leaders Prof. Dr. Johannes Quack (johannes.quack@uzh.ch) or Dr. Lydia Ginzburg (lydia.ginzburg@uzh.ch).

Interessierte, motivierte und en­ga­gierte Studierende der Ethnologie können sich jederzeit für Tutorats- und Hilfsassistenten-Stellen bewerben. Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter dem folgenden Link:

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