Investigating the gender dimensions of biological fieldwork

Maastricht University

Deadline for application: October 31st 2024

The History Department is looking for a PhD candidate to conduct research into the gender dimensions of biological fieldwork in the second half of the 20th century (starting date 01-01-2025). The focus will be on networks between women doing biological fieldwork. The position will consist of 85% research and 15% teaching.

The candidate will combine approaches from the history of science, Science and Technology Studies (STS), gender studies and postcolonial history to study the formal and informal relationships between women biologists working in different field sites. In the second half of the 20th century, Asian and African national parks experienced a gradual, yet unprecedented inflow of women researchers with their own credentials. Besides a handful well-known primatologists, this generation of women researchers, their networks, and their contributions to research and conservation projects and practices in remote and often colonized or formerly colonized landscapes, remains under-researched in the history of science. Yet, studying these networks can give important insights into mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion in the making of environmental knowledge and its local embeddedness. The PhD candidate will document and analyze the networks of women biologists who entered the field during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The candidate will investigate 1) how both research practices and research topics in biology changed in the second half of the twentieth century with women researchers studying animals other than primates entering the field; and 2) how, in the case of women field researchers, gender intersected with the politics of research and environmental protection in colonized and formerly colonized regions.

The PhD candidate will work closely with the members of the supervisory team, consisting of Simone Schleper, Brigitte le Normand, and Raf De Bont. The candidate’s role will include making connections across their own project and the research fields represented in the supervisory team, such as the history of environmental governance, gender and labor history, and the history of field biology in the 19th and 20th century. The PhD candidate will take active part in the activities of the interdisciplinary Globalization, Transnationalism and Development (GTD) research group. The project’s theme additionally connects with work done in the Maastricht University Science, Technology and Society Studies (MUSTS) research group and FASoS’s Center for Gender and Diversity.

The successful candidate will:

• Set up an individual research project (together with the supervisors)
• Create and execute a research plan
• Write a dissertation
• Write two co-authored publications with members of the supervision team
• Teach (15%) in the Faculty’s bachelor and master programs

Requirements

We are looking for a candidate with experience in historical research and a background in a relevant sub-discipline (e.g. history of science, animal history, environmental history, colonial history, gender studies, or STS). The candidate should be willing to set up their own research project within the parameters of the advertised position. We are looking for someone who:

• Has experience working with archival and other historical sources (e.g. oral history) (required).
• Has English language competency, C1 level, academic English (required).
• Has a completed master’s degree in a relevant field (required).
• Is willing to move to Maastricht or surroundings (required).
• Enjoys working both individually and in a team (required).
• Enjoys working across sub-fields and disciplines (preferred).
• Is creative in exploring new collections and source material, ideally in languages other than English (preferred).
• Has some experience in teaching (optional).

What we offer

As PhD in the history of biological fieldwork and gender at Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, you will be employed by the most international university in the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you:

• Good employment conditions. The position is graded in scale P according to UFO profile PhD, with corresponding salary based on experience ranging from €2872,00 and €3670,00 gross per month (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week). In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus apply.
• An employment contract for a period of 12 months with a scope of 1,0 FTE. Upon a positive evaluation, an extension of 3 years will follow.
• At Maastricht University, the well-being of our employees is of utmost importance, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model.
• As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students.
• Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as 'acknowledge and appreciate'.

More information here:

https://www.academictransfer.com/nl/345235/phd-in-the-history-of-biological-fieldwork-and-gender/