Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) currently has two vacancies for two postdoctoral researchers with an interest in cross-disciplinary work and expertise and knowledge of fresh groundwater networks. The candidates should ideally have a background in social anthropology (or a closely related field, such as human geography) and/or archaeology. These are full-time, temporary positions spanning three years (36 months), working on the European Research Council (ERC) funded project HydroConnect. These two positions are based in Bergen, Norway at CMI, and will be included in the Climate and Natural Resources research group at CMI.
The two postdoctoral positions
Postdoctoral position 1: The study of fresh groundwater networks in Tonga or other Pacific Islands
Postdoctoral position 2: The study of fresh groundwater networks on the Comoros Islands
Start date of both positions: 1st of September 2026.
Two postdoctoral positions available:
The positions are part of a European Research Council (ERC)-funded project entitled Global HydroConnectivities beyond Ocean,Seas and Rivers led by Prof. Edyta Roszko, the Principal Investigator (PI) at Chr. Michelsen Institute in Bergen, Norway. Applicants are invited to design their own sub-project that aligns with the broader focus of the ERC project. The broader project focuses on connectivities afforded by hidden, underground water that surfaces along the coastlines of islands lacking accessible, perennial fresh water. Specifically, the project explores how Austronesian-speaking seafarers transformed such freshwater ‘seeps’ into wells and other forms of water capture throughout the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific. The first aim is to develop the concept of hydroconnectivities that integrates fresh water, well infrastructure, and ecological and social exchanges throughcomparative historical ethnography of Austronesian Indigenous knowledge that has crossed oceans, generations and various groups of people. The second aim is to map and theorize how present-day descendants and successors of Austronesian-speaking seafarers benefited from Indigenous knowledge, freshwater seeps and wells (link to the project: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101123972).
Contact: Prof. Edyta Roszko edyta.roszko@cmi.no
Call/JOB DESCRIPTION: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/288243/postdoctoral-research-fellows-2-posts-in-the-erc-funded-hydroconnect-project