The Department of Anthropology at the Institute of Anthropological and Spatial Studies (IAPS), Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), Ljubljana, invites applications from anthropologists for a fully funded four-year PhD Research Assistant position. ZRC SAZU is Slovenia’s leading public research institution in the humanities and social sciences, based in Ljubljana, and brings together 18 research institutes in these fields.
This position is intended for an emerging anthropologist with interests in environmental anthropology, anthropology of water, multispecies anthropology, fishing communities and heritage practices, anthropology of infrastructure, urban waterscapes, ecological restoration, or related fields.
The successful candidate will be employed full-time as a PhD Research Assistant at IAPS, ZRC SAZU, from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2030. At the same time, the candidate will enrol in the PhD study at the Postgraduate School ZRC SAZU (PS ZRC SAZU), module Anthropology: Understanding Worldmaking Practices.
This is an integrated employment and doctoral-training position: the appointed candidate will hold a regular four-year research employment contract at ZRC SAZU while completing a PhD in Anthropology at PS ZRC SAZU.
Research context
The position is attached to the ERC Synergy Grant project PLANETARY EEL: Planetary Anthropology and Interspecies Nurture: A Political Ontology of Human–Eel Relations, led at ZRC SAZU by Asst. Prof. Nataša Gregorič Bon.
Planetary Eel is an international collaboration between ZRC SAZU, the University of Bologna (with Vanessa Grotti and Marc Brightman as principal investigators (PIs)), the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) (with Tamatoa Bambridge as PI) and the University of Melbourne (with Stanislav Roudavski as PI). The project examines human-eel interrelations in the context of environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, fisheries, infrastructure, habitat fragmentation and unequal planetary futures.
The successful candidate will develop an original anthropological PhD project on human-eel relations in the Yarra delta, Australia. The project will involve 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork in the Melbourne area and may address relationships among waterways, eels, wetlands, infrastructures, environmental governance, habitat restoration, local communities and multispecies justice.
The PhD Research Assistant will join an international, interdisciplinary research environment that brings anthropology into conversation with multispecies studies, design, life sciences, law, and community-based research.
Application procedure
Applications should be submitted in English and must include:
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Curriculum vitae.
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Motivation letter.
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Statement of research interests and previous experience directly or indirectly related to the advertised research topics
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Degree certificates.
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If available, a sample of research or professional writing (e.g. MA thesis chapter, article, report).
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A letter of recommendation and contact details of the referee.