The position
A Postdoctoral Research Fellow position is available within the Anthropology Section at the Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education within the ERC-funded project: Zoonosis: Zoonotic Anthropology and Multispecies Infrastructures along China’s Belt and Road, led by Dr. Richard Fraser (Principal Investigator).
The position is a fixed term position for a duration of 3years. It is a prerequisite that the applicant can carry out the project over the full course of the employment period. No person may hold more than one fixed term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.
As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, you will have the opportunity to advance your scientific career and further qualify for academic positions. If you do not already have the educational competence that meets the requirements for an Associate Professor position in Norway, UiT will arrange such competence during the employment period.
The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.
About the project
The ERC project explores how China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is transforming multispecies relations, infrastructures, and public health landscapes across regions linked to China through trade, migration, and ecological interconnection. Drawing on anthropology, political ecology, and multispecies ethnography, the project investigates how zoonotic risk and biosecurity are understood, governed, and lived across diverse local contexts. Fieldwork will be conducted in multiple regions associated with the BRI, with a focus on animal infrastructures, markets, migration, and China’s expanding health diplomacy. While the project suggests certain field sites, candidates are welcome to propose alternative, well-justified locations that align with the project’s comparative aims.
You must submit a project proposal (max 7 pages) outlining your proposed research focus and potential field site(s). The proposal must include a progress plan.
About the position
The position contributes to the project’s Work Package on China’s Health Diplomacy and the Belt and Health Road, examining how China’s global health engagements — from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospitals to vaccine diplomacy — reshape medical ontologies, health infrastructures, and local understandings of zoonotic risk.
Suggested research sites include countries in Africa or Asia where Chinese health initiatives and TCM institutions are active, but applicants may propose alternative or comparative contexts that align with the project’s broader themes.
Main tasks
- Conduct ethnographic and policy research on China’s health diplomacy and medical infrastructure projects.
- Explore intersections between TCM, biomedicine, and local healing systems.
- Analyse the geopolitical, ethical, and multispecies dimensions of One Health under the BRI.
- Contribute to project coordination, comparative synthesis, and multimodal dissemination.
- Publish high-quality articles and engage in public and academic outreach.
- Contribute to multimodal outputs (e.g., photography, short films, sound ethnography).