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 3 years. 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 focuses on industrial meat production, infrastructure, and zoonotic risk in Asia (e.g. Pakistan, Mongolia and Kazakhstan) – a region connected to the Belt and Road Initiative. This work package examines how BRI investments reshape livestock farming, transport, and food infrastructures, and how these transformations reconfigure relationships between humans, animals, and microbes.
Suggested field sites include Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia but applicants are welcome to propose alternative, well-justified locations that illuminate similar processes of infrastructural transformation, industrial meat production, and zoonotic risk connected to Chinas BRI.
Main tasks
- Conduct ethnographic fieldwork on industrial meat production, animal logistics, and biosecurity practices in relation to BRI development.
- Analyse how local beliefs, political economy, and transnational infrastructures intersect around zoonotic risk.
- Map supply chains and infrastructural ecologies (in collaboration with project GIS support).
- Engage with veterinarians, traders, and health officials to trace multispecies and institutional relations.
- Participate in comparative workshops and contribute to multimodal dissemination (e.g. photo, film, web).
- Publish peer-reviewed articles in coordination with the ERC project’s publication plan.
- Contribute to multimodal outputs (e.g., photography, short films, sound ethnography).
Qualifications
Required qualifications
- PhD in Social, Cultural, Visual Anthropology or closely related discipline. If you’re at the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply if you have submitted your PhD thesis for doctoral degree evaluation within the application deadline. You must submit the thesis with your application. Documentation of your completed PhD degree must be submitted before commencement.
- Strong ethnographic research background
- Regional research experience in Asia—or another BRI-linked region.
- Excellent written and spoken English. Nordic applicants can document their capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.
Desired qualifications
- Relevant local language skills for fieldwork.
- Expertise in political ecology, medical anthropology, infrastructure studies, and multispecies ethnography is an advantage.
In the assessment the main emphasis will be attached to the submitted works and the project proposal for the qualifying work. Emphasis shall also be attached to experience from popularization/dissemination and academic policy and administrative activity.
During the assessment emphasis will be put on the candidate’s motivation, potential for research, and personal suitability for the position. We are looking for candidates who:
- Have good collaboration skills
- Have good communication and interaction with colleagues and students
- Wants to contribute to a good working environment