The Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University invites applications for two fully funded PhD fellowships within the framework Semper Ardens Advanced Grant project Locally Crafted Empires (LoCiS): Intersecting identities under Imperial rule in Western Asia as expressed in local portrait cultures (1st c. BCE-5th c. CE) headed by Professor Rubina Raja and funded by the Carlsberg Foundation. The PhD fellowships are available as of 1 September 2027 for a period of up to three years (5+3).
The candidates awarded a PhD fellowship are expected to commence the PhD degree programme on 1 September 2027 at Aarhus University, Denmark under the supervision of Professor Raja.
The LoCiS project investigates the rich but understudied local portrait cultures of ancient Western Asia with the aim of determining how they reflect local and regional entanglements with and responses to different imperial hegemonies. LoCiS aims to reveal new knowledge about intersecting identities on an individual, local and regional level through a long durée perspective with a global historical outlook. The thousands of surviving portraits have not been studied comprehensively – neither diachronically nor in contexts or in cross-regional perspectives. LoCiS aims at offering unprecedented insights into the multilayered narratives of the varied individual experiences in antiquity. The project is conceptualised and headed by Professor Rubina Raja and will when the team is complete consist of a team of five post docs and two PhD students. The latter we are looking to recruit to begin 1 September 2027. The PhD candidates will work on topics defined in close collaboration by the project PI and will also take part in collaborative data collection and research.
Professor Raja is looking for candidates who are specialised in Classical Archaeology with a focus on the eastern Mediterranean regions and the Near East in the period between 100 BCE – 500 CE and who have a solid research profile and demonstrates wide-ranging knowledge of the archaeology (in particular iconography/sculpture) and history of those regions as well as those of Greece and Rome.
The PhDs will be supervised by Professor Raja and will work closely with the LoCiS team and contribute to the LoCiS database and other project assignments. The PhDs will specifically undertake research on an aspect of locally produced portraits from the region of West Asia from 100 BCE – 500 CE. The more narrowly defined region and topic will be subject to definition together with the project PI. Applicants should therefore specify in their application and project description within which region(s) within the study area and aspects of portrait production their strongest competences lie and describe the potential they see in writing a PhD dissertation on this material and/or region.
Candidates should contact Professor Rubina Raja before applying to discuss the projects to be undertaken.
Enrolment and place of work
The PhD student must complete the studies in accordance with the Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions (PhD Order): http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/thephddegreeprogramme/
Description of the graduate school’s PhD degree programme: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/phdstudystructure/
Rules and regulations for the PhD degree programme at the Graduate School at Arts: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/thephddegreeprogramme/
The PhD fellows will be enrolled as PhD students at the Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University, with the aim of completing a PhD degree at the School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University.
The PhD students will be affiliated with the PhD programme History, Archaeology and Classical Studies.
The PhD students’ place of work will be the School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University. In general, the students are expected to be present at the school on an everyday basis.
The PhD degree programme is expected to include a lengthy research stay at a foreign institution, cf. description of the graduate school’s PhD degree programme.
School of Culture and Society’s research programme: http://cas.au.dk/en/research/research-programmes/
5+3 programme
When you apply for a 3-year PhD fellowship (5+3), you must have completed your Master’s degree no later than 31 August 2027. Your Master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish Master’s degree.
The PhD fellow will be employed at the Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University.
The terms and conditions of employment and salary will be governed by the collective agreement for academics employed by the Danish state. The PhD fellow will be employed and remunerated in accordance with Appendix 5 of the collective agreement.
The Circular on the Collective Agreement for Academics Employed by the State between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne), as well as the Protocol on Salaried PhD Fellows (Appendix 5 of the collective agreement), can be found here: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/thephddegreeprogramme/
The PhD fellow will be placed in salary group 4-8 of the academic pay scale, depending on relevant seniority-qualifying work experience acquired after completion of the Master's degree.
Salary: https://phd.arts.au.dk/4-4-part-b-and-5-3/salary-and-employment
How to apply
The application must include:
Please see a detailed description of the requirements for the application in the guide for the application facility: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/how-to-apply/
Application
If you require professional guidance regarding your application for the PhD fellowship, please contact the PhD programme director at History, Archaeology and Classical Studies (http://phd.arts.au.dk/about-us/contact/) and Professor Rubina Raja for any queries relating to content of the PhD projects.
For further information, please contact Professor Rubina Raja, School of Culture and Society, rubina.raja@cas.au.dk.
The application must be submitted in English.
All applicants must provide documentation of excellent communication skills in English which are considered essential, and you must therefore be able to read, write, and speak academic English fluently. English language requirement is comparable to a minimum of TOEFL 83 or IELTS 6.5. Please see this page for further information: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/english-test/
Child protection certificate
In accordance with Ministerial Order no. 554 of 23 May 2023, Aarhus University is obliged to obtain a statement of no previous convictions in respect of children in connection with the appointment and employment of staff whose work will involve direct contact with children under the age of 15. If you, in connection with your PhD project, will be in direct contact with children under the age of 15 who are not accompanied by a parent or guardian, childcare professional or teacher, you will be covered by the requirements of the ministerial order.
If you are covered by these requirements and read Danish, please complete the section “Samtykkeerklæring” (declaration of consent) in the police form and upload the file under “Other information to consider” in the application form. You can download the form here: https://phd.arts.au.dk/fileadmin/phd.arts.au.dk/ARTS/Rules_and_forms/Boerneattest.pdf
If you are covered by these requirements and do not read Danish, please upload a brief statement with the headline “Child protection certificate needed” under the field “Other information to consider” in the application form.
Applications for the PhD scholarship/fellowship and enrolment in the PhD degree programme can only be submitted via the application form in Aarhus University’s web-based facility.
Deadline for applications: 1 April 2027 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CEST).
Reference number: 2027-1
During the assessments, Aarhus University can conduct interviews with selected applicants.
