Fellowship in Philosophy for PhD or Postdoc

Grant available at the Institute of Philosophy II

Ruhr-University Bochum

Call for applications

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Thematic Framework: interdisciplinary philosophical project in the area of
theoretical philosophy of mind or cognition (open for suggestions)

At the Institute of Philosophy II of the Ruhr-University in Bochum a
fellowship for a PhD student or a postdoc is offered in the area of
philosophy of mind and cognition in the research group of Prof. Albert
Newen. The fellowship will be first contracted for 24 months for a postdoc
and for 3 years for a PhD-student. Candidates should be interested in
working out a project in the area of the philosophy of mind or cognition.
Project suggestions are expected (max. 1 page without references; see
below).

Ideally the project is connected with one of ongoing projects in the group
of Prof. Newen: 1. Theories of Understanding Others; 2. Theories of
Self-Consciousness; 3. Theories of Emotion; 4. Philosophy of Neurosciences
and their Explanations; 5. Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence; 6.
Theories of Perception and Cognition; 7. Situated Cognition and Predictive
Coding.

Preconditions for the PhD candidate: The applicants are expected to have an
excellent M.A. (or Staatsexamen degree) in Philosophy. Their area of
expertise should be in Philosophy of Mind/Cognition, Philosophy of Science
or Philosophy of Language and they should be familiar with at least one of
the following areas: Cognitive Psychology, Psychiatry, Behavioral Biology,
Artificial Intelligence or Cognitive Neuroscience.

Preconditions for the Postdoc candidate: Candidates should have an outstanding PhD in philosophy of mind and/or cognition and, in the ideal case, an additional degree in psychology, cognitive science, linguistics, psychiatry or neurosciences. Some substantial expertise in at least one of these areas will be expected. They should also already have published at least 4 articles in peer-reviewed journals. The postdoc positions offer a focus on research (with one course of teaching per semester). It is expected that the successful candidates submit a proposal for a competitive peer-reviewed grant (ERC starting grant, Emmy-Noether, Sofja Kovalevskaja-Award, etc.) during the first two years of the postdoc period. Candidate selection will be based on whether submission of such a proposal is a realistic goal in addition to usual measures of scientific excellence.

The applicant need not speak German at the time of application but he or she
should be willing to learn German in order to be able to engage in everyday
conversations soon. The language for scientific conversation is English.
Candidates should be prepared to participate in weekly meetings of the
research group of Prof. Newen in Bochum- Thus, the fellowship presupposes
regular presence at Ruhr-University Bochum since the project should be
worked out in close interaction with the group of Prof. Newen.

The fellowship is available from 1st of January 2023 onwards (or later). The
PhD-grant is 1.300 Euro per month, the postdoc fellowship is 2.350 Euro per
month. The funding is available for a period of two years (in the case of a
postdoc-project), three years (in the case of a PhD-project).

Application documents (we only accept electronic applications): Please send
your application to <mailto:sekretariat-newen@rub.de>
sekretariat-newen@rub.de

Your application should consist of max. three PDF files. The first one is to
include your personal documents: an outline of your own planned research
project of 1 page, CV, copies of certificates and records, list of your
publications, talks, conferences you attended and courses you held; names of
2 referees. The other PDF files to be attached should be: (a) in the case of
a PhD candidate either one chapter of the MA-thesis or one manuscript at
least ready for submission or one published article or (b) in the case of a
postdoc candidate your best two publications (must have been published or
accepted, if accepted but not published then add the letter of acceptance of
the journal).

Deadline of application: 31st of October 2022