up to seven postdoctoral fellowships

The Leuphana Transformation Lab is a research institution at Leuphana University of Lüneburg for focused, collaborative, and independent research on transformation. It hosts an interdisciplinary network including five Key Subject Areas: climate futures in digital cultures, democratic resilience, organizing in times of crisis, towards a regenerative society, and companies as drivers of sustainability transformations, as well as the psychology of transformation.

The Lab offers up to seven postdoctoral fellowships for outstanding postdoctoral researchers, with a duration of up to two years starting on April 1, 2027. Fellows will become part of the Lab and develop a high-quality grant proposal in the fields of transformation research.

The Lab is embedded in a vibrant academic environment with over 20 professors and more than 50 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. Fellows will contribute to the Lab’s thematic multiplicity and conceptual rigor while developing their grant proposal.

Eligibility

Applicants must:

• Already have a PhD at the time of application, with proof of a successfully defended doctoral dissertation.
• Have distinguished themselves with outstanding research corresponding to the programmatic outline of the Leuphana Transformation Lab.
• Start the fellowship on April 1, 2027, or shortly thereafter, within a reasonable timeframe after PhD completion (commonly no later than 3 years after defense).

Proposal Requirements

Applicants must outline their understanding of and approach to transformation, addressing conceptual questions in transformation research. Proposals may cover topics such as AI, demographic change, infrastructural development, anticipatory governance, adaptation regimes, or sensing technology.

The Lab welcomes disciplinary breadth and fresh methodological approaches, including participatory research, arts- or design-based methods, or materially/visually experimental practices. Proposals must align with one of the following conceptual streams:

• Epistemologies of Transformation: Examines how transformation can be known, conceptualized, narrated, and enacted across social, cultural, and political contexts.
• Disruption and Transformation: Explores disruptiveness as a central feature of contemporary globalized societies.
• Scales and Temporalities of Transformation: Engages with the scalar and temporal frames through which transformation is envisioned, narrated, and organized.

Applicants may additionally link their proposal to one of the Key Subject Areas or another discipline represented at Leuphana.

Participation and Contribution

Fellows are expected to:

• Actively participate in the Lab’s work and benefit from interdisciplinary and international exchange.
• Collaborate with scholars at Leuphana and participate in university activities.
• Develop a high-quality grant proposal (e.g., for DFG, ERC, or Volkswagen Foundation) within one of the three conceptual streams. Assistance will be provided throughout the grant-writing process.

Conditions

The fellowships last up to two years and are offered at different rates, dependent on career level. Workspaces are provided in Leuphana’s Central Building.

One fellowship will be reserved for an applicant currently based at a university in Scotland as part of the Lower Saxony–Scotland academic partnership coordinated by ECAS.

Leuphana encourages applications from persons with disabilities and diverse backgrounds. Applications from candidates with disabilities will be considered preferentially in accordance with German equal opportunity guidelines.

Job description automatically summarized using AI