Application Deadline: September 15, 2020

Transition in Energy, Culture and Society (Future Energy Systems) and the Petrocultures Research Group

Value: $60,000 CAD 

In conjunction with “Transition in Energy, Culture and Society” (TECS), a multi-year research project within Future Energy Systems (based at the University of Alberta and affiliated with the University of Waterloo), we are offering a one-year postdoctoral research fellowship (January 2021-December 2021). Junior scholars engaged in work across the disciplines who will have defended their dissertations within the three years prior to the start of the position (i.e., between January 2018 and December 2020) and whose research falls within the range of issues mapped out by the theme of this fellowship are welcome to apply.

This year’s fellowship brings together two emergent developments in advanced research within the humanities and social sciences: investigations of the interrelation of energy, society, and culture (i.e., research in the field known as the ‘energy humanities’), and expanded attention to inventive modes of research that foreground engaging and interacting with publics beyond the academy and communicating research findings creatively within the wider public sphere. We seek a postdoctoral researcher who has shaped their research in an active and dialogic relationship with communities and publics, with specific attention to the social and cultural shifts and transitions required to support successful energy transition. While we are seeking candidates who have already made public work a key element of their programs of research, we are also interested in receiving applications from junior scholars who are at the outset of programs of research in the public humanities. Fellows will be expected to contribute to the ongoing work of TECS, especially in relation to the expansion of its initiatives in the public humanities, but will be able to devote the majority of their time to the continuation of their own research projects. 

Depending on institutional resources, there may be an opportunity for this fellow to teach a one-term undergraduate class, for which they would be compensated in addition to the base amount of the fellowship. 

Interested applicants can learn more about the kinds of research we pursue at http://petrocultures.com and http://afteroil.ca, and about Future Energy Systems, the research network within which “Transition in Energy, Culture and Society” is carried out, at https://www.futureenergysystems.ca.

Application Materials. Please include: 

  •   a cover letter describing your PhD project, the date of your PhD defense, and the fit of your proposed postdoctoral research with the theme of this PDF; 
  •  a full CV, including the names and contact information of three individuals who may be contacted for reference letters; 
  •  a PDF proposal (of no more than 1000 words); and
  • a writing sample (20 pages or less).

Send these materials, either as .docx or .pdf, to [email protected]. Make sure to specify “[last name first name] TECS PDF application” in the subject line.