Competition for the position of research assistant at the NPRH project “Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Polish Lands in the Middle Ages – New Perspectives”

COMPETITION FORM

The Director of the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences announces a competition for the position of research assistant at the NPRH project “Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Polish Lands in the Middle Ages – New Perspectives”

1. GENERAL INFORMATION:

INSTITUTION: Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

NAME OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL UNIT OF THE INSTITUTE: Department of the Historical-Geographical Dictionary of the Polish Lands in the Middle Ages

SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE: History

PLACE OF WORK: CITY: WARSZAWA

TYPE OF POSITION: research assistant

NUMBER OF AVAILABLE POSITIONS: 1

TYPE OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT: temporary, 12 months

WORK TIME DIMENSION: full time

BASE SALARY: 4 685,00 pln

DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT: 11.02.2025

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 13.03.2025

DATE OF COMPETITION RESULTS: 4.04.2025

EMPLOYMENT START DATE: 1.05.2025

WEBSITE LINK: http://www.ihpan.edu.pl

2. DESCRIPTION OF FUTURE RESEARCH WORK:

The main task of the employee will be to participate in the creation of the Historical-Geographical Dictionary. This involves archival and library research, preparing source excerpts, indexing sources, ceating databases of source information, and primarily developing dictionary entries. All tasks are carried out as a team. Simultaneously, the employee should engage in their own research activities focused on a selected topic (preferably related to the work on the Dictionary), resulting in publications.

The competition concerns the position of a research assistant, but we wouldn’t want to exclude candidates with a doctoral degree. For them, if they prove themselves in the job, there is the possibility of a relatively quick promotion to an assistant professor position.

3. REQUIREMENTS:

• Completed historical studies,
• Appropriate academic achievements in the form of publications or works accepted for publication,
• Presentation of a plan for further academic development (PhD or habilitation),
• Experience in settlement research and studies on historical Mazovia or Podlasie, along with knowledge of the legal and social realities of the medieval and early modern periods,
• Experience in working with manuscript and archival sources,
• Proficiency in Latin paleography (basic condition), with knowledge of Cyrillic paleography being an advantage,
• Good knowledge of medieval Latin,
• Knowledge of a modern language, preferably English, German, or Russian,
• Full proficiency in Polish, both spoken and written,
• Consent to be included among the employees conducting scientific activities during the employment period, i.e., among the number N for the purposes of the algorithm for distributing base grant funds for statutory activities.

4. COMPETITION PROCEDURE:

• The competition is conducted in accordance with the rules and procedures specified in the Regulations for Conducting Competitions for Scientific Positions at the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, which is an Annex to Resolution No. 5/7/2024 of the Scientific Council of the IH PAS of December 19, 2024 (link – only Polish version);
• The competition is conducted by a competition committee appointed by the Director of the Institute of History of the PAS;
• Candidates submit applications to the Institute of History of the PAS;
• The committee reviews the submitted applications to verify their compliance with formal requirements and assesses their substantive compatibility with the requirements (first stage of the competition);
• After the first stage, the committee establishes a list of candidates qualified for the interview (second stage of the competition); Candidates whose applications are rejected at the first stage will be informed of the reasons for rejection;
• Conducting interviews with selected candidates; the date and format of the interview will be specified in the notification;
• Announcement of the competition results;
• Candidates who participated in interviews will receive information on the results of the competition and feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of their application;
• A candidate who disagrees with the competition results and identifies significant violations of the competition regulations has the right to request the Director of the Institute to conduct a re-evaluation within 7 days from the announcement of the results;
• All communication with candidates will be conducted via email.

5. CANDIDATE EVALUATION CRITERIA:

For the position of assistant, the following criteria and scoring scale (0-100) apply:

1. Scientific achievements (publications, conference participation, involvement in grants or other research projects, scholarships, internships) – up to 35 points;
2. Organizational experience (organization of conferences and other scientific events) – up to 15 points;
3. Previous participation in research projects of the Institute – up to 15 points;
4. Consistency of candidate’s qualifications and research plans with the scientific profile of the Institute as defined in its statute and its current research directions – up to 10 points;
5. Candidate’s development potential – up to 25 points.

Each committee member assigns partial scores for each criterion. The arithmetic mean of these scores is then calculated.

6. EMPLOYEE BENEFITS:

• Social benefits package;
• Subsidy for PKP discount card;
• Subsidy for sports cards;
• Possibility to purchase an individual insurance policy with PZU (fully covered by the employee).

7. CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES:

• Opportunity for academic development;
• Support in obtaining subsequent academic degrees and implementing research plans;
• Possibility of professional promotion;
• The Research Organization and Studies Department provides support in applying for, implementing, and settling research grants;
• Editorial Department support in publishing monographs;
• Access to the Institute’s infrastructure for planned research;
• Training in evaluation procedures, grant applications, etc.;
• Subsidized language courses.

8. LIST OF DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED BY THE CANDIDATE:

• Cover letter addressed to the Director of the Institute of History of the PAS, indicating the research area the candidate wishes to pursue;
• Curriculum vitae with contact details (email address, phone number);
• Copy or copies of diplomas;
• Information on scientific achievements with bibliography;
• Candidate’s declaration that, if employed, the Institute of History of the PAS will be their primary workplace and that the candidate will submit a statement authorizing the Institute of History of the PAS to include them in the number of employees conducting scientific activities in the discipline of history (so-called N-number statement);
• Consent for the processing of the candidate’s personal data for the purposes of the competition (downloadable form).

Scanned documents should be sent electronically to: konkursy.naukowe@ihpan.edu.pl

Original documents will be required in case of winning the competition and employment.

9. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The Institute of History of the PAS has a procedure for whistleblowers to report legal violations and for taking follow-up actions, namely the Regulations for Reporting Legal Violations and Taking Follow-Up Actions at the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences. More information on whistleblowers can be found here – only Polish version.

Director Institute of History of the PAS
Prof. dr. hab. Maciej Janowski

Warsaw, on 10 February 2025.