Competition for the Postdoctoral Researcher Position of National Centre of Science – as part of the research project - Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla PAN

COMPETITION FORM

PI of OPUS NCN project (nr 2025/57/B/HS3/02198) announces a competition for the Postdoctoral Researcher Position of National Centre of Science – as part of the research project

GENERAL INFORMATION:

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

DEPARTMENT: Department of Digital Atlas

DISCIPLINE: History

SCHOLARSHIP PERIOD: 1 February 2026

NUMBER: 1

ANNUAL SALARY: Annual gross salary of PLN 120,000, which corresponds to approximately PLN 9,682.93 gross per month.

ANNOUNCEMENT DATE OF COMPETITION: Dec. 31, 2025

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Jan. 14, 2026

RESULT ANNOUNCEMENT: Jan. 18, 2026

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

DESCRIPTION OF FUTURE RESEARCH WORK:

Assistant Professor (Postdoctoral Researcher) – member of the research team in the project entitled “Imperial Commoners of Brazil and West Africa (1640–1822): Global History from the Correspondence Network Perspective”, funded by the National Science Centre, Poland (project no. 2022/45/B/HS3/00473), under the PI of Dr Agata Błoch.

Abstract of the research project

The project examines the history of the Portuguese Empire from the seventeenth to the early nineteenth century, focusing on the role of ordinary people in the metropolis and the Atlantic colonies, particularly in Brazil and West Africa. It assumes that non-elite actors—regardless of ethnic origin, gender, social status, or religion—were actively involved in the administrative, political, economic, and religious life of the empire. By combining historical research with digital humanities, the project analyzes nearly 180,000 documents of official correspondence from the period 1640–1822 using advanced natural language processing techniques. This approach makes it possible to reconstruct patterns of communication, social and prosopographical networks, and to trace political and social change over the long term. The aim of the project is to foreground the agency of ordinary people and their local networks as key actors shaping colonial realities and the history of the Global South, moving beyond traditional elite-centered historical narratives.

The tasks of the scholarship holder will include:

conducting research from the perspective of environmental history, with particular emphasis on the relationships between people, colonial authorities, and the natural environment;
analyzing environmental discourses present in official and private correspondence (e.g. concerning natural resources, landscape, and environmental exploitation);
integrating digital humanities methods with historical research, including the co-creation and interpretation of analyses based on natural language processing (NLP);
actively participating in the work of the research team and contributing to an interdisciplinary dialogue between history, environmental studies, and digital humanities;
preparing scholarly publications and presenting research results at international conferences.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

Applicants must:

hold a PhD degree in the humanities or social sciences, awarded in the year of employment in the project or within 7 years prior to 1 January of the year of employment in the project[1];
hold a PhD degree in the humanities or social sciences awarded by an institution other than the Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences, or have completed a documented, continuous postdoctoral fellowship of at least 10 months at an institution other than the Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences and in a country other than the country in which the PhD degree was obtained;
demonstrate experience in environmental history and/or environmental literature;
demonstrate experience in digital humanities;
have a very good command of English;
have an appropriate record of scholarly publications and conference presentations;
declare consent to be included among the staff conducting scientific research during the period of employment, i.e. to be counted as part of the institutional N number for the purposes of the algorithm for allocating the statutory research subsidy.

COMPETITION PROCEDURE:

The competition will be conducted in accordance with the principles and procedures set out in Ordinance No. 25/2024 of the Director of the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences, of 30 December 2024, concerning the rules and procedures for conducting competitions for research positions at the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences, established for the purpose of implementing research projects, taking into account the provisions of the Regulations on the Allocation of Funds for Tasks Financed by the National Science Centre in the scope of research projects, introduced by Resolution of the Council of the National Science Centre No. 23/2023 of 16 February 2023;
The competition will be conducted by a selection committee appointed by the Director of the Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences, composed of the project leader as chair and at least two members indicated by the project leader, possessing appropriate scientific or professional qualifications;
Candidates shall submit their applications to the Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences;
The committee will analyze the submitted applications to verify their compliance with formal requirements and their substantive relevance to the competition criteria (first stage of the competition);
Following the first stage, the committee will establish a shortlist of candidates invited to an interview (second stage of the competition). Candidates whose applications are rejected at the first stage will be informed of the reasons for rejection;
Interviews with selected candidates will be conducted; the date and format of the interview will be specified in the invitation;
Announcement of the competition results;
Candidates who participated in the interviews will receive information on the outcome of the competition, including feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of their applications;
A candidate who does not agree with the competition result and identifies significant breaches of the applicable competition regulations has the right to submit a request to the Director of the Institute for the competition to be repeated, within 7 days of the announcement of the All communication with candidates will be conducted via electronic mail.

Candidate Evaluation Criteria:

In assessing the qualifications of candidates, the following criteria and a 0–100 point scale will be applied:
Scholarly achievements (publications, participation in conferences, involvement in grants or other research projects, scholarships, fellowships) – up to 50 points;
Organizational experience (organization of conferences and other academic initiatives) – up to 10 points;
Relevance of qualifications and research interests to the subject matter and objectives of the project – up to 40 points.

Each member of the Selection Committee assigns partial scores to the candidate for each criterion. The final score is calculated as the arithmetic mean of the partial evaluations.

Employee Benefits:

social benefits package;
subsidy for a discounted PKP (Polish State Railways) travel card;
subsidy for sports cards.

Career Development Opportunities:

opportunities for academic and scientific development;
support in obtaining further academic degrees and in pursuing individual research plans;
opportunities for professional advancement;
support from the Department of Research Organization and Academic Studies in the preparation, implementation, and settlement of research grants;
support from the Publishing Department in the publication of scholarly monographs;
access to the Institute’s research infrastructure in line with planned research activities;
training in research evaluation procedures, grant applications, and related areas;
co-financing of language courses.

List of Documents to Be Submitted by the Candidate:

a cover letter addressed to the Director of the Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences;
a curriculum vitae including contact details (email address and telephone number);
a certified copy or copies of academic diplomas, or a certificate indicating the expected date of obtaining the PhD degree (with the proviso that the PhD degree must be obtained prior to employment);
information on scholarly achievements, including a bibliography;
a declaration by the candidate that, if employed, the Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences will be their primary place of employment and that the candidate will submit a statement authorizing the Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences to include them among staff conducting research in the discipline of history (the so-called N number declaration);
consent for the processing of personal data (downloadable form).

Scanned copies of the documents should be submitted electronically to: konkursy.naukowe@ihpan.edu.pl. Original documents will be required in the event of a successful application and employment.

Additional Information:

In the event of employment, during the period of receiving remuneration under the project, the employee may not:
receive any other remuneration from funds allocated as direct costs under research projects financed through NCN competitions;
receive remuneration from another employer under an employment contract, including an employer based outside the territory of Poland;
receive retirement benefits from the social security system.

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 IH PAS
Prof. dr hab. Maciej Janowski

Warsaw, Dec. 30, 2025

[1] This period may be extended by the time of any long-term (in excess of 90 days) documented sick leave or physiotherapy leave granted on account of being unfit to work. In addition, the period may be extended by the number of months of a childcare leave granted pursuant to the Labour Code and in the case of women, by 18 months for every child born or adopted, whichever manner of accounting for career breaks is preferable.