Competition for the position of assistant professor (post-doc) – the contractor of a research project - Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla PAN

COMPETITION FORM

Director of the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences
announces a competition for the position of assistant professor (post-doc) – the contractor of a research project

GENERAL INFORMATION

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

DEPARTMENT: Department of Source Criticism and Editing

DISCIPLINE: History

LOCATION: Warsaw, Poland

POSITION: Assistant Professor (post-doc)

NUMBER OF POSITIONS: 1

TYPE OF EMPLOYMENT: Full-time, fixed-term contract for 4 years

GROSS ANNUAL SALARY: 140,000 PLN

ANNOUNCEMENT DATE: Dec. 10, 2025

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Jan. 4, 2026

RESULT ANNOUNCEMENT: Jan. 9, 2026

START DATE: after the agreement has been signed by the National Science Centre (expected date: Feb. 1, 2026)

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

DESCRIPTION OF FUTURE RESEARCH WORK

The position is offered within the research project titled Rus Chronicles as source of common law., funded by the National Science Centre of Poland (OPUS NCN project no. 2025/57/B/HS3/02198), led by prof. dr hab. Adrian Jusupović.

Abstract of the research project

The main goal of the project is to study a Rus common law (precedential norms) and customs information preserved in Rus chronicles/letopis’) from the 10th to 13th centuries in comparative perspective (and the use of these legal precedents in later documents from the territory of Rus’ – that is, present-day Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Poland). The existing research has, on the one hand, failed to display an innovative scientific approach to interrogating these sources and, on the other hand, incorporated only a fraction of the information available concerning the law and customs of the Rus territory. Most researchers have instead concentrated their research on strictly defined legal texts (eg. Rus Truth=Russkaya Pravda), while ignoring to some extent narrative sources. Taking this into account, our research will unlock a whole new field of research. To contribute to more rigorous scholarship in this field, we will begin by preparing a database using the published editions of Cyrillic chronicles alongside Latin, Scandinavian, and Greek sources as comparators. We will examine these editions in search of information about law and customs, including, for example, international, civil, property, and religious law. These passages will subsequently be translated into English to make them more accessible to the international community. This research has three key objectives: 1. A finalized, open-access LawRus database (digital source edition) or digital repository of legal historical sources in a Mediawiki format, created in cooperation with IT specialists from the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IH PAS). The long-term preservation of this database on a IH PAS server is another key objective. The database shall be made available for contributions from interested researchers at the end of the project funding period, but it will be available as a work-in-progress from the first year onwards. 2. An international conference in 2028, bringing together specialists on Slavic law (and customs) to encourage more research on the legal history of the Middle Ages as part of the project’s wider engagement. 3. Publication. Articles in English and other languages in renowned European journals. We plan to publish our case studies on law and customs. We do not exclude, in fact we consider it quite likely that this project will result in more than one book publication.

The tasks of the Assistant Professor (post-doc) will include:

Independent studies of written sources (Latin and Scandinavian);
Conducting library and archive enquiries in Poland and abroad;
Entering data into the database;
Preparing a chapter about: Law procedures and norms of Scandinavian origin in the Rus’ chronicles of the 11th to the 13th centuries;
writing and publishing scholarly articles;
presenting papers at international conferences;
participation in team meetings (online and in person);
participation in public engagement activities;
supporting the PI in project management tasks.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Applicants must:

Hold a PhD in humanities or social sciences, obtained in the year of employment or within 7 years prior to January 1 of the employment year[1];
Have obtained their PhD from an institution other than the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History PAS, or have completed a documented postdoctoral fellowship of at least 10 continuous months at a different institution and in a different country than the one in which they obtained their PhD;
Knowledge of Scandinavan and Latin palaeography and codicology with particular emphasis on Old Norse/Old Icelandic;
Expertise in specialised research aids for working with Old Norse sources (dictionaries, lexicons, online tools);
Experience (acquired during PhD studies) in working with sources in Old Norse and modern Scandinavian languages (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Faroese) confirmed by publications;
Active academic exchange with researchers of medieval Scandinavia, Rus’, and Byzantium (regular participation in international conferences, congresses, summer schools, and research internships);
Active knowledge of German, English, Norwegian, Swedish, French;
Agree to be counted as a research-active staff member (“N number”) for the purposes of institutional funding allocation.

COMPETITION PROCEDURE

The competition follows the rules set out in Order No. 25/2024 of the Director of the Institute of History PAS, dated December 30, 2024 and the NCN Council Resolution No. 23/2023 of February 16, 2023;
A competition committee, appointed by the Director and chaired by the project leader, will evaluate the applications;
Applications should be submitted to the Institute of History PAS;
In the first stage, the committee assesses whether applications meet formal and substantive requirements;
Selected candidates are invited for interviews (second stage), and those not qualified receive feedback with reasons for rejection;
Interviews will be conducted in a format and on a date specified in the invitation;
Final results will be announced, and interviewed candidates will receive individual feedback on strengths and weaknesses;
Candidates may appeal the decision within 7 days if procedural violations occurred;
All communication will be conducted via email.

EVALUATION CRITERIA (0–100 points)

Academic achievements (publications, conference participation, grants, scholarships, fellowships): up to 50 points
Organizational experience (e.g., organizing academic events): up to 10 points
Relevance of qualifications and research interests to the project: up to 40 points

Each committee member awards scores per criterion; the final score is the arithmetic mean.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Access to social benefits;
Subsidy for PKP railway discount card;
Subsidy for sports cards;

CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities for academic development;
Support in obtaining academic degrees and pursuing research goals;
Career advancement opportunities;
Assistance with grant applications and reporting (Research Support Office);
Editorial support for monograph publication (Publishing Office);
Access to research infrastructure;
Training in evaluation and grant preparation;
Language course subsidies.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Cover letter addressed to the Director of the Institute of History PAS;
CV including contact details (email and phone);
Copy of diploma(s) or a statement on the expected PhD completion date (PhD must be completed before employment begins);
List of academic achievements and publications;
Declaration that the Institute of History PAS will be the primary place of employment and that the applicant consents to being counted in the N-number;
Consent for the processing of personal data (downloadable form).

Please send scanned documents to: konkursy.naukowe@ihpan.edu.pl Originals will be required upon employment.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

During the period of employment, the successful applicant cannot:

Receive other remuneration from direct costs of NCN-funded research projects;
Hold an employment contract with another employer (including institutions abroad);
Receive pension 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 Institute of History of the PAS
Prof. dr. hab. Maciej Janowski

Warsaw, Dec. 9 2025

[1] This period may be extended by the time spent, during that period, on long-term (over 90 days) documented sick leave or rehabilitation benefits related to incapacity for work; in addition, the period may be extended by the number of months spent on leave related to childcare, granted under the terms set out in the Labour Code. In the case of women applying for the competition, this period may be further extended by 18 months for each child born or adopted, if this method of indicating career breaks is more advantageous.