Research Associate for the Project Group “Turning Rock into Pixels: The Jewish Cemetery Altona” § 28 Subsection 1+3 HmbHG

75% of standard working hours in the first year and 25% in the second and third year:

Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue further academic qualifications outside of their work responsibilities. They may also pursue doctoral studies outside of working duties.

50% of standard working hours in the second and third year:

Research associates will be expected primarily to teach and conduct research. The research associate will also have the opportunity to pursue further academic qualifications, in particular a doctoral dissertation.

The core focus of this position is your three-year individual research project, which will form the foundation of your contribution to the interdisciplinary group “Turning Rock into Pixels”. The group aims to explore the rich cultural heritage of the Jewish cemetery in Hamburg-Altona, which features over 7,000 inscribed tombstones and includes scholars from the fields of Human-Computer Interaction, Mineralogy, Historical Research and Jewish Studies. Further information can be found on the cluster’s website.

You must apply with your own project proposal (3­-5 pages plus bibliography; designed for a duration of three years) with which you may pursue an approach according to your field and interest, as long as it takes into account the materiality of the sources and fits the overall research programme of the cluster UWA. The project may focus, for example, on the social, cultural, legal, or religious aspects of communities in Altona, Wandsbek, and Hamburg during the early modern period, or it may focus on a digital humanities component, employing quantitative and statistical methods to analyse tombstones, familial connections, or iconographic features. Alongside your individual research project, you will contribute to the acquisition and review of archival materials relevant to the research infrastructure being established by the group.

Furthermore, you will actively contribute to the cluster's interdisciplinary graduate school and collaborative research activities. These activities include participating in research meetings, organising scholarly events, and developing relevant networks.

During the first year of your appointment, you will work exclusively within the cluster UWA. From the second year onward, the position will be co-funded with the Institute for Jewish Studies (50%). At that stage, your role will expand to include teaching one course per semester (2 LVS), taking part in institute administration, and continuing your research and participation in the project group. There may be the possibility of extending the position.