In cooperation with the Centre for the Social History of Limburg (SHCL) and the Centre for the Regional History of Limburg (RHCL), the Department of History in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences offers a PhD position in transnational mining history. The project is broadly conceived, and is open to enthusiastic early-stage researchers aspiring to pursue a PhD in contemporary history.

Climate change and energy transition have re-ignited interest in the history of coal mining. The project team sees coal not just as an outdated fossil fuel, but rather as a point of departure for further research into the history of the social, cultural, economic, technical and environmental transformations that have been triggered by massive exploitation of energy resources. The recently catalogued archive of the Domaniale Mijn, a mining company operating between Kerkrade in the Netherlands and Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) in Germany, opens exciting new avenues for historical research, also in a comparative framework. The digital catalogue of the Domaniale Mijn archive can be requested from limes@maastrichtuniversity.nl.

Different perspectives, ranging from business history to socio-economic history, and from the history of technology to landscape and environmental history, can be fruitfully explored. The candidate’s preference and background will play a major role in the focus and approach that the project will eventually adopt.

The candidate is expected to possess:

• A (Research) Master degree in History or a related field;
• Good (passive) knowledge of Dutch and of German (because of the main languages of the historical sources);
• Outstanding writing skills;
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team

The researcher will be based at Maastricht University, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and undertake a 6-month secondment at the Sociaal Historisch Centrum voor Limburg (Centre for the Social History of Limburg) SHCL, the Netherlands and/or the Regionaal Historisch Centrum voor Limburg (Centre for the Regional History of Limburg), the Netherlands.

Supervision team:
Supervisor: Nico Randeraad, Extraordinary Professor, Director of the Centre for the Social History of Limburg, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University
Co-supervisor: Ad Knotter, Honorary professor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University
External supervisor: Ben Gales, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen

Any inquiries about the position or the project may be addressed to the supervisor.

You are invited to apply for a 4 year PhD position in the project “LIMES – the hardening and softening of borders”. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 847596.

Because the PhD candidates work in a larger research project, team work is essential. In addition to individual work on their dissertations, the PhD candidates will contribute to regular project team meetings and joint academic publications. The PhD candidates will receive extensive training, including regular supervision, training by the Graduate Schools of the relevant faculties, and the partner organisations, where they can benefit from a secondment.

We offer a dynamic and challenging job in an internationally-oriented organisation where people receive an advanced education and scholars conduct exciting research. You will be part of an international network of top universities and renowned scholars within the field.

We offer a 4-year full-time appointment as PhD candidate in one of the research projects under the umbrella of LIMES.

The first year will be a probation period, after a positive assessment the position will be extended with another 3 years.

Remuneration will be according to standard salary levels for PhD students starting with a salary of € 2.325,- with a yearly growth to € 2.972,- gross a month in year 4 (based on a full-time appointment.)

Each year the standard salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.

You have to be willing to move to (the vicinity of) Maastricht. You will be eligible for an allowance for moving costs. You may also be eligible for an allowance for alternative housing. Other secondary conditions include e.g. a pension scheme and partially paid parental leave.

You will be provided with shared office space and a PC.

Maastricht University’s Terms of Employment are laid down in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local university provisions apply as well. For more information please see the website: www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/support/UM-employees.

Starting date: preferably November-December 2020 (if the COVID-19 crisis allows)

Maastricht University

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 18,000 students and 4,400 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts 6 faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.