Doctoral fellow - Department of Languages and Cultures

Sociology » Other

Organisation/Company Ghent University Research Field Anthropology » Cultural anthropology Anthropology » Social anthropology Language sciences » Languages Language sciences » Linguistics Language sciences » Other Literature » Other Religious sciences » Comparative religion Sociology » Other Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Final date to receive applications 31 Jul 2026 - 21:59 (UTC) Country Belgium Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Horizon Europe - ERC Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Department LW21 - Department of Languages and Cultures

Degree You hold a Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. Arabic Studies, Islamic Studies, Anthropology, Middle Eastern Studies, Gender Studies, Religious Studies, Cultural Studies or related disciplines)

Occupancy rate 100%

Vacancy type Research staff

Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing more than 15.000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, as well as technical and social service provision on a daily basis. It is one of the largest, most exciting employers in the area and offers great career opportunities.
With its 11 faculties and more than 85 departments offering state-of-the-art study programmes grounded in research in a wide range of academic fields, Ghent University is a logical choice for its staff and students.

As part of the ERC research project HAIR on Muslim femininities in Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE and connected regions within the research centre Ghent Centre for Arabic, Islamic and Middle East Studies of the Department of Languages and Cultures/Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, your assignment consists of:

• Develop and carry out an original PhD project within the scope of the ERC project
• Conduct ethnographic and digital fieldwork and analyses of Arabic literary texts
• Analyse qualitative data and source materials relevant to the HAIR research project and contribute to theoretical debates
• Prepare and process source materials for computational analysis within the project database

• Submit at least 1 article for publication within a peer-reviewed journal
• Present research at international conferences
• Actively contribute to the ERC research team
• Participate in project meetings, workshops, and reading groups
• Contribute to the organisation of academic events

• Participate in doctoral training programmes at Ghent University
• Limited teaching may be possible (depending on department needs)

For the ERC research group HAIR (Center for Arabic, Islamic and Middle East Studies, Department of Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy) we are looking for a m/f/x
1 Doctoral fellow (100%) – ERC Project “HAIR” (subproject Lebanon)
YOUR JOB

The Department of Languages and Cultures at Ghent University invites applications for 1 fully funded PhD position within the ERC-funded research project:

“HAIR – Hair, Identity, Beauty, and the Self in Muslim Contexts:
Emotional Landscapes and Changing Femininities Beyond the Veil”

(Principal Investigator:
Prof. Dr. Lisa Maria Franke, Ghent Centre for Arabic, Islamic and Middle East Studies, Department of Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts and Philosphy, Ghent University)

Project Description
The ERC project HAIR investigates the cultural, socio-religious, political and emotional meanings of beauty and body politics in Muslim majority contexts, with a particular focus on how beauty and hair practices intersect with identity formation, beauty ideals, gender norms, and selfhood beyond the veil. Combining approaches from Arabic/Islamic studies, anthropology, gender studies, literature studies and Middle Eastern studies, the project explores how beauty and the body can function as a site of negotiation between individual agency, religious discourses, policital agendas and societal expectations.

The research includes ethnographic fieldwork, literary analyses and digital methodologies across selected contexts in…