Junior Fellowship Program

The Walter Benjamin Kolleg (WBKolleg) at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Bern, includes an Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Research Network (IPN), which hosts both the Graduate School of the Arts and Humanities (GSAH) and
Junior Fellows
. For the Autumn Semester 2026, the IPN is offering Start-up Fellowships (6 months, 50%) for promising postdoctoral researchers from the humanities, cultural and social sciences. The call is aimed in particular at applicants who seek a longer-term affiliation to the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Bern through competitive funding schemes (such as SNSF Postdoc.

Mobility, SNSF Ambizione, SNSF Starting Grant or ERC Starting Grant, MSCA Fellowship).

Tasks

• You will prepare a competitive funding proposal (fellowship or project) during the period of employment.
• You are willing to contribute to the academic activities of the WBKolleg (project presentations, in an event, invitation of visiting scholars, etc.).

Requirements

• You hold an excellent PhD in a discipline within the humanities, cultural studies, or social sciences.
• You are working on an interdisciplinary postdoc project.
• You have knowledge of German (at least passive) and English (active and passive).

We offer

• Salary in accordance with cantonal regulations (Bern)
• Mentoring by members of the Faculty
• Professional grant-writing coaching
• An interdisciplinary intellectual environment
• Support in networking within the Faculty and the University
• Professional workspace
• Access of infrastructure

Start of employment: 1 August 2026

Start of employment: 31 January 2027

Application documents
(German or English)

• Motivation (max. 1 page, incl. possibilities for affiliation in Bern)
• Indication of the target institution (e.g. SNSF) to which an application will be submitted, the funding scheme envisaged (e.g. SNSF Ambizione), and the planned submission date
  Applicants who wish to prepare an application for an SNSF Ambizione, SNSF Starting Grant or corresponding ERC Starting Grant, MSCA Fellowship at any institute of the faculty should already have established contact with the relevant faculty members (please mention contacts).
• Timeline for the duration of the six months fellowship in Bern (max. 1 page)
• 5–10 keywords
• Research project:
  Theses, theory, method, literature, preliminary work (max. 5 pages)

• A letter of recommendation
• CV (max. 2 pages)
• list of publications

Interviews: by invitation in April 2026 (date to be announced)

If you have any questions about the application procedure, please contact the IPN coordinator, Dr. Michael Toggweiler: michael.toggweiler .

For questions regarding the program's content, please contact the IPN director, Prof. Dr. Serena Tolino serena.tolino

Employer

Walter Benjamin Kolleg, University of Bern

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