College of Arts and Letters Provost's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

The Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at the University of Notre Dame supports outstanding early-career scholars in science, engineering, and the liberal arts who seek to make a difference in the world.

For the  academic years, the Program in the College of Arts and Letters will appoint a cohort of eight postdoctoral fellows in residence at the University. The following units will host one fellow each:
Department of Art, Art History, and Design;
Department of English;
Department of German, Slavic, and Eurasian Studies;
Department of Philosophy;
Department of Romance Languages and Literatures;
Department of Theology;
Initiative on Race and Resilience; and the Program in History and Philosophy of Science.

Accordingly, the Department of German, Slavic, and Eurasian Studies seeks an outstanding two-year postdoctoral fellow in German studies. Given our capacious conception of the field, we welcome applications from candidates working in language, literature, and culture as well as those who have received doctorates from other fields, such as history and philosophy. Scholars of any kind with a primary emphasis on German are encouraged to apply.

All areas of expertise within German studies are welcome, but we view the ideal candidate as someone who can work with multiple members of our faculty. Our strengths in German studies include, but are not limited to, medieval studies, literature and philosophy, German intellectual history, literature and history, German Jewish studies, literature and religion, literature of the early twentieth century, and film studies.

Our ambition is to be the best undergraduate-only German studies program in the United States. All our faculty members have strong research records, and we routinely receive among the University’s highest student evaluations of teaching. We have cultivated a welcoming and collegial culture to ensure that new members of our community are quickly integrated into the intellectual life of the Department.

In addition, Notre Dame offers a wide range of working groups, workshops, and other fora—in the College of Arts and Letters and beyond—where scholars can present their work in dialogue with colleagues from a range of fields. While the position focuses on research development, Notre Dame fellows will have the opportunity to teach in order to help build a professional portfolio.

This Program targets exceptional early-career scholars interested in advancing their careers in an academic environment that is both committed to disciplinary expertise and vibrant in interdisciplinary exchange. The College will appoint the fellows for a two-year term. They will receive an annual salary of $75,000 and an additional $15,000 to cover expenses related to research endeavors and further training. Hosting units will provide fellows with office space and work together with the Director of Postdoctoral Studies in the College to identify primary faculty mentors for the fellows’ proposed research projects.

Co-mentors with appointments at the University can be named at the discretion of the director and hosting units. Every six months, the director and hosting units will review the fellows’ progress in their research and discuss future plans.

Monetary support and faculty mentoring will be coupled with professional development and networking opportunities in and outside of the hosting unit. The Provost’s Fellows will be a part of a university-wide cohort of distinguished researchers who participate regularly in lectures, colloquia, and panel discussions designed to advance their research and career aspirations.

Notre Dame has recently launched eight strategic initiatives intended to identify research areas where the University can make a significant impact. These initiatives will support dramatically expanded research efforts in the arts; data, AI, and computing; democracy; ethics; health and well-being; sustainability, and global Catholicism. The University also sustains premier research programs in traditional disciplines as well as having more than 30 university-wide interdisciplinary centers and institutes.

Candidates for the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship…