Doctoral researcher, Understanding just sustainability transformations from queer perspectives

The Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki invites applications for the position of

DOCTORAL RESEARCHER on Understanding and redefining just sustainability transformations from queer perspectives for a fixed 4-year term starting on 1 Sept. 2025 (or as agreed). Successful candidates are expected to work full-time.

This position is part of an ERC Consolidator Grant awarded to Associate Professor Guido Caniglia (Principal Investigator) for the project: "Whose sustainability? Understanding and redefining just sustainability transformations from disability and queer perspectives" (WEIRD). With an intersectional approach that foregrounds and leverages disability and queer perspectives around environmental sustainability, WEIRD aims to (a) critically appraise the way in which we usually think about sustainability transformations, (b) empirically understand how people with disability and from gender and sexual minorities are enacting and prefiguring alternative, just, and more environmentally sustainable futures, and (c) creatively redefine and generate new theories of justice in sustainability transformations.

RESEARCH

Under the guidance and direction from the Principal Investigator, the doctoral researcher will develop their own line of investigation about a specific field, topic, or approach at the intersection of queer studies and environmental sustainability. The PhD project will engage with issues of justice, sustainability, and transformation from the perspective of queer people. The project will be fully defined in the first months in WEIRD together with the Principal Investigator.

The applicant will be willing to learn how to conduct interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research (including non-academic actors). The project may be grounded in a specific field (e.g., transdisciplinary sustainability science, the environmental humanities, and any of the environmental social sciences). At the same time, the applicant will engage with multiple disciplines relevant to understanding and redefining justice, sustainability, and transformations. The project will entail both empirical and theoretical work.

Centering the experiences of the disability and queer communities, WEIRD embraces an intersectional approach. Thus, the PhD project may also explicitly engage with issues related to coloniality, racism, migration, ethnicity. Non-Western and Indigenous perspectives as well as perspectives from the Global South are particularly welcome.

ACTIVITIES WITHIN WEIRD

The doctoral researcher will be part of the WEIRD team activities and contribute to other tasks besides their dissertation project. Especially the doctoral researcher will:

1. Participate and contribute to organizing team meetings
2. Contribute to scoping, mapping, and collecting initiatives at the disability-environmental intersection, which will become part of the WEIRD Atlas of disability and queer environmental initiatives around environmental sustainability.
3. Contribute to the development of ethical and methodological guidelines for disability and queer (transformative) environmental research.
4. Contribute to the development of pedagogical and training-oriented material about doing transformative sustainability research from disability and queer perspectives.
5. Take care of organizational matters, such as in the preparation and running of projects-workshops and activities.

In addition, the researcher will actively contribute to teaching and administrative tasks in the discipline of Social and Public Policy at the University of Helsinki (up to 5% of their working time annually). It is possible to complete the teaching and administrative tasks in English.

QUALIFICATIONS and ATTRIBUTES

An appointee to the position must hold an MA in one of the following fields: disability studies, transdisciplinary sustainability science, environmental humanities, environmental social sciences. Applicants are invited to check in advance with the Principal Investigator whether their background is suitable for the position. The appointee should apply for and obtain the right for a doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki within the probationary period of six months of their appointment.

Overall, the applicant will have:

1. Experience in qualitative, mixed-methods research (or willingness to strengthen this methodological skill).
2. Capacity to work collaboratively in a diverse and interdisciplinary research group.
3. Ethical sensitivity and competence to work with vulnerable populations and minorities.
4. Excellent English writing skills.
5. Strong organizational skills (e.g., organization and facilitation of workshops).

WHAT WE OFFER

University of Helsinki is an equal opportunity employer and offers an attractive and diverse workplace with a variety of development opportunities and benefits. By completing the doctoral research as part of WEIRD, the appointee will have a unique opportunity to interact with many junior and senior researchers and develop disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary research skills. Furthermore, the appointee will also benefit from the common activities of the interdisciplinary research networks connected to WEIRD at the University of Helsinki.

The annual gross salary range will be approx. €30,500 – €38,500, depending on the appointee's qualifications and experience. Standard Finnish pension benefits and occupational health care are provided for university employees. The employment contract will include a probationary period of six months.

The chosen applicants are expected to reside in Finland while employed by the University of Helsinki. The Faculty of Social Sciences provides assistance in relocation.

HOW TO APPLY

The University of Helsinki welcomes applicants from a variety of genders, linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and minorities.

Please submit your application, together with the required attachments, through the University of Helsinki Recruitment System via the link "Apply now" ("Hae nyt"). Use your current email address to register to the Recruitment System. Only applicants who are currently employed by the University of Helsinki are requested to submit their application via the link "Employee login". The closing date for applications is February 19, 2025.

Applicants are requested to enclose with their applications the following documents in English:

1. A curriculum vitae that includes all publications and the names, positions and contact details of two referees;
2. A cover letter (max 1 page, 11, single spaced) highlighting their personal motivation of the applicant to be part of WEIRD as well as the capacities and qualities that make them a good fit with the project;
3. A statement (max 2 pages, 11, single spaced, excluded references) about how they would contribute to the development of the intersection of queer and environmental issues in understanding and redefining justice, sustainability, and transformation.

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed between the end of February 2025 and early March 2025.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information about the positions and the research project may be obtained from Associate Professor Guido Caniglia, guido.caniglia(at)helsinki.fi.

TOPIC AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

A major adagio of the Sustainable Development Goals is "Leave no one behind" implying that actions addressing the sustainability challenges of our time should not be only ecologically beneficial, but also emancipatory for the most vulnerable and marginalized. Yet, many vulnerable and marginalized groups are often left behind in sustainability research and actions. This project aims to understand and redefine the often-neglected contributions of disability and queer scholarship and societal initiatives around sustainability towards new theories, methodologies, and ethics of just and emancipatory sustainability transformations.

APPROACH AND RESEARCH DESIGN OF THE PROJECT

The research design of the project is organized in two main tracks: the first looking at the intersection of environmental sustainability and disability and the second investigating the intersection of environmental sustainability and queer.