Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Prague Centre for Jewish Studies. Deadline for applications 4th May 2026
The Prague Centre for Jewish Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, invites scholars to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship under the university’s Junior Fund (Post-Doc) scheme. The Centre has submitted a research topic to the current call — described in full below and at this link — and is now seeking a candidate whose work aligns with this agenda.
About the Junior Fund Scheme
The Junior Fund is Charles University’s competitive postdoctoral fellowship program for early-career researchers who completed their PhD outside of the Czech Republic. Further details about the scheme, eligibility requirements, and application documents are available at the JUNIOR Fund (Post-Doc) – Charles University website.
The Project: Jewish Knowledge Across Media: Texts, Materiality, and Cultural Transmission
The Prague Centre for Jewish Studies invites applications for a project devoted to the study of Jewish knowledge as it has been produced, transmitted, transformed, and received across different media, linguistic settings, and cultural contexts. The project examines the movement of Jewish knowledge through manuscript culture, printed books, and, where relevant, modern or digital media, with particular attention to the interaction between material forms of knowledge transmission and intellectual, social, and religious practices.
The project is conceived as an open research framework. Proposals may explore the intersection of the history of religion, book history, intellectual history, and the social history of knowledge in pre-modern Jewish cultures. Topics of particular interest include:
- The role of Jewish and non-Jewish makers of Jewish books
- Multilingual textual environments
- The sensory and emotional dimensions of knowledge construction and textual reception
- Inter-religious encounters and the circulation of ideas within and beyond learned communities
Proposals may also address less frequently foregrounded areas of Jewish thought and practice, including non-canonical or understudied dimensions of rabbinic, kabbalistic, or devotional traditions; the role of non-Hebrew Jewish languages such as Yiddish or Judaeo-Arabic; and forms of reading or knowledge transmission involving socially or culturally marginalized groups.
Methodological openness is strongly encouraged. Applicants may incorporate approaches drawn from philology, social and cultural history, sensory studies, history of emotions, material text studies, or digital humanities, especially where digital methods help illuminate textual corpora, transmission networks, or patterns of cultural interaction.
The successful candidate will be expected to develop their research within this framework while contributing actively to the Centre’s collaborative research environment and to longer-term international grant development, including the preparation of future ERC-level projects.
What the Fellowship Offers
- A two-year contract at Charles University in Prague (October 2026–October 2028)
- Salary of approximately 2,700 EUR per month
- A contribution towards research expenses (subject to mutual agreement and availability)
- Participation in the ongoing projects of the Prague Centre for Jewish Studies
- Access to a well-equipped Judaica library
- A supportive research environment in an important regional hub for Jewish Studies
Profile of an Ideal Candidate
-
PhD completed at a foreign institution, awarded no more than eight years before the application deadline
- PhD degree in a relevant field (Jewish Studies, history, art history, philosophy, religious studies, information science)
- Relevant research interests and a publication track record
- Excellent command of English and of the Jewish language relevant to their project
- Teaching experience is welcome
- Please note: due to tax regulations, the successful candidate cannot be employed in any country other than the Czech Republic during the postdoctoral period
How to Apply
For the application form and the list of required documents, please consult the Junior Fund website. The application deadline is May 4, 2026. Selected applicants may be invited to an online interview between May 4–15, 2026.
Applications and/or further enquiries should be sent to project supervisors daniel.bousek@ff.cuni.cz and pavel.sladek@ff.cuni.cz and in a copy to tomas.klir@ff.cuni.cz (Vice-Dean for Project and Grant Management, Faculty of Arts, Charles University)