PRR Project

Summary

NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities seeks to expand its academic staff by appointing an Assistant Researcher in African Cultures and Literatures, with a special focus on the Portuguese-speaking realities. This position is intended for a researcher working on contemporary African cultures and literatures, in particular Portuguese-speaking cultures, in their relationship with other colonial-speaking languages and cultures, especially in West Africa and the Americas. In this sense, knowledge of Portuguese-speaking authors, from different geographic and cultural origins, is valued in the constitution of autonomous literary corpuses in the 20th century with an impact in present-day thinking. Preference will be given to applications that favour international dimensions in their analysis. This position dialogs with two research strategic lines of the NOVA FCSH - ´Arts and Humanities´ and ´Media, Languages and Literatures´ -, and is transversal to Departments at NOVA FCSH as well as to several of its Research Units. Nevertheless, it will leverage the investigation currently being conducted at CHAM - Center for the Humanities, in particular, that of the group ´Transcultural, Literary and post-Colonial Studies. At the institutional level, and considering this position’s contribution for NOVA FCSH strategic areas, this position is an important piece of NOVA’s Hiring Plan, as this plan represents a comprehensive strategy targeting strategic areas of NOVA. It will provide a crucial contribution to the overall research agenda of the University. In what concerns NOVA FCSH specifically, this position will be crucial to strengthen the existing critical mass developing research under strategic areas, while connecting it to innovative teaching practices. It will be developed in close articulation with other positions of CHAM proposed by NOVA FCSH under this application, and considered together, they are not only complementary as they also embody the cross-disciplines and cross-cultural approaches that informed the identification and definition of NOVA FCSH profiles under strategic areas and are aligned with the institution strategic outlook for 2025-2030. It will allow the consolidation of areas of expertise within CHAM in its future strategic projects. Requirements for this position include: PhD degree in Literary Studies, with specific expertise on African Literature; Recognized experience in the design and implementation of research projects, including projects with competitive and external funding; Relevant experience in team coordination, in the context of research projects and/or managerial responsibilities; Outstanding research qualities demonstrated through an established track record of relevant publications, including peer-reviewed, international journals, books and other relevant outlets; Proven experience in interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary teams, either as project leader and/or team member; Active member of relevant networks (academic and non-academic) in the research topics covered. lastly, a strong focus on societal engagement and knowledge exchange with relevant stakeholders and society in general is also required and, as much as possible, cross-relating with the work being conducted in several Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa. The ability to attract and constitute new partnerships and producing both academic and non-academnic outputs in co-authorship will also be considered as highly relevant. Besides designing and conducting independent research on the specific topic of investigation, it is also expected the researcher to be able to conduct administrative and coordination tasks within a Department and the RU, generating and disseminating high-quality research findings, including (but not exclusively) in international, peer-reviewed journals, contributing to a supportive and productive research community, and actively developing efforts to establish meaningful collaborative work with academic and non-academic institutions, setting the ground for future partnerships and social engagement.