Due to the complexity of the challenges, the fellowship examines them from different perspectives: the planet/nature, behaviour/society and ethics/religion perspective. These alternate with every term, with the next edition focused on ethics/religion starting in September 2024.
The VU Anthropocene Fellowship is intended to examine an aspect, chosen by the fellow, of the Anthropocene and to establish the concept at VU Amsterdam. Collaboration with VU and external researchers of other disciplines is encouraged as well as including stakeholders from the cultural sector. Outreach activities form an important part of the fellowship and can take the form of a lecture series or workshops, for example. The fellow is also expected to participate in events organised by the Amsterdam Sustainability Institute.
The fellowship is organised by the VU Amsterdam Sustainability Institute with the ethics/religious perspective being co-hosted by the Faculty of Religion and Theology. The faculty takes care of hosting the fellow and arranges all necessary administration, the office space and other amenities. The fellowship lasts 4 months (September- December) and consists of financial support of EUR 20k (lump sum). With this, the fellow can organise events, facilitate collaborations, hire staff for support, reduce their teaching load or buy equipment needed to realise the fellowship. The fellowship can only be granted once and not be extended, this way a wide variety of topics can be worked on. The focus areas are only indicative and should not restrict the researcher from exploring other disciplines, as an interdisciplinary research approach is encouraged.
Your profile
- You have a PhD degree related to theology
- You have experience in interdisciplinary collaborations
- You are interested in the questions of the Anthropocene
- You do not have to be an employee of VU Amsterdam
Are you interested in this position and do you believe that your experience will contribute to the further development of our university? In that case, we encourage you to submit:
- a cover letter that details research interests and plans for the fellowship (incl. outreach activities) as well as
- a complete curriculum vitae, including a list of publications. We do not expect submission of full publications or books
For further information please contact Prof. Gijsbert van den Brink of the Faculty of Religion and Theology at VU Amsterdam (g.vanden.brink@vu.nl). Nominations and applications can be submitted here until 7 April 2024.
