Tender | (Junior) Researcher from abroad (CLOSED)

Job Description: Research activities focusing on archaeological contextualisation of biomolecular results

Research context:

We are looking for highly motivated scholar with a background in integrating the results of biomolecular methods and inter-cultural comparison methods into archaeological research, specifically for the early medieval period.

The foreign researcher will participate in research activities of the project “Ready for the future: understanding long-term resilience of the human culture” in Programme Johannes Amos Comenius (Czech Republic – The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, co-funded by the European Union), which is focused on the explaining the basic principles of the resilience of human society in a historical perspective using long time series and on the transfer of the acquired knowledge into everyday social life. This objective will be achieved by promoting excellent research and developing collaboration between the humanities and natural sciences, such as archaeology, art history, anthropology, genetics, geology, climatology, botany, geophysics and nuclear physics. The programme aims to support the increase of the number of excellent R&D results in the Czech Republic and the development and support of excellent research teams with cutting-edge equipment in all aspects.

The candidate is expected to apply an innovative approach to archaeology and other disciplines, to pursue a holistic and interdisciplinary concept of research on human society and its resilience, or to be experienced in analytical methods of scientific data processing.

Duration of Employment: January 1, 2026 – June 30, 2028
Starting Date: January 1, 2026
Workload: 1 FTE (Full-Time Equivalent)

Requirements:

• CV including a summary of work experience, publication activity, involvement in research grants and further information documenting the above-mentioned facts (information on previous contracts, publication activity, etc.)
• Cover letter
• Two letters of reference

Criteria – The successful candidate should:

• has worked outside the Czech Republic for at least 2 years during the last 5 years (as of the date of starting to work in the professional team of the project or the date of starting the mobility) in research on at least 0.5 FTE or was a Ph.D. (or similar form – ISCED level 8 equivalent) student abroad for at least 2 years over the last 5 years. Citizens of the Czech Republic are not excluded.
• be a researcher within 7 years (as of January 2026) after receiving the PhD degree or its equivalent.
• have a publication activity – in the past 3 years publications such as “articles”, “books”, “book chapters”, “letters” and “reviews” in scientific journals and science popularization/non-specialists publications. The applicant must be the principal author of at least one publication (according to the subject specificity it may be the first author, the corresponding/reprint author, or the role of individual authors stated in the article).
• be experienced in the field of Archaeology with the emphasis on Funeral Archaeology and Ancient DNA Analysis in Early Middle Ages.
• have experience with research projects (an advantage).
• have excellent communication skills and be able to collaborate with multiple teams.
• demonstrate a capacity for innovative research, new methods & methodologies, and cross-disciplinary thinking.
• be able to prepare an international research project (ERC Starting grants or similar).

We offer the opportunity to get:

• interesting job in a dynamically expanding university area
• diverse and challenging work in excellent research
• professional team and pleasant working environment
• interaction with leading scientists in an inspiring, internationalised environment.

Please send the above-mentioned required documents to bednarova@arup.cas.cz.
The deadline for applications is October 31, 2025 at 9:00 AM.

Selection Process: The candidate selection will be conducted by a commission on November 3, 2025.

The position is open to all individuals regardless of gender, race, skin colour, language, religion, political or other beliefs, national or social origin, membership in a national or ethnic minority, property, sex, or other status.

By sending your CV, you agree that your personal data provided to the ARÚ will be processed in accordance with the General Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data (EU) 2016/679 and will be used exclusively for the purposes of the selection process for the specified position and kept for the necessary period, i.e. for selection procedure.