Postdoc for Center of Excellence - TEXT

The Department of Comparative Literature and Rhetoric within the School of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University invites applications for a postdoctoral position affiliated with TEXT: Contemporary Cultures of Text.

The postdoctoral researcher position is a full time and 2-year fixed-term position. The position begins on 1 February 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The School of Communication and Culture is committed to diversity and encourages all qualified applicants to apply regardless of their personal background.

Project

For a brief description of the project, see the center’s website. Please note that English is the working language for the project.

Postdoctoral researcher position

The successful applicant will be expected to

engage in critical, theoretically informed research on how AI is transforming text culture

participate in and contribute to empirical studies, for example, survey designs, corpus studies, experimental setups
collaborate across projects exploring AI-driven creativity and co-creation in text
contribute to TEXT’s broader research initiatives and academic outreach.

Teaching and supervision

As postdoctoral researcher, your position is primarily research-based, but it will also involve a small degree of teaching and supervision. To that end, the successful applicant will be expected to take part in the department’s teaching and supervision activities and to teach and supervise on BA and MA levels.

Given the international focus of the degree programmes, the successful applicant will be expected to teach in English as well as Danish.

Qualifications

Applicants must have a PhD degree or must document equivalent qualifications in a relevant field related to natural language processing (NLP), literature, information science, media studies or a closely related domain. Applicants must be able to document, relevant to the position:

an internationally oriented research profile within in NLP, literature, information science, media studies, or a closely related domain as documented by a PhD dissertation and/or research publications
a solid theoretical and analytical understanding of text culture, AI, and related fields
experience of empirical research methods, such as corpus analysis, surveys, or other data-driven approaches
strong interdisciplinary orientation and capacity to collaborate across the digital humanities, computational linguistics, media studies, or cognitive science
relevant teaching experience at university level as documented by a teaching portfolio (or equivalent documentation of teaching experience and qualifications) commensurate with the length of the applicant’s academic career
excellent communication and interpersonal skills, in order to engage productively both within the research team and with external organisations and institutions.

Furthermore, it will be considered an advantage if applicants can document

a track record of research publications of a high international standard commensurate with the length of the applicant’s academic career
experience of participation in national and international research networks

time spent abroad working at one or more internationally recognised research institutions.

Finally, applicants are asked to provide a proposal for research to be undertaken within the stated framework of the research project (max. 1-2 pages).

Please note that although the application process can be completed on the Aarhus University system without uploading publications or a teaching portfolio, applications that do not include uploaded publications (maximum two) will not be considered.

Although the Aarhus University application system includes an option to upload letters of recommendation, please do not include letters of recommendation or references with the application. Applicants who are invited to an interview may be asked to provide references.

Work Environment

Active participation in the daily life of the department is a high priority, and we emphasise the importance of good working relationships, both among colleagues and with our students. To maintain and develop the department’s excellent teaching and research environment, the successful applicant is expected to be present at the department daily.

We respect the balance between work and private life and strive to create a work environment in which that balance can be maintained. You can read more about family and work-life balance in Denmark.

Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdoctoral researchers at AU.

International Applicants

International applicants are encouraged to read about the attractive working conditions and other benefits of working at Aarhus University and in Denmark, including healthcare, paid holidays and, if relevant, maternity/paternity leave, childcare and schooling. Aarhus University offers a wide variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including a relocation service and an AU Expat Partner Programme. You can also find information about the taxation aspects of international researchers’ employment by AU.

The Center

The place of employment is TEXT - Center for Contemporary Cultures of Text located at Jens Chr. Skous Vej 4 8000 Aarhus C.
.
Prospective applicants are invited to view the Department of Comparative Literature and Rhetoric's website.

School of Communication and Culture

The school is a part of the Faculty of Arts. You will find information about the school and its research programmes, departments, and diverse activities on its website.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact Center Director Professor Mads Rosendahl Thomsen, madsrt@cc.au.dk.
If you need help uploading your application or have questions about the recruitment process, please contact Arts HR support by email: hsi@au.dk.

Qualification requirements

Applicants should hold a PhD or equivalent academic qualifications.

Formalities

The Faculty of Arts refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities (the Appointment Order).

Appointments shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.
Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.
Further information on the application and supplementary materials may be found in Application Guidelines.
The application must outline the applicant's motivation for applying for the position, attaching a curriculum vitae, a teaching portfolio, a complete list of published works, copies of degree certificates and examples of academic production (mandatory, but no more than two examples). Please upload this material electronically along with your application.

Aarhus University also offers a junior researcher development programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU. You can read more about it here: https://talent.au.dk/junior-researcher-development-programme/

If nothing else is noted, applications must be submitted in English. The application deadline is at 11.59 pm Danish time (same as Central European Time) on the deadline day.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

Shortlists may be prepared with the candidates that have been selected for a detailed academic assessment. A committee set up by the head of school is responsible for selecting the most qualified candidates. See this link for further information about shortlisting at the Faculty of Arts: shortlisting

Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts is one of five main academic areas at Aarhus University.

The faculty contributes to Aarhus University's research, talent development, knowledge exchange and degree programmes.
With its 700 academic staff members, 200 PhD students, 9,000 BA and MA students, and 1,500 students following continuing/further education programmes, the faculty constitutes a strong and diverse research and teaching environment.

The Faculty of Arts consists of the School of Communication and Culture, the School of Culture and Society and the Danish School of Education. Each of these units has strong academic environments and forms the basis for interdisciplinary research and education.

The faculty's academic environments and degree programmes engage in international collaboration and share the common goal of contributing to the development of knowledge, welfare and culture in interaction with society.

Read more at arts.au.dk/en

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

Aarhus University

Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/

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