Thematic Frameworks are preferably the following three topics: “Philosophy of the self: self-consciousness, self-knowledge, self-deception”, “Philosophy of AI or Social Robots” or “A comparative perspective on humans and nonhuman animals”

We offer a fellowship for a postdoc at the Institute of Philosophy II at the Ruhr-University in Bochum in the area of philosophy of mind and cognition in the research group of Prof. Albert Newen. The fellowship will be offered for 24 months. Candidates should be ideally working out a project in one of the three areas: “Philosophy of the self: self-consciousness, self-knowledge, self-deception”, “Philosophy of AI or Social Robots” or “A comparative perspective on humans and nonhuman animals”. Project suggestions are expected (max. 1 page without references).

In principle the call if open for other research topics in the group of Prof. Newen: 1. Theories of Understanding Others; 2 Theories of Emotion; 3. Philosophy of Neurosciences and their Explanations; 4. Theories of Perception and Cognition; 5. Situated Cognition

Requirements: Candidates should have an outstanding PhD in philosophy. Their PhD should have been achieved within the last 4 years before the application date. An additional degree in psychology, cognitive science, linguistics, psychiatry or neurosciences is much appreciated. Some substantial expertise in at least one of these areas will be expected. Furthermore, the candidate must have (at least three) papers published or accepted by peer-reviewed journals.

For this program there are special demands: Applicants are either no German nationals or have lived abroad for at least ten years. Furthermore, they are not allowed to have made a postdoc in Germany (of more than 3 months).

The applicant need not speak German at the time of application, but they should be willing to learn German to be able to engage in everyday conversations. The language for scientific conversation is English. Candidates should be prepared to participate in weekly meetings of the research group of Prof. Newen in Bochum. Thus, the fellowship presupposes regular presence at Ruhr-University Bochum since the project should be worked out in close interaction with the group of Prof. Newen.

Deadline for the application is the 14th of July 2024. The fellowship is available from 1st of November 2025 onwards. The postdoc fellowship is 2.670 Euro (can be higher in special cases, e.g., marriage) per month. The funding is available for a period of two years.
Application documents (we only accept electronic applications): Please send your application to center-mindcognition [__at__] rub [dot] de

Your application should consist of max. three PDF files. The first one is to include your personal documents: an outline of your own planned research project of 1 page max excluding references, CV, copies of certificates and records, complete list of your publications, talks, conferences you attended and courses you held; names of two potential referees (sequence irrelevant). The other PDF file(s) to be attached should be a list of two selected key publications, as well as these selected key publications (must have been published or accepted, if accepted but not published add the letter of acceptance of the journal).