Head of Department (m/f/d) Knowledge and Participation (Leipzig-Prague Interface)

The Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) conductscomparative research into historical and cultural developments and processes in the region between the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Adriatic from late antiquity to the present day. The GWZO employs around 80 staff from Germany and abroad and has been based in Leipzig’s city centre since 2010. From 2025 onwards, it will also have a representative office in the city centre of Prague.

For the new department to be established within the Institute's Prague Representative Office in 2025, we are now seeking to recruit a:

Head of Department (m/f/d)

“Knowledge and Participation” (Leipzig-Prague Interface) Reference number: 24_04_P

The position will be effective from 1 January 2025.

The post is initially for a fixed-term period of two years, with the possibility of becoming a permanent appointment.

The new department will be dedicated to the field of citizen science. It will explore the relationship between knowledge generated within and outside academia from a historical, contemporary and transnational perspective. The department will thus serve as a theoretical and methodological laboratory for citizen knowledge and citizen participation in Eastern Europe, injecting new perspectives into academic and science-policy debates in this area. (For more information on the planned topics and fields of activity to be co-designed by the new head of department, see: https://leibniz-gwzo.de/de/forschung/wissen-und-partizipation).

The position is based in Prague; regular presence in Leipzig will be expected. Employment will be in accordance with Czech labour law and remunerated in line with local salary scales, plus a significant management bonus. While we prefer to fill the position full-time, part-time employment is also possible.

We are looking for a researcher with a habilitation or showcasing equivalent achievements working within the thematic and epochal spectrum of the GWZO. The successful candidate will be well-versed in questions relating to scientific and non-scientific knowledge production. This expertise might include a specialisation in the history of knowledge and/or citizen science and associated methodological instruments. A willingness to develop further in the latter subject area is a prerequisite. The applicant should be particularly well qualified to develop the new transdisciplinary department’s conceptual, personnel and organisational structure, including managing up to four further researchers (two predoctoral and two postdoctoral positions). Special competencies in networking and intercultural competence, as well as disciplinary openness (including and especially towards the natural sciences), are also expected.

Your tasks:

• Development of the conceptual, personnel and organisational structure of the new department “Knowledge and Participation” at the GWZO in close connection with the research of Leipzig GWZO’s Directorate and Research Departments “Humans and Environment”, “Culture and Imagination”, “Entanglements and Globalisation”
• Development and ongoing adaptation of a plan to achieve the new department’s international visibility as a methodological laboratory for citizen science and as an important location for research into the history of knowledge in Central and Eastern Europe
• Resource planning and scientific coordination of the department’s activities, in close cooperation with the GWZO’s management in Leipzig and the institute’s science management team and administration
• Active participation in strategic planning for the entire GWZO at the extended management level; contribution to the preparation and drafting of research agenda documents; reporting duties for the new department
• Personnel and professional supervision responsibilities for employees in the Prague department
• Publishing actively at an international level
• Monitoring suitable third-party funding opportunities and preparation of applications for the acquisition of external funds together with the employees of the new department and staff from the GWZO’s other departments
• Promotion of the presence of the GWZO, its publications and research outputs in the Czech Republic and East-Central Europe and development of new forms of communication at the interface between the specialised scientific community and the wider public (in cooperation with Directorates I and II)

Your profile:

• Internationally recognised researcher with habilitation or equivalent qualification/supervision rights for doctoral candidates in one of the subjects and epochs represented at the GWZO
• Strong conceptual-strategic thinking skills, especially for the conception of transdisciplinary and trans-epochal research agendas reaching beyond the immediate subject specialisation
• Strong track record of publications and success in acquiring third-party funding meeting the requirements of a scientific management position; management experience and experience with project administration
• Ideally, fluency in Czech and German to ensure networking on-site and in Leipzig and to fulfil the above-mentioned scientific and administrative responsibilities (alternatively, willingness to reach this level within two years); furthermore, very good knowledge of English and other languages of the research region is expressly welcomed
• Experience in the field of knowledge transfer and communication
• Willingness to travel regularly to Leipzig
• Willingness to undergo regular further training

We offer:

• A creative and motivating working environment, flat hierarchies
• A lively social culture, openness and trusting cooperation
• An opportunity for individual scientific profiling and further qualification 
• A workplace in Prague’s city centre as well as in the heart of the city of Leipzig and in the immediate vicinity of the Leipzig University campus

The GWZO pursues the goal of professional equality between women and men and, therefore, strongly encourages women to apply. We particularly welcome applications from women and will give preference to female candidates with equivalent and suitable qualifications. Severely disabled persons with equal qualifications will be given priority.

If you are interested, please send your detailed application with the relevant documents by 2 September 2024 by post to the director of the GWZO, Prof. Dr. Maren Röger, Specks Hof, Reichsstraße 4-6, 04109 Leipzig or by e-mail to: bewerbung(at)leibniz-gwzo.de.

If you have any questions about the position and the new department, please contact Prof. Dr. Maren Röger.

An application by e-mail is questionable under data protection law. The sender bears full responsibility for this.

If you are invited to an interview scheduled for 2 October 2024, we will ask you to send a two to three-page brief outlining your vision for the new department in advance.

Further information on the GWZO can be found on our website www.leibniz-gwzo.de.

Notes on data protection

Your personal data contained in the application documents or, if applicable, obtained during the interview will be processed exclusively for the purpose of the selection procedure for this advertised position. The legal basis for data processing is Section 11 (1) of the Saxon Data Protection Implementation Act in conjunction with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The person responsible for the application procedure is the addressee of the application specified above in this job advertisement. Your personal data will be forwarded within the institute as part of the application process to:

• the members of the selection committee,
• personnel administration,
• the equal opportunities officers,
• the inclusion officer and
• the works council

within the scope of their organisational or legal responsibilities.

Your personal data will be deleted no later than six months after completion of the selection process. According to the GDPR, you have the following rights vis-à-vis the addressee of the application if the relevant legal requirements are met: right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), right to rectification of inaccurate personal data (Art. 16 GDPR); data erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR) and objection to processing (Art. 21 GDPR). If you have any questions about data protection, you can contact the GWZO data protection officer. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Saxon Data Protection Commissioner.