[spsp-members] Expression of interest for 2 Postdoc and 2 PhD positions in new ERC research grant on disability and queer perspectives for just sustainability transformations (WEIRD)

[Caniglia, Guido]

Dear SPSP Community,

A new research project (ERC Consolidator Grant) with the title “Whose Sustainability? Understanding and redefining just sustainability transformations through disability and queer perspectives” (WEIRD) just started in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki (Finland).

I am the PI on the grant. I am sending this email to let you know that there will be two PhD positions and two Post-doc positions opening on queer and disability perspectives on just sustainability transformations in the upcoming days and weeks.  We are now seeking expressions of interest and later on we will circulate the official calls.

About WEIRD: With an intersectional approach to justice and equity, WEIRD wants to bring the voices, experiences, and initiatives of disabled and queer people front and center in the way we think about sustainability transformations. The project aims to leverage the transformative potential of disability and queer perspectives for more sustainable and just futures. The project will: (1) understand the often-neglected contributions of disability and queer scholarship and societal initiatives around sustainability from local to global; (2)  redefine the theories, methodologies, and ethics of just and emancipatory sustainability transformations.

You can find some more information about WEIRD and about the positions in the body of this email below or in the pdf document attached.

Please, get in touch if you are interested in learning more about the project or if you would like to know more about the positions that are going to be out in the upcoming days.

Thanks and all the best,

Guido

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Seeking expressions of interest to join the ERC-funded research project:

“Whose sustainability? Understanding and redefining just sustainability transformations through disability and queer perspectives” (WEIRD)

Principal Investigator: Guido Caniglia (he/him)

Topic: Disabled and queer people have engaged in critical and creative ways with environmental sustainability and climate change in academia and in society. Yet, their voices are largely invisible in research and action for sustainability transformations.

Goals: With an intersectional approach to justice and equity, WEIRD wants to bring the voices, experiences, and initiatives of disabled and queer people front and center in the way we think about sustainability transformations. The project aims to leverage the transformative potential of disability and queer perspectives for more sustainable and just futures. The project will:

•      understand the often-neglected contributions of disability and queer scholarship and societal initiatives around sustainability from local to global.

•      redefine the theories, methodologies, and ethics of just and emancipatory sustainability transformations.

Approach: WEIRD is organized in two interconnected tracks:

•      Track 1: about disability perspectives

•      Track 2: about queer perspectives

The two tracks combine theoretical and empirical elements and are highly interdisciplinary, as they engage with multiple disciplines. The primary academic fields of WEIRD are: transformative and transdisciplinary sustainability science, disability studies, queer and gender studies. The project also welcomes contributions from the environmental humanities and environmental social sciences more broadly.

Phases: The project is organized in three main phases:

•      In its initial phases, WEIRD will scope and map existing works and initiatives at the intersection of disability and queer justice with environmental sustainability.

•      In the middle phases, the project will conduct in depth empirical studies of initiatives and networks that disabled and queer people engage with to enact, envision, prefigure, and rethink just sustainability transformations.

•       The final stages will involve researchers and societal actors from the sustainability, disability and queer communities for the co-creaßtion of new theories and methodologies to study and pursue justice in sustainability transformations.

About the positions

WEIRD will hire one post-doctoral researcher and one PhD researcher for each track of the project.Official advertisements for the two Postdoc positions (about 3 years) will go online in late 2024/early 2025 with an envisaged starting date within 2025. Official advertisements for the two PhD positions (about 4 years) will go online in early 2025 with an envisioned starting date between July and September 2025.

Postdoc positions: Postdoc 1 on disability (Track 1) and Postdoc 2 (Track 2) on queer perspectives for just sustainability transformations

Responsibilities: The two postdoctoral researchers will:

•      organize research activities within each track of WEIRD and coordinate with each other to create synergies between the disability and queer tracks;

•      lead the process of reviewing and mapping the intersection of environmental sustainability with the disability (Track 1) and queer perspectives (Track 2);

•      design and implement the empirical investigation of one initiative, organization, or network (to be agreed upon with the PI);

•      work on the theoretical synthesis of the results towards the redefinition of just sustainability transformations from disability and queer perspectives.

•      develop capacities to work ethically with vulnerable people



PhD positions: PhD 1 on disability (Track 1) and PhD 2 on queer perspectives (Track 2) for just sustainability transformations

Responsibilities: The two PhD researchers will:

•      focus on the more empirical activities in the two tracks in close collaboration under the supervision of the Principal Investigator and in collaboration with the Post-docs.

•      conduct field research on local disability and queer initiatives (e.g., social farms or queer farms). The specific initiatives will be selected together with the PI.

•      contribute to the organization of workshops in the final phases of the project

•      develop capacities to work ethically with vulnerable people

 If you have any questions about WEIRD email: guido.caniglia at helsinki.fi<mailto:guido.caniglia at helsinki.fi>

If you want register your interest in any of these positions, send a copy of your CV and a short motivational letter (max one page) to guido.caniglia at helsinki.fi<mailto:guido.caniglia at helsinki.fi>

Important: The positions require registering in Finland and moving to Helsinki. All four positions will be located in the Discipline of Social and Public Policy<https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-social-sciences/research/disciplines-and-research-units/social-and-public-policy#:~:text=Social%20and%20public%20policy%20is,old%20age%20or%20environmental%20change.> in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki (Finland).


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— — — —


— — — —
Guido Caniglia (he/him), PhD PhD
Associate Professor of Social Policy<https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/guido-caniglia>

Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki (Finland)

Principal Investigator: WEIRD (ERC Consolidator Grant)
WP1 Leader: PLUS Change <https://pluschange.eu/> (Horizon Europe research and innovation programme)
WG1 Leader: TransformERS<https://www.cost-transformers.eu/> (COST Action)

Unioninkatu 37 (Room 1055), 00014Helsinki University, Finland

Phone: +358 453 181888
LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/guido-caniglia-ab70b6333/>



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