Postdoctoral Researcher / Postdoctoral Researcheress

Postdoctoral Position in Textual Scholarship and Digital Humanities

UniBE is ambitious. Join us and showcase your top performance while testing your skills against the best in the field.

Start Date

01.03.2027 or by arrangement

Employment Relationship

Fixed-term position

Institution / Workplace

The Bit Philology project at the Digital Humanities unit is offering a postdoctoral position in the field of textual scholarship and digital humanities, funded by the SNSF for a duration of three years starting from March 2027.

Research Focus

The Bit Philology project studies born-digital materials in literary archives, focusing on Swiss collections in French and Italian. As a significant portion of contemporary literature is digitally constructed, literary archives increasingly include born-digital documents, presenting new challenges for their study. The project aims to:

• Develop methods for cataloguing these archives.
• Create prototypes for scholarly editions.
• Explore authors' creative processes through digital materials.
• Train future researchers and advance practices in textual scholarship and digital humanities.

The project team currently consists of two PhD students and a research associate in addition to the Principal Investigator (PI). The postdoctoral researcher will engage with born-digital archives of Swiss writers from the 1980s to the early 2000s (e.g., Swiss Literary Archives, Centre des littératures en Suisse romande, Archivio Prezzolini). They can develop their own research project focusing on one or more authors and/or works, potentially exploring the relationship between paper and digital documents in hybrid archives.

Your Tasks and What We Offer

As a postdoctoral researcher, your responsibilities will include developing your research line and participating in project activities, such as:

• Working in archives.
• Clarifying rights and addressing potential ethical issues.
• Communicating with archivists and authors/rights holders.
• Working with legacy hardware and software using digital forensics methods.
• Studying the writing processes of authors across different media.
• Examining archival materials including unpublished texts and drafts of publications.
• Publishing and presenting your work locally and internationally.
• Contributing to the organization of scholarly events.
• Collaborating with the project team.

Participation in teaching is optional, with a flexible start date in March 2027.

What We Offer

• A dynamic and collaborative research environment at the Digital Humanities unit.
• Work-life balance through flexible work schedules.
• Training opportunities in all areas of the project and related fields.
• Salary according to SNSF regulations.

Candidate Profile

• PhD in textual scholarship (philology, textual criticism, scholarly editing, genetic criticism), literary studies, or digital humanities.
• Prior experience working with archives.
• Strong interest in contemporary Swiss French and/or Italian literature; born-digital archival records; computational literary studies.
• Strong motivation to work both independently and collaboratively within a diverse, interdisciplinary environment.
• Working proficiency in English and French; Italian is a plus.
• Self-discipline and creative thinking.

Your Benefits

• Collaborative environment with an ambitious team.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Team-oriented work.
• Future-oriented career prospects.

Working at the University of Bern

The University of Bern not only offers exciting tasks but also an environment that actively promotes development, diversity, and equal opportunities. Discover what makes us stand out as an employer and how you can grow with us.

Application Process

Apply online using the form below. Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.