The Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen is inviting applications for one three-year PhD scholarship.

The PhD will be part of the ERC Consolidator Grant, Before the Image: The Political Ontology of Images for Legal and Social Justice. The project will investigate how images used to document violence, war crimes, and human rights violations are created not only in the moment when they are taken or viewed, but also in processes of designing image technologies and developing camera and visual literacy skills.

About the Project.

As part of this larger project, the PhD will investigate how visual literacy, including memory, perceptions of truth, and training, impacts how images are seen, focusing on how experts and non-experts view images that document violence.

It is expected that the PhD candidate will carry out ethnographic fieldwork at open-source investigation trainings and do interviews with trainers and participants at these trainings in order to study the processes through which open-source investigators are taught to view images for the purposes of verification, geo- and chrono-location, etc.

The PhD candidate must also play a leading role in developing an interactive exhibition that presents project insights and simultaneously collects data on how non-experts see images (and might be instructed to see differently through prompts).

Data might be collected through digital responses, eye tracking devices, interviews with selected exhibition guests, or other means. It is not expected that a full exhibition design will be presented in the project description submitted for the application, but initial considerations about the exhibition presented in the project description will be part of the assessment.

Qualification Requirements.

Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master’s level related to the subject area of the project, e.g., anthropology, psychology, sociology, and/or human rights.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, you must either have a master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years) or at least a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor’s degree (three years) and be assessed as having professional qualifications at master’s level.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, we will obtain an assessment of your education from the Danish Research Agency.

Applicants must possess skills in written and spoken academic English at a high level. Additional language skills and knowledge of related regions are an advantage.

If deemed necessary, the department may request that applicants document their English or other language skills.

The ideal candidate has a background in fields like anthropology, psychology, sociology, or human rights and has an understanding of visual knowledge production, the human capacity for seeing, and human rights and justice.

The candidate must have skills in ethnography, interviewing, and conducting research with difficult ethical dilemmas.

Experience from civil society is an advantage.

The candidate must prioritise mental health and be prepared to work with difficult topics.

Application Procedure.

All applications must be submitted online, in PDF or Microsoft Word format, through the Official Application Portal for the position.

The application must include:

1. Personal statement (max. one page)

In their personal statements, applicants are encouraged to:

• Outline how the PhD project relates to other research activities at the department, particularly the Before the Image project.
• Describe as clearly as possible their competencies and personal qualifications relevant to the PhD programme and the Before the Image project

2. CV

• Applications must be accompanied by a CV (max one page) and a list of publications, where relevant.

3. Documentation (diplomas and transcripts)

Applicants must upload the following:

• A copy of their Master’s degree diploma or similar (if this is not available by the application deadline, applicants must document pre-approval of their Master’s thesis)
• A copy of their Master’s degree transcript
• A copy of their Bachelor’s degree diploma
• A copy of their Bachelor’s degree transcript.

Applicants with a degree from a university where the working language is not English or one of the Scandinavian languages must submit a translation of their Master’s diploma and/or diploma transcripts approved by the issuing university or by another local authority.

These documents must be translated into English, Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish. An official description of the grading scale (and a diploma supplement where relevant) must also be attached.

Chinese applicants must attach a China Credentials Verification (CHSI) certificate.

(Read more about CHSI here: https://www.chsi.com.cn/xlcx/en/index.jsp.)

Assessment Criteria.

The following criteria are applied when assessing PhD applications:

• The quality, originality, and feasibility of the PhD project and its relevance to the Before the Image project
• Research qualifications, as reflected in the attached CV and project description
• Competencies and knowledge of relevant fields of academic research
• Level (grades obtained) of Bachelor’s and Master’s studies.

The recruitment process.

• After the deadline for applications, the Head of Department considers advice from the Appointment Committee and then selects applicants for assessment.
• All applicants will be notified whether or not they have been shortlisted.
• After this, the Head of Department sets up an expert Assessment Committee to assess the shortlisted applications.
• The selected applicants will be informed who is serving on the committee. Individual applicants will be offered the opportunity to comment on the committee’s assessment of their application before the appointment is announced.
• The assessments are expected to be completed by June 12.
• Interviews are expected to be held on June 22 and/or June 24.
• It is possible to attend the interview online.

For further information about the structure of the PhD programme, please refer to: https://phd.humanities.ku.dk/become-phd-student/what-is-it/structure-of-the-phd-programme

For further information about the guidelines for PhD studies at UCPH, please refer to: https://phd.ku.dk/english/

The deadline for applications is May 27, 2026, at 23:59 CEST.

For further information about the application procedure, please refer to the University of Copenhagen website: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

Information about the recruitment process is available from HR South at hr-soendre@adm.ku.dk. Please refer to ID number: 211-2418/26-2H#2

If you have any questions about the academic content of the PhD programme, please e-mail the PhD coordinator at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Simon Stjernholm, stjernholm@hum.ku.dk.

If you have questions related to the Before the Image project, please email PI Nina Grønlykke Mollerup, ninagm@hum.ku.dk.

Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

However, changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline.

For General Information, Scholarships, Internships, Jobs, Research Grants, and many more, both local and International,

• Follow to join WhatsApp Channel.

• Telegram Channel.