Postdoc position in Media Studies

A postdoc position exploring self-tracking and sleep is available at the Department of Media, Design, and Education Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Southern Denmark in Odense. The position is 2-years starting November 1, 2025, or as soon as possible thereafter. The postdoc project will focus on the topic of self-tracking and sleep and explore the entanglements of digital media, data and sleep. Application deadline: May 27, 2025 at 12.59 PM/23.59 (CET/CEST).
A postdoc position exploring self-tracking and sleep is available at the Department of Media, Design, and Education Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Southern Denmark in Odense. The position is 2-years starting November 1, 2025, or as soon as possible thereafter. The postdoc project will focus on the topic of self-tracking and sleep and explore the entanglements of digital media, data and sleep.

Responsibilities: The postdoc will be part of the research project “ToSleep: Decelerative media and technologies of sleep in the everyday” (ToSleep), funded by the Carlsberg Foundation, Semper Ardens Accelerate (Grant id: CF24-1525). ToSleep investigates the mediation of sleep and provides empirically grounded knowledge on the decelerative capacities of (digital) media and the co-evolvement of contemporary sleep practices and media technologies. Despite sleep being an interdisciplinary topic, our knowledge of sleep is still dominated by health research. ToSleep contributes with health-humanities perspectives on sleep within a media- and cultural studies framework, focusing on the ambivalences and paradoxes in contemporary sleep practices and sociocultural understandings of sleep.

Candidate Profile: The ideal candidate comes from or combines media- and communication studies, anthropology, techno-anthropology or cultural studies. Previous experience with science and technology studies (STS) and/or (feminist) new materialism will be considered a strength. Experience with qualitative or mixed methods studies of self-tracking technologies and/or practices is also an advantage. The candidate will formulate their postdoc project as a sub-project within the overall research project, focusing on sleep tracking, including an interview study with people who track their sleep. Close collaboration with project participants is expected to ensure synergy between the sub-projects (Ph.d.-student, PI and postdoc) through method and theory development and a special issue on sleep.

Department of Media, Design, and Education Sciences: The department encompasses a wide range of research areas, including design research, media studies, education sciences, philosophy, information science, library science, organizational communication, and web communication. The department is characterized by high-quality research and strong collaborations across disciplines within the department, the university, and with the surrounding society. The postdoc will be part of the research group Media. The group consists of both senior and junior scholars and forms a close professional and collegial community that provides the framework for both individual and collective research activities. The group has expertise between the members in distinct media domains including film, television, playful media and digital games, auditory media, and social network media and has attracted a substantial amount of external funding in recent years. Media Studies SDU is based in University of Southern Denmark Campus Odense. Odense is Denmark’s third largest city with a population of about 200.000. It is one of the oldest cities in Denmark with a rich culture and history. Odense is nicely located and well-connected to both Copenhagen and Aarhus. A train to Copenhagen is approximately 1 hour.

Contact Information: For further information about the position, please contact PI and Associate Professor Maja Klausen at 6550 1591/6168 3086 or email: makl@sdu.dk, or Deputy Head of Department Esben Nedenskov Petersen at 6550 4587 or email: esben@sdu.dk

We recommend that as an international applicant you take the time to visit Working in Denmark where you will find information and facts about moving to, working and living in Denmark, as well as the International Staff Office at SDU.

Conditions of employment
The employment as postdoc is temporary (2 years). Employment stops automatically by the end of the period. An upgrade of pedagogical qualifications is not part of the position. Thus, employment as postdoc cannot stand alone as a qualification for later employment as associate professor/senior researcher.

Appointment to the position will be in accordance with the salary agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Please check links for more information on salary (only available in Danish) and taxation.

Application
The Faculty expects applicants to read the information "How to apply" before applying.

The application must include:

• Cover letter (max. 1 page)
• Project description and research plan (max. 4 pages)
• Curriculum Vitae with applicant's e-mail and phone number
• Documentation of qualifications (examination certificates/PhD diploma, etc.)
• Complete list of publications indicating the publications attached
• Applicants may choose a maximum of two publications for assessment. For any publication with a co-author, a co-author statement must be submitted as part of the pdf-file

Application and all appendices must be in Danish, English or one of the Scandinavian languages. Please always include a copy of original diploma/certificates. We only accept files in pdf-format no more than 10 MB per file. In case you have more than one file per field you need to combine the pdf-files into a single file, as each field handles only one file. We do not accept zip-files, jpg or other image files. All pdf-files must be unlocked and allow binding and may not be password protected.

The assessment process
Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee and the applicant will receive the part of the evaluation that concerns them. The assessment report will subsequently be forwarded to the Head of Department who will assemble an appointments committee. An interview may form part of the overall assessment of the applicants' qualifications.

The committee may request additional information, and if so, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the necessary material.

If the application does not meet the requirements mentioned above, the Faculty of Humanities may reject your application without further notice. Applications received after the deadline will neither be considered nor evaluated.

Shortlisting and tests may be used in the assessment process. Please note that only a shortlisted applicant will receive an assessment. Here you can read more about shortlisting at SDU.

Application deadline
The application deadline is May 27, 2025 at 12.59 PM/23.59 (CET/CEST).

The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

About SDU and Odense
SDU was founded in 1966 and now has more than 27,000 students, almost 20% of whom are from abroad. It has more than 3,800 employees, and 115 different study programmes in the fields of the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, and engineering. Its main campus is located in Odense, the third largest city in Denmark, but is present also in Kolding, Sønderborg, Esbjerg and Copenhagen.

The Department of Culture and Language is located at the university's campus in Odense - a vibrant city with 180.000 inhabitants on the island of Funen with a rich cultural life and only 1½ hour away from the Danish capitol, Copenhagen. The city of Odense provides family-friendly living conditions with the perfect combination of a historic city centre with an urban feel and yet close proximity to beaches and recreational areas. Its location on the beautiful island of Funen is ideal with easy access by train or highway to the bigger cities of Aarhus and Copenhagen. As the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark’s famous fairytale author, the city is home to a vibrant and creative population that hosts numerous festivals and markets throughout the year.

Placering: Odense, Denmark