Call for Applications: University of Zurich PhD Position in Human Geography 2026 (Fully-funded) – YOA

Deadline: July 8, 2026

Applications are invited for the University of Zurich PhD Position in Human Geography 2026. The Department of Geography on the University of Zurich (GIUZ) invites functions for a totally-funded doctoral place in Human Geography to contribute to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) mission ‘Institutional conditions for racially and/or socio-economically minoritized students at highly selective secondary schools in Switzerland’. The publish is for a hard and fast time period of 4 years, with an preliminary appointment of three years and a one-yr extension.

About the Project

Racially and/or socio-economically minoritized college students are underrepresented at state-funded, academically extremely selective secondary colleges in Switzerland, as in many Western societies, as a result of a replica of social inequality via the training techniques. Evidence from the little worldwide analysis performed to this point signifies that minoritized college students attending such colleges are topic to institutional discrimination, together with racism and classism. The intention of this study is to realize a deeper understanding of institutional racism, classism, and their intersection and of practices for stopping and combating racism and classism at Gymnasia in German-speaking Switzerland from a publish-structuralist processual perspective.

This intention encompasses numerous targets, corresponding to:

• uncover the logic behind the replica of classism, racism, their intersection, and resistance to those phenomena at Gymnasia;
• establish profitable practices which might be already being applied in Gymnasia to take care of racism and classism;
• perceive the results of institutional discrimination on minoritized college students and the way they deal with it;
• share their experiences with headteachers of Gymnasia to foster a college surroundings that’s free from racism and classism.

Responsibilities

• In collaboration with the PI of the mission you’ll develop and perform the mission outlined above, conduct unique fieldwork (qualitative interviews with headteachers and with racially and/or socio-economically minoritized college students of Gymnasia in German-speaking Switzerland), information evaluation (together with participative information evaluation workshops) and full a doctoral dissertation (paper based mostly dissertation).
• You will take part actively in mission actions, together with workshops, and worldwide conferences, and contribute to educational and apply-oriented publications rising from the mission.
• You will contribute to instructing in the sphere Human Geography and to providers in the Geography Teacher Training unit (GTT) at GIUZ.
• You will take part in the Zurich Graduate School in Geography & Earth System Science.

Benefits

• You will work in a stimulating and supportive analysis surroundings and be part of an SNSF analysis mission.
• You will obtain common mentoring and help in pursuing your educational profession.
• You are part of a structured doctoral program.
• You will receives a commission based on the wage scale of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
• You will get a private office with technical gear.
• You will have the ability to revenue from the full of life, culturally numerous and galvanizing institute and campus surroundings, from the enticing working circumstances and the manifold alternatives for additional training at UZH. With round 30,000 college students and 10,000 staff, UZH is the biggest college in Switzerland.
• You will have the ability to benefit from the wonderful dwelling surroundings of Zurich and its environment that supply a broad vary of cultural actions and quick access to lakes, countryside and mountains.

Eligibility

• You maintain a Master’s diploma or are about to finish a Master’s diploma in geography, sociology, instructional research, youth research, social anthropology, social work or in a intently associated area.
• You have demonstrated substantial expertise in qualitative analysis and a powerful curiosity in questions on (in)equality and justice. Experience with participative strategies is a bonus.
• You get pleasure from fieldwork and have an interest in the views of younger folks.
• You are motivated to have interaction critically with questions of (in)equality, justice, and institutional discrimination.
• You convey robust communication and teamwork expertise.
• You converse and write German and English fluently.

Application

To apply, please add the next paperwork (as a single PDF file) in English with the button “Apply now” beneath:

• A motivation letter, explaining why you’re making use of for this PhD place, and the way you fulfil the standards listed above.
• Your Curriculum Vitae.
• The contact particulars for two referees.
• The transcripts of your educational levels (bachelor, grasp, or equal).
• A pattern of your writing that gives perception into your earlier educational work (e.g., your MSc thesis)
• An essay of 400 to 500 phrases in English, in which you define your curiosity in the analysis mission. In explicit, please clarify (a) why you have an interest in researching classism and/or racism in training and the way you plan to strategy these points conceptually, or (b) why you have an interest in doing analysis with younger folks and what methodological challenges this may increasingly entail.

The preliminary deadline for functions is July eighth, 2026. Shortlisted candidates will likely be notified by mid-July. Review of functions will proceed till the place is crammed.

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