Job ID: ISA070DOC226
The Institute for Social Anthropology (ISA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), Austria’s leading non-university research and science institution, is offering a position as
PraeDoc (DISS) (f/m/x) in Social Anthropology with a focus on Yemen
(part-time, 30 hours per week, 75%)
for a duration of 48 months (4 years), starting 1 December 2026.
This position is part of the ERC Advanced Grant Project “Ideology in Context: An Agential Approach to the Study of Houthism (IDEO-YEMEN)” led by Dr. Marieke Brandt. Further information on the project is available here.
We invite applications for a doctoral position focusing on the theme “Media Expressions and Rituals of Ideology”. Ideological work is fundamentally communicative, extending beyond mere discourse to encompass processes of communication through signs and symbols. This theme enquires into the multimodal symbolic, media, and ritual expressions of the Ansar Allah/Houthi movement, focusing on how these evolve through the movement engaging with indigenous histories and identities and encounters with regional and global influences. It seeks to understand how these expressions influence and are influenced by those of other Islamist and revolutionary movements, and how they work towards embedding ideology into the fabric of quotidian life and public spaces, transforming public spaces and everyday life practices, such as public and private behaviour, dress code, and language.
Applicants should be aware that this is a collaborative project under the direction of a Principal Investigator. The PhD researcher is expected to contribute actively to the project’s core research questions, objectives, and collective activities while also developing an independent research profile.
Please note: Fieldwork in Yemen is not possible. Research will be based on remote and digital ethnography, as well as the analysis of Arabic-language media, texts, and other relevant sources.
The position is offered at 75% FTE for research within the ERC project. The remaining 25% of the candidate’s time will be allocated to mandatory enrolment in the PhD programme in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna. The PhD researcher will be supervised by Doz. Dr. Martin Slama, member of the advisory board of IDEO-YEMEN and senior researcher at ISA working on new media and Islam, and the PI Dr. Marieke Brandt.
The appointment will initially be for 12 months and, upon positive evaluation, extended for additional 3 years. It is expected to result in the completion of a PhD thesis, either in cumulative or monographic form.
