Job: six 4-year fully-funded PhD position, mdw, Wien

Announcement of six 4-year PhD positions in the Structured Doctoral Programme „Music Matters. Materiality, Knowings and Practices“ at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.


At the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the newly established Structured Doctoral Programme „Music Matters. Materiality, Knowings and Practices in Performing Arts“ at the Office of the Dean of Research Programmes offers

six 4-year fully-funded PhD positions (30h per week)

The Structured Doctoral Programme „Music Matters“ starts on 1 October 2020 and aims to develop a “contemporary diagnosis of musical matters” and their social implications with special focus on materiality, knowings or practices in performing arts. In order to outline and contextualize this inherently interdisciplinary field of research theoretically, empirically and/or historically, we refer to the concept of Late Modernity.

The programme welcomes dissertation projects which offer a critical investigation of aspects of materiality, knowings or practices related to complex cultural phenomena in music and performing arts. 

Please find more detailed information on the topic “Music Matters. Materiality, Knowings and Practices in Performing Arts” here: www.mdw.ac.at/sdp

We invite highly qualified candidates who are eligible for enrollment in the PhD program at mdw to submit their proposals. Candidates should be interested in the critical examination of materiality, knowings or practices in music and performing arts from various (inter)disciplinary angles and should have a strong motivation to engage conceptually in the respective subjects.

The Structured Doctoral Programme offers research-oriented, curricularly anchored and coordinated supervision of the dissertation, interdisciplinary exchange, e.g. within workshops, symposia, writing retreats and access to international networks. The following disciplines and perspectives will contribute to the discourse (in alphabetical order):

  • cultural institutions studies

  • cultural studies

  • ethnomusicology

  • gender studies

  • music acoustics

  • music sociology

  • music education

  • music therapy

  • musicology

  • performance studies

  • popular music studies

The dissertation can be written either in English or in German.
Extent of employment: 75% (30h per week)
Contract: Employment is offered to a period of 4 years, starting on 1 October 2020.
Salary: According to the Austrian collective labour agreement, the monthly gross pay is at a minimum of € 2.148,38 (14 times).
Employment requirements:

  • Master’s or diploma degree in one of the participating disciplines or a closely related

    discipline

  • excellent spoken and written communication skills in English (C1); if the dissertation is
    written in German: excellent spoken and written communication skills in German (C1)

Desired qualifications:

  • ability to critically reflect the theoretical and methodological foundations of at least one

    of the participating disciplines; familiarity with the current discourses in these

    disciplines.

  • strong interest in interdisciplinary work

  • ability to work in a team

Tasks: Doctoral candidates are required to enroll at the mdw by 1 October 2020 and are expected to actively participate in the study programme and finish their dissertation, present their work regularly within the program, but also at conferences, and gain initial teaching experience. Candidates should further participate in administrative and organisational tasks in the context of mdw.

Application documents:

  • Informative dissertation proposal relating to „Music Matters“ in English (max. 15 pages/7,500 words)

  • motivational letter (1 page)

  • CV

  • scan of diploma or master’s degree (English or German translation, when dipoma is in

    another language)

optional: publication or text sample (e.g. representative chapter of the Master Thesis,

max. 20 pages/10,000 words) in English or German

For further information on the structured doctoral program and FAQs (e.g. special features of the structured doctoral program, important deadlines, and requirements of the PhD project proposal): www.mdw.ac.at/sdp
If you have any questions, please contact: sdp@mdw.ac.at 

Application deadline: 29 February 2020

Applications must be submitted in electronic form via the mdw application portal www.mdw.ac.at/bewerbungsportal. 

All application material should be sent in PDF format.

The mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna is committed to the equal treatment of all qualified applicants regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, world-view, age, or disability.
The University is particularly interested in increasing the percentage of women working in the artistic, scientific and general university personnel ranks. It therefore expressly encourages qualified women to apply.

It should be specifically mentioned, however, that applicants who are invited to the audition will not receive remuneration from the university for incurred travel and hotel expenses.

Job, NewsHelene Heuser