HealthXCross Postdoctoral Position, 3 Years (12 Months, Renewable)

Deadline for application: 28 June 2021.
Starting of the position: 1st October 2021.
Host institution: Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy

TO APPLY: https://www.unive.it/data/29530/

We are pleased to announce a postdoctoral position available on the project, HealthXCross “Remaking Health in a Microbial Planet by Crossing Space, Time, Species and Epistemic Cultures”, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), 2021-2026 (Starting grant): https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/949742/it

HealthXCross is an ethnographic study of transnational and interdisciplinary open-data platforms that compare and aggregate microbial data across time, space, species and disciplines. These platforms aggregate – through advanced AI technology – microbial data with other kinds of data (medical, environmental, social etc…) to intervene in both environmental and human health. HealthXCross main objective is to analyse how health comes to be reconfigured through these platforms.

We look for a postdoctoral researcher who will focus on one selected platform with a One Health approach in partnership with an important technological hub for the aggregation of data, She/he will analyse, within the ‘One/planetary health’ theoretical debate, the interplay between ‘data governance’ of open-data and ‘data epistemology’. ‘Data epistemology’ refers to the biopolitics of knowledge at play in One/planetary health, an approach that aims at blurring the boundaries between disciplines and between humans and non-humans. Themes to be analysed by the researcher: politics and practices of open-data; interdisciplinary and data science; biopolitics of One/planetary health at the interface between human and non-human health.

What a postdoc with the HealthXCross team offers:

  • to be part of a collaborative, ambitious, friendly and caring team
  • opportunity to make research on a timely and relevant topic with an applied potential
  • a gross salary of EUR 26 050/year (approx. EUR 1 900/month after taxes)
  • funding for fieldwork and conference travel

What we expect from the postdoctoral research fellow:

  • a PhD in Socio-cultural Anthropology, or Philosophy, Sociology (or cognate disciplines), and ethnographic and theoretical expertise in social studies of data; medical/environmental anthropology; One/planetary health
  • To be able to work independently – in dialogue with the PI and the team – and demonstrated capacity to produce results (present papers at international conferences, publish articles in high quality journals, and contribute to public communication (website, social media)
  • Ethnographic experience, also in interdisciplinary teams. A collaborative attitude is required because the aim of the project is to produce useful knowledge both for the community under study and for the scholarly community at large
  • Very good command of English, both written and spoken

If you wish to have more information or discuss your ideas on how to contribute to the project, do not hesitate to contact the PI of the project Roberta Raffaetà (roberta.raffaeta@unive.it) prior to submitting the application.