Three doctoral positions in History (100%), University of Bern
PhD @University of Bern posted 2 days agoJob Description
The University of Bern is seeking to fill three doctoral positions in the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)-funded historical research project ” Contested Prevention: Public Health in Switzerland, 1950-2020 ,” starting January 1, 2026, or by mutual agreement . The positions are intended to provide academic qualifications leading to a doctorate in history and are limited to four years.
The research project “Contested Prevention: Public Health in Switzerland, 1950-2020” expands perspectives on the contemporary history of prevention. It examines the prevention of noncommunicable diseases as a socially contested area, focusing not only on state institutions and health experts, but also on actors that have previously received little research attention: economic interest groups, private health institutions, and civil society organizations. The project combines the latest approaches from the history of political knowledge, ignorance studies, and citizenship studies, and explores the effects of categories of inequality such as gender, citizenship, and class on the governance of health. Subprojects on tobacco, obesity, and air pollution explore three central arenas where the health consequences of mass consumerism were negotiated, but also where diverging interests, competing concepts of statehood, and different notions of civil rights, entitlements, and duties clashed. This allows for the analysis of interactions between politics, business, and medicine that shaped society’s approach to health and illness in Switzerland.
- Master’s degree or equivalent in history
- High motivation for writing a dissertation in history
- Strong teamwork and communication skills as well as self-organization skills
- Strong interest in the research project and willingness to familiarise yourself with international public health history and contemporary Swiss history
- Willingness to network internationally and to participate and collaborate in international conferences and workshops
- Four-year academic qualification position leading to a doctorate
- Salary according to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) rates, average annual salary of approximately CHF 53,000.
- Modern and well-equipped workplace at the University of Bern
- Access to programs and continuing education opportunities for doctoral students as well as a wide range of academic activities
- Productive and supportive atmosphere in an intellectually inspiring research group and support from an international network of renowned experts
- Broad historical expertise through the project’s connection to the Institute for the History of Medicine (Dr. Pascal Germann) and the Historical Institute (Department of Swiss History, Prof. Dr. Silvia Berger Ziauddin)
Please send your application in one PDF to pascal.germann@unibe.ch by August 10, 2025. Your application should include the following documents:
- Letter of motivation (including details of interest in the project)
- CV (including any publications)
- Copies of certificates
- Two contacts to obtain references
- Excerpt from your master’s thesis or another historical text (approx. 15-20 pages)
Dr. Pascal Germann ( pascal.germann@unibe.ch ), Prof. Dr. Silvia Berger Ziauddin ( silvia.berger@unibe.ch )
