Application Process

The Structured Doctoral Program „Performing Matters. Manifold Temporalities“ will start on 1 October 2025. It will appeal to current discourses in which time and temporality are seen as key to analyse and comment on the present and as tools to reconceptualize the humanities. The research program ties in with these interdisciplinary discourses and renders them productive the performative arts. (Further information on the research program can be found on the homepage www.mdw.ac.at/sdp).

We invite highly qualified candidates who are eligible for enrollment in the PhD program at mdw to submit a proposal. The Structured Doctoral Program welcomes interdisciplinary dissertation projects which offer a critical investigation of aspects of temporality in performing arts represented at mdw, i.e. music, theatre/performance art and film. The dissertation projects have to be closely related to these performing arts and anchored in at least two academic disciplines represented in the program.

 

Extent of employment: 75 % (30h per week)

Contract: Employment is offered for a period of 4 years, starting on 1 October 2025

Salary: According to the Austrian collective labour agreement, the monthly gross pay is at a minimum of € 2.684,10 (14 times).

 

Employment requirements:

•  Master’s or diploma degree in one of the following or closely related disciplines: musicology, performance studies, popular music studies, theatre studies, gender studies, philosophy and film/media studies

•  Excellent spoken and written communication skills in English (C1); good German language skills (at B2 level) are required from the 3rd semester onwards. If the dissertation will be 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:

The appointees must enroll at the mdw by 1 October 2025 and are expected to participate in all activities of the Structured Doctoral Program, actively attend the compulsory courses, complete their dissertation, regularly present their work within the program and at conferences, and take on further administrative and organizational tasks.

How to apply

To apply for the program, please submit the following documents:

  • Dissertation proposal relating to Performing Matters: Manifold Temporalities in English or German (max. 10 pages / 5,000 words). If you are uncertain what is meant by 'proposal', you can use this guideline.

  • Motivational letter (1 page)

  • CV

  • Contact form 

  • Scan of diploma or master’s degree (English or German translation, when diploma is in another language)

  • Optional: publication or text sample (e.g. representative chapter of the master’s thesis, max. 20 pages/10,000 words) in English or German

Applications are to be submitted exclusively via the mdw application portal www.mdw.ac.at/bewerbungsportal. All documents mentioned above must be uploaded directly to the portal in PDF format.

Application deadline: 28. February, 2025