Postdoc history of global north-south public health cooperation (UU)
Utrecht University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher in the ERC Consolidator Grant project “Fighting Pandemics from Below: Global North-South Public Health Cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa, 1792-1942 [COOPERATION]”.
As a postdoctoral researcher you will be working on a subproject within the Consolidator Grant project COOPERATION (2024-2029) funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and directed by Dr. Ozan Ozavci (Principal Investigator, PI) at the Department of History and Art History. COOPERATION project recapture the lost archives and historical knowledge of international public health cooperation between the ‘global north’ and the ‘global south’ by analysing its first and longest-lasting instances: the sanitary councils in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Established in Tangier, Alexandria, Tunis, Istanbul and Tehran, these unprecedented institutions strategised against waves of epidemics and pandemics between the 1790s and the 1940s. Their European, American and native co-founders invented new models for fighting pandemics from below and stopping the diseases in their tracks. They continually strove to overcome the familiar barriers to cooperation posed by inter-imperial competition in a multipolar world, economic inequities, protests against quarantine restrictions and racial and Orientalist biases, among others. COOPERATION project will write an entangled history of health cooperation, by shifting the focus from top-down to bottom-up processes. Consulting archival sources in Europe, MENA, and North America, it will determine the historical preconditions for effective international public health cooperation.
This postdoc vacancy is focused on sub-project 1: Morocco, which will look into the dynamics of public health cooperation in the city of Tangier.
You Will
conduct research within the period of appointment in the Netherlands as well as at archives in Europe, North America, the Middle East and North Africa;
publish a peer-reviewed journal article and a book chapter;
help organise a workshop on sanitary internationalism in the Middle East and North Africa;
participate in project meetings and closely collaborate with the other members of the research team;
help set up project data;
help with knowledge dissemination activities of the project;
present research findings at national and international workshops and conferences.
Your qualities
You hold a doctoral degree in a relevant field (e.g. nineteenth- and early twentieth-century international history, imperial history, history of medicine, Middle Eastern/North African history, etc.) at the time of appointment.
You have a proven track record of academic publications and public outreach.
You have excellent command of spoken and written English.
You have very good reading ability of one or more European languages.
You have very good reading ability of MENA languages or willingness to improve your linguistic skills.
You have archival research experience.
You are flexible to travel.
You are collegial and have a responsible relationship with co-workers.
You are a team player and an independent thinker.
A position for 12 months, with the possibility of an extension of 12 months (24 months in total);
a working week of 30.4 – 32 hours and a gross monthly salary of €4,728 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale 11 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus; a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.
More information
For more information about this position, please contact Dr. Ozan Ozavci (https://www.uu.nl/staff/HOOzavci) at h.o.ozavci@uu.nl (mailto:h.o.ozavci@uu.nl).
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 2 November 2025
The preferred starting date of the position is 1 March 2026. It is possible to start earlier upon agreement with the PI.
For more information on how to apply, please visit this website.
