Postdoctoral Researcher In Digital History

The University of Luxembourg is an international research university with a distinctly multilingual and interdisciplinary character.

The Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH) at the University of Luxembourg is an interdisciplinary research centre committed to high-quality research and public dissemination in the field of contemporary history with a particular focus on digital methods and tools. The C²DH's ambition is to venture off the beaten track and find new ways of doing, teaching and presenting contemporary history of Luxembourg and the history of Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries. It serves as a catalyst for innovative and creative scholarship and new forms of public dissemination.

Your role

The Impresso project at the University of Luxembourg is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to help pioneer new approaches to data-driven media history across languages and modalities.

Leveraging an unprecedented corpus of newspaper and radio archives, Impresso - Media Monitoring of the Past (https://impresso-project.ch/) is an interdisciplinary research project that uses machine learning to pursue a paradigm shift in the processing, semantic enrichment, representation, exploration, and study of historical media across modalities, time, languages, and national borders.

To complete our team in Luxembourg, we are recruiting a Postdoctoral researcher in digital history. In this role, you will help us achieve Impresso’s goal to link historical newspaper and radio collections and to develop novel interfaces to enable their exploratory and computational analysis.

• Conduct original data-driven historical research on newspaper and radio sources
• Contribute to the development of innovative computational research methods building on Impresso’s corpus of multilingual newspaper and radio sources provided by a network of Western European partners
• Contribute to the design of the Impresso Web App and the Impresso Datalab together with a team of designers and experts in natural language processing and history
• Engage in outreach activities such as workshops, conferences, trainings and teaching and user evaluations
• Contribute to other Impresso work packages as needed and participate in on-site meetings with partners in Switzerland

For any questions, please contact Marten Düring (marten.during@uni.lu).

Your profile

• Proven research experience in contemporary (media) history using digital methods
• PhD in history or a related field or, alternatively a PhD in computer science with experience in conducting historical research
• Motivation to work in an interdisciplinary environment with digital humanists, designers, developers and computational linguists
• Ability to meet deadlines and demonstrate methodological, organised, pragmatic and effective approaches to your work
• Fluency in English is required; knowledge of French, German and/or Dutch are considered an asset

An advantage would be:

• Knowledge of at least one programming language, preferably Python
• Knowledge of machine learning
• Knowledge of current debates in media history
• Experience in working with data derived from historical newspaper and radio collections

We offer

• Multilingual and international character. Modern institution with a personal atmosphere. Staff coming from 90 countries. Member of the “University of the Greater Region” (UniGR)
• A modern and dynamic university. High-quality equipment. Close ties to the business world and to the Luxembourg labour market. A unique urban site with excellent infrastructure
• A partner for society and industry. Cooperation with European institutions, innovative companies, the Financial Centre and with numerous non-academic partners such as ministries, local governments, associations, NGOs …

How to apply

Applications should include:

• Curriculum Vitae
• Cover letter

Early application is highly encouraged, as the applications will be processed upon reception. To ensure full consideration, please apply by 30th April 2025 ONLINE formally through the HR system. Applications by Email will not be considered.

All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply. In line with our values, the University of Luxembourg promotes an inclusive culture. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and are dedicated to upholding equality and respect for our employees and students.

General information:

• Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract 21 Month
• Work Hours: Part Time 40.0 Hours per Week
• Location: Campus Belval
• Internal Title: Postdoctoral researcher
• Job Reference: UOL07250

The yearly gross salary for every Postdoctoral Researcher at the UL is EUR 83099 (full time).