PhD positions in Sinology

Do you want to attend graduate education with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favorable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a PhD student position at Uppsala University.

The Faculty of Languages at Uppsala University engages in teaching and research across a wide range of classical and contemporary languages and cultures, as well as linguistics and computational linguistics. This diversity of linguistic, literary and cultural orientations constitutes a core of humanities research and lays a solid foundation for fruitful collaborations within the faculty, but also with other disciplines and society at large.

The doctoral studies correspond to 4 years of full-time work, for which the PhD student receives a salary as an employee at the department. The PhD student is expected to conduct studies and research full-time as well as participate in and contribute to the department's activities. Teaching and/or administrative duties may add up to 20%, whereby the employment is extended by the corresponding time.

The Department of Linguistics and Philology carries out research and offers education in language studies and philology with a focus on the languages and cultures of Asia, the classical languages of Europe, general linguistics, and computational linguistics. Education is offered at the basic, advanced, and doctoral level. Some seventy persons work at the department. Together with students and partners, they create a multicultural and intellectually vibrant environment.

Duties

The dissertation project must fall within the scope of the supervisory capacity available at the department. Great emphasis will be placed on the proposed project's quality and feasibility within the stipulated time frame, access to relevant research material and research ethics, as well as the candidate's suitability and qualifications for the task. For this call, we are seeking two candidates with a broad background in Sinological studies who are highly motivated and interested in one of the following research areas:

• Chinese linguistics (e.g., grammar, phonetics, graphemics, sociolinguistics).
• China's ethnic minorities (e.g., language, culture, minority politics).
• Second language acquisition of Chinese.
• Chinese literature in ancient or modern times (including, for example, comparative literary and adaptation studies).

Applications may have an interdisciplinary orientation based on language or literary research, for example with a historical perspective, a social science approach, a gender perspective, or an intellectual and cultural historical angle.

The final form of the dissertation project will be determined in collaboration with the supervisor. The applicant must attach a brief research plan to their application. An interview with the applicant may also be considered. Teaching in courses within the program and supervision will be conducted in Swedish or English.

Requirements

• To be eligible for doctoral education,, you must hold a Master’s (second-cycle) degree, or have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, which include at least 60 credits at Master’s level in Chinese and an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or have acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.
• Very good knowledge of written and spoken English.

Particular emphasis will be placed on the quality of the independent project and its relevance to the proposed dissertation topic.

Additional Qualifications

Knowledge of German and French is considered an advantage, but depending on the dissertation topic, other language skills may also be meritorious.

The application should include:

• A preliminary research proposal of no more than three pages (excluding references).
• A CV of no more than three pages.
• The degree certificate for a Master’s degree (or equivalent) and course transcripts.
• The thesis (and a summary in English of no more than three pages excluding references if the thesis itself is not in English or Swedish).
• Other documents you wish to cite.
• The application must be written in Swedish or English.

About the Position

The position is temporary, in accordance with HF Chapter 5, Section 7. Full-time employment. Start date: September 1, 2026, or as agreed. Location: Uppsala.

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance, (Chapter 5, §§ 1–7) , and in Uppsala University’s rules and guidelines.

For further information about the position, please contact: Head of Department Dimitrios Iordanoglou, dimitrios.iordanoglou@lingfil.uu.se or Director of PhD studies Meriem Beloucif, meriem.beloucif@lingfil.uu.se

Please submit your application no later than March 2, 2026, UFV-PA 2025/3968.

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