Postdoctoral positions in digital philology

The Faculty of Languages at Uppsala University conducts teaching and research in several classical and contemporary languages and cultures, as well as linguistics and language technology. This diversity of linguistic, literary, and cultural orientations forms the core of humanities research and lays a solid foundation for fruitful collaboration within the faculty, as well as with other research domains and society at large.

The faculty is looking for two postdocs in digital philology who will be employed at any of the faculty’s four departments, but will be part of a faculty-wide and dynamic research environment linked to DigPhil – the national research school for early languages and digital philology. The research school is funded by the Swedish Research Council (2023–2027) and coordinated by Uppsala University in collaboration with Lund University and Stockholm University. DigPhil educates a new generation of philologists with knowledge and skills in the rich traditions of language disciplines, while also mastering modern language technology methods.

Learn more about DigPhil: https://www.uu.se/en/department/linguistics-and-philology/study/early-languages-digital-philology

We offer a creative research environment at the intersection of humanities and technology, access to national and international networks of researchers in digital philology through DigPhil, and the opportunity to develop your research profile and apply for external research grants.

Duties

The primary duties involve conducting independent research and preparing applications for external research funding in the field of digital philology, i.e. research that develops or uses computer-assisted methods to answer questions about older languages and texts. Projects in all areas of philological research may be relevant, for example:

• Hermeneutics – such as conceptual history, sentiment analysis, topic modeling, or other forms of information extraction from older texts
• Language technology – development of models and/or tools for the analysis of historical texts
• Linguistics – such as morphosyntactic annotation of historical corpora or comparative historical linguistics
• Text analysis – such as stylometric, rhetorical, or narratological analysis
• Paleography and textual criticism – such as automatic manuscript reading, stemmatological analysis, or digital conjectural criticism

The research must have a clear connection to one of the faculty’s subject areas and focus on the premodern or early modern form of the relevant language(s): English, Finno-Ugric languages, Greek, Indology, Iranian languages, Chinese, Latin, Linguistics, Romance languages, Semitic languages, Slavic languages, Language technology, Swedish, Swedish as a second language and Scandinavian studies, Turkic languages, or German.

The positions also includes contributing to the development of a faculty-wide research environment in collaboration with the national research school in digital philology (DigPhil), with up to 20% of the full-time position. The holders is expected to spend most of their working hours at the workplace in Uppsala.

Requirements

To be eligible for appointment as a postdoctoral researcher, applicants must hold a doctoral degree, or a foreign qualification deemed equivalent, in a subject relevant to the duties of the position. The degree must have been awarded no more than three years prior to the application deadline, unless special circumstances apply. Such circumstances may include leave due to illness, parental leave, positions of trust within trade unions, or other similar roles.

Documented expertise as a researcher in digital philology is required, which means:

• research competence equivalent to a doctoral degree in computational linguistics/language technology and experience of working with historical texts, or
• research competence equivalent to a doctoral degree in a language subject or linguistics, and demonstrated competence in programming and qualified use of language technology tools.

Excellent command of English, both spoken and written, is required. Furthermore, the applicant must possess the personal qualities necessary to carry out the duties of the position effectively.

Selection

We welcome applicants focusing either on language technology method development related to philological research questions, or qualified and original application of digital tools to address philological research questions.

In the selection process, particular emphasis will be placed on the scholarly excellence and originality of each applicant. The quantity, depth, and scope of their previous work will be important. Significant consideration will be given to how clearly the research plan demonstrates the connection between the proposed project and the applicant’s prior research, as well as how it may complement and strengthen the research environment in digital philology at the faculty. As teaching may be included in the role, documented teaching qualifications will also be taken into consideration.

The university will primarily consider applicants who, based on an overall assessment of documented qualifications, expertise, and skills, are deemed to have the best potential to carry out the duties of the position and contribute to the positive development of the faculty.

The application should include:

• Cover letter motivating the choice of department
• Project plan of no more than three pages (excl. references)
• CV
• Copy of the applicant's doctoral thesis
• Copies of relevant degrees
• Other relevant publications
• Other supporting documents

About the employment

The position is a temporary two-year appointment according to the central collective agreement. Scope of employment: 100%. Starting date: 1 May 2026 or as agreed. Location: Uppsala.

For further information about the position please contact: DigPhil PI Eric Cullhed, eric.cullhed@lingfil.uu.se, or Deputy Dean Prof. Ingela Nilsson, ingela.nilsson@lingfil.uu.se.

Please submit your application by 18 February 2026, UFV-PA 2025/4049.