Research Assistant in the Research Project “The Missing Traveller: Present Absence at the Border”

Are you interested in working with questions about borders and refugees (in)visibility, 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, favourable working conditions? We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated research assistant for a research project at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology.

The Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology conducts education and research on many of the complex contexts that characterize today´s globalized world. The department has about 40 employees. We are a strong research-driven environment, having two prominent research environments that include professors, researchers, postdoctoral researchers, and several doctoral students. At the department, undergraduate, postgraduate, and research postgraduate courses in cultural anthropology and ethnology are available in Uppsala. More about the department and the research conducted there can be found at https://www.uu.se/institution/kulturantropologi-och-etnologi/

Duties

The work will be carried out within the project “The Missing Traveller: Absent Presence at the Border.” “The Missing Traveller” is one of six research projects included in the European Research Council (ERC) project “OUTOFSIGHT: Exploring social (im)perceptibility,” which runs from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2029. OUTOFSIGHT documents processes that make people more or less perceptible in society and examines the relationship between visibility and invisibility. For more information about the project, please visit http://www.outofsight.se.

The subproject “The Missing Traveller” examines how refugees who, due to current European border policies, have disappeared on their way to Europe become visible through their absence. When individual migrants go missing, states often show little to no interest in searching for them, and it is usually families, friends, and activists who take on the responsibility of finding any trace of the migrants. Their absence creates unexpected relationships between many individuals and groups across numerous borders and countries. This subproject examines the challenges faced by families, activists, and civil society organizations, as well as their efforts to develop innovative methods for searching and identification. The aim is to understand these technological, material, visual, social, and political practices to examine how new ideas about transnational and translocal kinship, identification, justice, rights, and the struggle against border violence are formed—and how all of this evokes a visibility grounded in the absence of bodies and persons.

The research assistant will primarily collaborate with the researcher within the subproject and participate in discussions with other researchers in OUTOFSIGHT. The research assistant’s ability to conduct ethnographic ieldwork – the primary method for collecting the project’s empirical material – is central to the role. Key tasks include identifying and recruiting research participants, conducting qualitative interviews, performing participant observations, transcribing the data, and identifying themes within the collected data in relation to relevant literature. The research assistant will also be responsible for specific administrative tasks. There will be opportunities for the research assistant to contribute as an author to some publications within the project, depending on the time and competence available.

Requirements

The position requires:

– Completed advanced-level degree in a social science discipline.

– Documented experience in conducting qualitative interviews and ethnographic fieldwork in the form of published reports or academic writings.

– Excellent ability to communicate in English, both orally and in writing.

– Excellent ability to communicate in Farsi/Dari, both orally and in writing.

– Good analytical ability and the ability to work independently.

– Good knowledge of migration policy and border politics in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

– Familiarity with migration studies, social sciences, or related fields is an advantage.

– It is an advantage to have established networks relevant to the tasks to be carried out in the project or previous experience of working with local NGOs in one or some of these countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Greece, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden

– It is considered an advantage if the applicant has previous experience as a fieldworker or research assistant within international organizations working on migration issues.

Application

The application should include the following:

– Personal letter (maximum 1 page): Describe why you are applying, why you are suitable for the position, and your experience relevant to the qualifications and desired requirements for the position.

– Curriculum Vitae (CV).

– Publications that demonstrate your research experience, showing your skills, particularly in conducting interviews, as well as analytical skills, and publications that are relevant to the application. If the publication is multi-authored, specify your roles and responsibilities with a short note.

– Contact details for two referees (will only be used at the final stage of the recruitment process).

About the employment

The employment is a temporary position, 12 months. Scope of employment 30 %. Starting date 26 January or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Mahmoud Keshavarz, (mahmoud.keshavarz@antro.uu.se)

Please submit your application by 23 January 2026, UFV-PA 2026/23.