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Job position

The Department of Anthropology at the Institute of Anthropological and Spatial Studies (IAPS), Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), Ljubljana, Slovenia, invites applications for a fully funded research assistant positi
Published on: September 2, 2026

If you are interested in, or wish to continue, research in environmental anthropology, anthropology of water, multispecies anthropology, fishing communities and related heritage practices, anthropology of infrastructure, anthropology of future, or related fields, you are invited to join us at the Department of Anthropology at the Institute of Anthropological and Spatial Studies (IAPS), Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU). The Institute is inviting applications for a fully funded research assistant post. Candidates should hold an MA degree in anthropology or a related discipline.

The research assistant will be employed at IAPS, ZRC SAZU and simultaneously enrolled at the Postgraduate School ZRC SAZU (PŠ ZRC SAZU), in the module Anthropology: Understanding Worldmaking Practices. The post is linked to research within the ERC Synergy Grant project PLANETARY EEL, Planetary Anthropology and Interspecies Nurture: A Political Ontology of Human–Eel Relations, led by Asst. Prof. Nataša Gregorič Bon, ZRC SAZU. The Synergy project is carried out in partnership with the University of Bologna (PI), CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) (PI), and the University of Melbourne (PI).

The PLANETARY EEL project examines human-eel interrelations to address the complex challenges of reproduction and life on an increasingly damaged and unequal planet. For many millennia, anguillid eels have played a crucial role in food systems, economies, cultures, and traditions. However, due to overfishing, the informal economy, Anthropocene infrastructural legacies, and ecosystem fragmentation, their numbers are rapidly declining. Through unconventional, synergistic collaboration between anthropologists, multispecies designers, life scientists, and communities, PLANETARY EEL explores human interrelations with the environment through the lens of eels and seeks to imagine environments in which humans, animals, and other beings can cohabit. It aims to design spaces of interspecies relatedness that enable sustainable coexistence and multispecies justice.

The PhD project will explore human-eel relations in the Yarra delta (Australia).

Duties and responsibilities

The selected research assistant will be based at IASS ZRC SAZU and enrolled in the PhD programme at PS ZRC SAZU, Anthropology module. The research assistant will also be part of an international, synergistic research team bringing together anthropology, multispecies studies, design, and legal perspectives.

Main responsibilities include:

  • Writing and conducting an original doctoral research project.
  • Completing coursework and other requirements of the Postgraduate School ZRC SAZU.
  • Conducting 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork in the Yarra delta, Melbourne.
  • Analysing collected ethnographic materials.
  • Writing and defending a PhD dissertation related to the project.
  • Actively participating in project meetings, workshops, and international collaborations.

Required and preferred qualifications:

  • Completed or nearly completed Master’s degree (before September 2026) in anthropology, ethnology, cultural studies, or a related discipline.
  • Demonstrated interest in aquatic environments, wetlands, rivers, urban ecology, infrastructure, habitat restoration, environmental processes, multispecies relations, social and cultural processes and other related themes.
  • Ability to conduct independent research and write academic texts in English.
  • Willingness to conduct fieldwork.
  • Ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary and international research team.
  • Desirable, but not mandatory, familiarity with spatial, visual, or participatory methods and other multimodal approaches.
  • Desirable but not mandatory familiarity with urban waterscapes, multispecies ecologies, and related processes in Australia.

Terms of employment:

  • Four-year full-time employment at IASS ZRC SAZU combined with enrolment in the PhD programme at PS ZRC SAZU.
  • Integration into the ERC Synergy project team PLANETARY EEL.
  • Close mentoring and supervision in designing and writing the PhD dissertation.
  • Opportunity for extended field research in the Yarra delta, Melbourne.
  • Participation in international research networks, workshops, and co-authored publications.

Type of employment

Regular, full-time employment for the period from 1 November 2026 to 30 October 2030.

The application deadline is 14 September 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CET.

Please send your applications to kadrovska@zrc-sazu.si. All applications will be treated as confidential.

Application procedure

Applications should be submitted in English and must include:

  • Curriculum vitae.
  • Motivation letter.
  • Statement of research interests and previous experience directly or indirectly related to the advertised research topics
  • Degree certificates.
  • If available, a sample of research or professional writing (e.g. MA thesis chapter, article, report).
  • A letter of recommendation and contact details of the referee.

For more information, please contact: Nataša Gregorič Bon, ngregoric@zrc-sazu.si