ERC Consolidator Grant

Fully funded PhD opportunity in images, visual literacy, and justice at the University of Copenhagen.

The Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, is inviting applications for one three-year PhD scholarship in the ERC Consolidator Grant project Before the Image – The Political Ontology of Images for Legal and Social Justice.

The project examines how images used to document violence, war crimes, and human rights violations are created, interpreted, and taught to be seen. The PhD will focus on visual literacy, memory, perceptions of truth, and training, with particular attention to how experts and non-experts view images that document violence.

The successful candidate will conduct ethnographic fieldwork at open source investigation trainings and interview trainers and participants to study how investigators learn to verify images and perform geo- and chronolocation. The PhD will also play a leading role in developing an interactive exhibition that gathers data on how non-experts see images, potentially using digital responses, eye-tracking, interviews, or similar methods.

The position is based at ToRS / Institut for Tværkulturelle og Regionale Studier, University of Copenhagen, and the PhD candidate will work closely with project leader Nina Grønlykke Mollerup and the wider project team, including collaborators at Pax Memoria.

Funding: fully funded PhD scholarship with ERC support; fieldwork and a stay abroad budget are available.

Eligibility: applicants should have master’s-level qualifications related to anthropology, psychology, sociology, and/or human rights; strong academic English is required; additional language skills and regional knowledge are an advantage. Experience in ethnography, interviewing, and research with ethical complexity is desirable.

Application deadline: 27 May 2026.

How to apply: submit the application online with a personal statement, CV, diplomas/transcripts, and a preliminary 3–5 page project description aligned with WP4 of the project. The application must be tailored to the existing project framework and include a brief note on any extraordinary expenses.