THE PATIENT AS AN AGENT OF CHANGE
THE PATIENT AS AN AGENt OF CHANGE
THE PATIENT AS AN AGENT OF CHANGE
THE PATIENT AS AN AGENT OF CHANGE

We are looking to hire two postdoctoral and one predoctoral research fellow for two and three years to join the ERC-funded research project Beyond Thalidomide: The Patient as an Agent of Change, based at the University of Vienna. You can find details below, along with the link to the ad. 

The deadline for applications is February 9th.

 

Link to Postdoc Positions:
https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job-invite/5089/ & https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job-invite/5091/

 

Link to PhD (predoctoral) Position:
https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job-invite/5090/

Beyond Thalidomide (2024-2029), funded by an ERC Starting Grant pioneers a history of the global rise of patient engagement with drug-related disability in the second half of the twentieth century to understand how newly empowered agents transformed conceptions of (reproductive) health and disease in science and society. It develops a framework to examine the origins, development, and consequences of patient engagement with antenatal drug use, iatrogenic disability, and reproductive health from the 1960s until today. 

The project maps the conditions of patient engagement with antenatal drug use and reconstructs how patient action created political and scientific urgency starting in 1960. Their multifaceted activities resulted in clashes between different forms of knowledge and expertise that connected actors in the “global South” and “North”—from Latin America through Central Africa, India, and Europe—in the enforcement, implementation, and stabilization of reproductive health approaches that addressed the emerging challenges to democracy and civil society, beyond traditional accounts of expert-led iatrogenic risk management.

 

Job description

Postdoctoral and Predoctoral research within the ERC Starting Grant "Beyond Thalidomide: The Patient as an Agent of Change"

 

  • Original archival research with a thematic focus on either:
    • patient engagement with programs to prevent drug-related disability in health care systems in Western welfare states, in state socialist countries, or in postcolonial, newly independent countries to reconstruct patient impacts on the flow and negotiation of medical and public health models 
    • patients’ roles in the “entanglement” of Western drug development and postcolonial global pharmaceutical markets, including the histories patient campaigns contesting both pharmaceutical companies’ strategies for developing, testing, and marketing their drugs as well as uses of the respective products in postcolonial countries and beyond; with the aim to integrate industrial production into our understanding of patient impact on contestations on global markets
    • legal action led by patients or patient campaigns as a practice and pivotal intervention into scientific and political debates to understand how the courts acted as sites of knowledge-making 

 

  • Case studies can include but are not limited to: synthetic hormone products, i.e. Primodos, Duogynon, Cumorit, DES, Disthilbène; Sodium Valproate, i.e. Depakine; Acne Medication; Thalidomide

 

  • To examine transformations in (reproductive) health by interrogating how patients act, organize, activate, and appropriate resources on “markets”, produce knowledge and expertise, and engage and communicate—distinct from authoritative scientific and political-regulatory counterparts.

 

  • To contribute to a more active and inclusive as opposed to proactive and paternalistic approach to global health policy making as well as in historical research ethics, recognizing the challenges of iatrogenic risks and disability and the potential of participatory approaches and ethics in research collaboration for democratic governance and civil society.

 

  • To contribute to project aims such as academic event organization, public dissemination of research results, publications.

 

Requirements:

  • Doctoral degree (PhD) in History or related fields (for Postdocs); Masters degree (MA) in History or related fields (for Predoc)
  • experience in archival research 
  • working language skills in two or more languages
  • For Postdoctoral Researchers: 
    • experience in archival research in various geographic locations
    • peer-reviewed publications (or submitted/accepted manuscripts), ideally in the history of medicine
  • interest in interdisciplinary research with public health, medical anthropology and sociology
  • ability to work independently and collaboratively in research teams
  • excellent English communication skills

 

Application 

Please apply through the online portal (including covering letter, research proposal, full CV, relevant certificates, writing sample):

 

For the Postdoc positions:

https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job-invite/5089/

https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job-invite/5091

 

For the PhD (predoctoral) position

https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job-invite/5090/

 

You can find more information about the ERC project here:

https://fakzen-thks.univie.ac.at/en/about-us/staff/nemec-birgit/

 

For further information or questions, please contact Prof. Birgit Nemec, birgit.nemec@univie.ac.at.

 

The University of Vienna is seeking to increase diversity and invites diverse personalities. Please do let us know if you believe your profile will increase diversity or if you consider yourself part of a marginalised group.  It is seeking to increase the proportion of women in research and teaching, and specifically encourages qualified female scholars to apply. Severely disabled applicants with equivalent qualifications will be given preferential consideration. People with an immigration background are specifically encouraged to apply. Please visit the application portal, which gives you access to the legally binding German version.