PhD Position: Ethics and Social Philosophy (specialisation: Health)

1. Introduction

Are you a passionate PhD candidate in practical philosophy, eager to explore health, illness, death, and the existential impact of Long Covid? Apply now for this unique PhD position!

2. Job description

Are you a highly motivated and passionate PhD candidate in practical philosophy, interested in the phenomenology of health and illness, the philosophy of death and/or patient participation and social justice? Are you interested in examining the deep existential impacts of Long Covid on patients? Then we would encourage you to apply for this PhD position, wherein you will have the opportunity to explore the existential effects of Long Covid through the prism of multi-levelled ‘deadliness’, particularly ‘living death’, social death and suicide ideation. This will be a comparative empirical/practical philosophical project of 4 years’ duration focusing on Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia) and the Netherlands.

As a PhD candidate, your main responsibility will be to produce a PhD monograph about Long Covid patients’ experiences of ‘death’ and ‘deadliness’ This monograph should consist of a critical phenomenological analysis based on a literature review and data collection. This data collection will mainly consist of qualitative interviews and diary exercises with Long Covid patients in the Netherlands and Germany (NRW), which will be coded and analysed. Furthermore, together with your supervisor, you will co-author 2 public opinion pieces and 2 academic articles. And, towards the end of the project, you and your supervisor will also summarise the findings of your monograph in a high-quality policy brief (in German, English and Dutch) and the supervisor will take the lead in writing a non-academic book on this topic for a broader audience.

Would you like to learn more about what it’s like to pursue a PhD at Radboud University? Visit the page about working as a PhD candidate. 

3. Profile

• You have completed a BA/MA degree in Philosophy (or in a closely related area such as Sociology or Anthropology).
• You are fluent in German and English. Knowledge of the Dutch language would be an advantage.
• You have a demonstrable affinity with the medical humanities and/or the philosophy of death. Affinity with empirical/applied philosophy or social sciences would be an advantage.
• You preferably have experience in qualitative empirical research. This would be an advantage but is not a requirement.
• You are highly motivated, and able to work independently as well as in a team.

4. We are

You will be based at the Department of Ethics and Political Philosophy at Radboud University in Nijmegen. This is a vibrant and collegial department, whose members particularly focus on the relation between practical (continental) philosophy and contemporary societal developments. You will be supervised by Prof. Vivienne Matthies-Boon.

You will also be part of the Research Centre for Philosophy and Society, where you will not only be encouraged to present your work and discuss that of colleagues but also to engage in critical reflective discussions on our discipline and professional practice as such.

You will receive regular supervision and work in close cooperation with the main supervisor. The advisory team for this project further consists of Prof. Georg Schomerus (Leipzig Universität, Germany) and Prof. Eric Venbrux (Radboud University, the Netherlands).

5. We offer

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (1.0 FTE) of 1.5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract).     
• You will receive a starting salary of €3,059 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,881 in the fourth year (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus. 
• We offer Dual Career Coaching. The Dual Career Coaching assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. 
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20. 

6. Practical information and applying

You can apply only via the button below. Address your letter of application to Vivienne Matthies-Boon. In the application form, you will find which documents you need to include with your application. Please ad your CV in either English, German of Dutch. We look forward to receiving your application.

The first interviews will take place on Monday 27 October. Any second interview will take place on Monday 3 November. You will preferably start your employment on 1 January 2026.

We can imagine you're curious about our application procedure. It describes what you can expect during the application procedure and how we handle your personal data and internal and external candidates.