JOB OPENING:

The Institute of Sociology at Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, seeks

three post-doctoral researcher
(German pay scale E 13TV-G-U, fulltime)

in science and technology studies by 1st April 2019 or as soon as possible thereafter (the starting date is negotiable).

The project
The project ‘CRYOSOCIETIES’ (“Suspended Life: Exploring Cryopreservation Practices in Contemporary Societies”), led by Thomas Lemke, has received funding in the shape of a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 788196). The project explores the crucial role of cryopreservation in affecting temporalities and the concept of life. It is based on the hypothesis that in contemporary societies cryopreservation practices bring into existence a new form of life: “suspended life”. “Suspended life” enables vital processes to be kept in a liminal state in which biological substances are neither fully alive nor dead. CRYOSOCIETIES aims to empirically enrich and theoretically advance our understanding of vitality and the politics of life in the 21st century. It will conduct an ethnographic exploration of how the collection, storing and usage of human and non-human organic material by technologies of freezing and thawing is entangled with social, cultural and moral issues. The project consists of three case studies: investigation of cord blood storage in the Czech Republic, oocyte freezing in Spain and an initiative to cryopreserve endangered or extinct species in Great Britain.

Qualifications and requirements
In order to be considered for the position, applicants must hold a successfully completed PhD in science and technology studies or in a social science with a focus on a topic closely related to those of the research project. Depending on the position for which they apply, candidates should demonstrate experience in one of the following fields: science and technology studies, anthropology, sociology or environmental humanities. Experience in the use of qualitative research methods, especially ethnographic work and interviewing, is essential. Applicants should also demonstrate the ability to work both in a team and independently.
The successful candidates will carry out postdoctoral research in one of the following subprojects:

• cord blood storage to prepare for possible regenerative therapies in the future (fieldwork site: Czech Republic)
• oocyte freezing to extend fertility and rearrange reproductive futures (fieldwork site: Spain)
• cryopreservation of endangered or extinct species with the prospect of “bringing them back to life” by employing reproductive and genetic technologies (fieldwork site: Great Britain)

The subprojects are designed to capture the complexities of different cryo projects, providing complementary as well as contrasting data. They examine central domains and materials in cryopreservation, including human and non-human contexts and ranging from the beginning to the end of life. Rather than simply demonstrating diversity, together the three subprojects will trace emerging features and forms of sameness and difference, mapping continuities as well as conflicts between sites and settings of cryopreservation. Finally, the subprojects will also examine processes of translation and analyse how different versions of “suspended life” are configured in popular texts and in the media.
The appointees will be part of a cross-disciplinary team of dedicated and highly qualified researchers who are eager to work in a truly collaborative way. The team will investigate the social, cultural and moral dimensions of cryopreservation in contemporary societies. While each of the postdoctoral researchers will be responsible for one of the three subprojects, they will also draw on and benefit from each other’s expertise.
Furthermore, emphasis will be placed on the following:

• research qualifications, which will be assessed in relation to the period of active research, the degree of originality and academic output
• the applicant’s scientific record, academic breadth and depth, thoroughness and accuracy, as well as academic relevance in relation to the job description
• documented teaching qualifications, if any
• documented administrative qualifications, if any
• Participation in networks – national and international
• good interpersonal and communication skills
• management and organizational skills
• excellent skills in English, both written and spoken (and in the case of subprojects 1 and 2: very good language skills in Czech or Spanish respectively). Knowledge of German is not a requirement, but the successful candidates will be encouraged to acquire at least minimum proficiency in order to be able to participate in some locally organized events

The successful candidates will be based at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Goethe University, which is hosting the ERC-funded project. They will be employed full-time for four years (with the option to extend the contract until the end of the project in January 2024). Terms of appointment and salary will be in accordance with Goethe University’s employment contracts and salary scales.

Applications
The application must be written in English and include the following:

• application letter/cover letter, also specifying the position(s) for which you are applying (e.g. subproject 1, 2 or 3)
• curriculum vitae (with your email address and telephone number)
• evidence of your qualifications (examination certificates/PhD diploma, etc.)
• complete and numbered list of publications (please do not attach any publications)
• short description of previous research and a plan for the coming years that includes an outline of how you aim to contribute to the deliverables in the project description
• documentation of teaching qualifications and research dissemination, if any

For further information about the positions, the overall objectives of the CRYOSOCIETIES project and its methodology, please contact Thomas Lemke, the Principle Investigator: (lemke@em.uni-frankfurt.de)
If you are interested in applying for one of the three positions, please submit your application online in Adobe PDF or Word format as a single document to the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, email address: dekanat.fb03-bewerbungen@soz.uni-frankfurt.de. using the subject line 35/2018. The closing date for applications is 20.11.2018.

Job opening as a .pdf file for printing

Lemke, Thomas & Rüppel, Jonas (2018): Social dimensions of preimplantation genetic diagnosis: a literature review. New Genetics and Society,  https://doi.org/10.1080/14636778.2018.1549983

Guest lecture Charlotte Kroløkke (Syddansk Universitet, Odense) Thursday,2018.11.08, 16 Uhr c.t., PEG Room 1G107, Campus Westend: „Fit, Fresh, and Frozen: The Cryotropes of Artificial Cold“, Kolloq. Biotechnologies, Nature and Society Research Group.

Freeze yourself to lose weight, to avoid cellulites, even death. This presentation employs a feminist rhetoric of science perspective to investigate how artificial cold, in the case of cryotherapy and cryonics, becomes persuasive. This is accomplished by empirically foregrounding the marketing material and online presence of four cryopreservation companies: Quick Cryo and KryoX (cryotherapy businesses) as well as the Cryonics Institute—Technology for Life and Alcor Life Extension (cryonics). While the allure of cryopreservation is situated in light of the ability to re-animate bits as well as whole bodies, artificial cold is made to appear persuasive through the development of four different cryotropes related to optimization, rejuvenation, optimism, and empowerment. The presentation will discuss how artificial cold becomes animated as a rescue and a hope technology while additionally becoming persuasive when rhetorically positioned akin to everyday communication and information technologies such as phones and the Internet. Exploring the ways that artificial cold is articulated as a technology of ‘life’, ‘youthfulness’, and ‘freshness’, the presentation will speak to the ways that cryo achieves vitality in emergent cryo-lifestyle-businesses calling for scholarly attention to the ways that artificial cold is becoming part of the everyday.

Folkers, Andreas (2018) Resilienz als Nomos der Erde. Earth System Governance und die Politik des Anthropozäns. In: Laux, Henning; Henkel, Anna (Eds.) Die Erde, der Mensch und das Soziale. Zur Transformation gesellschaftlicher Naturverhältnisse im Anthropozän. Bielefeld: transcript. 137-160.

Folkers, Andreas (2018): Machttechnologie oder Kritik? Zur Genealogie und Gegenwart der Resilienz. WestEnd. Neue Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung. 15 (2). 45-67.

Folkers, Andreas und Hoppe, Katharina (2018): Von der Modernisierung zur Ökologisierung. Konzepte des Werdens bei Deleuze/Guattari und Haraway. In: Delitz, Heike; Nungesser, Frithjof; Seyfert, Robert (Eds.) Soziologien des Lebens. Überschreitung, Differenzierung, Kritik. Bielefeld: transcript. 137-164. (link)

Folkers, Andreas (2018): Was ist kritisch an Kritischer Infrastruktur? Kriegswichtigkeit, Lebenswichtigkeit, Systemwichtigkeit und die Infrastrukturen der Kritik. In: Engels, Jens-Ivo & Nordmann, Alfred (Eds.) Was heißt Kritikalität? Zu einem Schlüsselbegriff der Debatte um Kritische Infrastrukturen Bielefeld: transcript. 123-154. (link)

Schultz, Susanne (2018): Demographic Futurity: How Statistical Assumption Politics Shape Immigration Policy Rationales in Germany, in:
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 26.04.2018, online:
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0263775818772580

Lemke, Thomas (2018). An Alternative Model of Politics? Prospects and Problems of Jane Bennett’s Vital Materialism.  Theory, Culture & Society (online first).

Workshop "Philosophical Anthropology and Biopolitics" July 10, 2018, 2 pm to 5 pm, Goethe-University, room SH 3.101. Organized by: Professur "Biotechnologies, Natur and Society" (Thomas Lemke) und Professur "Sozialphilosophie" (Martin Saar).

Eva Sänger ist im SoSe 2018 als Vertretungsprofessorin für Allgemeine Soziologie bei der TU Darmstadt tätig.

Die VW-Stiftung gewährt Andreas Folkers Förderung für ein Projekt zu „Symbiotischen Kollektiven“ in der Förderlinie Originalitätsverdacht, Konstellationen (gemeinsam mit Prof. Sven Opitz).

Barla, Josef und Christoph Hubatschke (2018): Technoecologies of Borders: Thinking With Borders as Multispecies Matters of Care. Australian Feminist Studies. 32 (94): 395-410.

Text frei zugänglich unter:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08164649.2017.1466648

Folkers, Andreas (2018) Stoffwechselstörung. Materialismus, Metabolismus, Müll. In: Hansen, Lis; Roose, Kerstin; Sezel, Dennis (Ed.) Die Grenzen der Dinge. Ästhetische Entwürfe und theoretische Reflexionen materieller Randständigkeit. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag. 239-264. https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783658203146

Katharina Hoppe has been nominated by the students of FB03 for the University Award for Excellent Teaching (1822-Universitätspreis für exzellente Lehre). The awards commission meets in mid-June to designate the winners out of all departments, the awards ceremony takes place on 9^th July 2018.

Lemke, Thomas und Rüppel, Jonas (2018). Reproduktion und Selektion, Gen-ethischer Informationsdienst 244, 39-41.

Folkers, Andreas; Marquardt, Nadine (2018): Die Verschränkung von Umwelt und Wohnwelt. Grüne Smart Homes aus der Perspektive der pluralen Sphärologie. Geographica Helvetica. 73 (1). 79-93.
https://www.geogr-helv.net/73/79/2018/gh-73-79-2018.pdf

Folkers, Andreas (2018): Das Sicherheitsdispositiv der Resilienz. Katastrophische Risiken und die Biopolitik vitaler Systeme. Frankfurt a.M.: Campus.
http://www.campus.de/buecher-campus-verlag/wissenschaft/soziologie/das_sicherheitsdispositiv_der_resilienz-14888.html