POSTDOCS: In Assyriology (Liège)

T

he University of Liège (Department of Assyriology) invites applications for a two-year research position at the University of Liège (100% Post-Doc / 38 hours per week / net salary = c. 2950€ per month).

This position is funded by the VariGraph project (PI: Laurent Colonna d’Istria & Stéphane Polis), which aims to analyze the synchronic and diachronic patterns of variation of three ancient writing systems in a comparative perspective (proto-Elamite, cuneiform, and hieroglyphic scripts). The position commences between October 1, 2025, and December 1, 2025, and lasts for 24 months.

Successful candidates should hold a PhD in Assyriology and possess substantial experience in the field of Akkadian philology. It should be noted that candidates should not have worked in Belgium for more than 2 years within the last 6 years and must have obtained their PhD degree no more than 7 years ago.

The 'Cuneiform' part of the project focuses on the use of cuneiform in Iran from the late 3rd millennium BC to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Therefore, publications demonstrating a direct interest in the functioning of the cuneiform writing system or paleography, or showcasing in-depth knowledge of a corpus from the late 3rd or 2nd millennia BC, are considered an asset.

The successful candidate is expected to:

• Work in close collaboration with the members of the VariGraph projects based at the ULiège (PI and Co-PI: Laurent Colonna d’Istria and Stéphane Polis; Post-docs: François Desset and Emil Joubert).
• Contribute to the development of an IT tool devoted to the analysis of written variation in cuneiform texts from Iran – akin to the Thot Sign List for Egyptian hieroglyphs and to the Hatamti-Linear Elamite Database for linear Elamite – and to the encoding of paleographic and linguistic data in this database – 60%
• Develop a personal research project directly connected to the study of written variation in the cuneiform script (to be detailed in the Research statement) – 35%.
• Teach courses in Akkadian (up to 45h/year) – 5%.

We offer a dynamic and stimulating research environment, along with the necessary infrastructure and support for your research project, situated in a vibrant city in the heart of Europe with ample opportunities for networking.

Please send your applications as a single PDF file, including a cover letter, a CV, copies of degrees, a three-page research statement, and a list of publications highlighting up to four relevant items (only via email to lcolonnadistria@uliege.be).

Additional materials may be requested from shortlisted candidates.

The deadline for applications is Monday, August 18, 2025.