Seven postdoctoral fellowships in the fields of transformation research

Call for applications

The Leuphana Transformation Lab is a research institution at Leuphana University of Lüneburg (Leuphana) for focused, collaborative and independent research on transformation. It hosts an interdisciplinary network including five Key Subject Areas (climate futures in digital cultures, democratic resilience, organizing in times of crisis, towards a regenerative society, and companies as drivers of sustainability transformations) and the psychology of transformation. 

Leuphana Transformation Lab offers 

up to seven postdoctoral fellowships

for outstanding postdoctoral researchers, with a duration of up to two years starting on April 1,2027, to become part of the Lab and to develop a high-quality grant proposal in the fields of transformation research. 

For more information regarding conditions and application modalities please visit: https://www.leuphana.de/en/portals/embracing-transformation/academic-career/postdoctoral-fellowships.html

The deadline for applications is September 30, 2026.

We look forward to receiving your application!

With a focus on investigating major transformation processes affecting contemporary societies, Leuphana has established an international, interdisciplinary Transformation Lab. The Lab is embedded in a vibrant academic environment composed of more than 20 professors as well as more than 50 PhD-students and postdoctoral researchers whose work is at the cutting edge of the growing field of transformation research.

The Lab invites applications for postdoctoral fellowships of up to 24-months in residence for the years 2027 to 2029, with a scheduled start date of April 1, 2027. Anchored in the Lab, the postdoctoral fellows will be part of Leuphana’s flagship program Embracing Transformation and will contribute to the Lab’s thematic multiplicity and conceptual rigor. They will develop a high-quality grant proposal in the fields of transformation research.

ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION MODALITIES

Applicants must already have a PhD at the time of application. We only accept applications with proof of a successfully defended doctoral dissertation. Moreover, applicants have distinguished themselves with first outstanding research corresponding to the programmatic outline of the Leuphana Transformation Lab. 

The postdoctoral fellowships are expected to start on April 1, 2027 or shortly thereafter and within a reasonable timeframe after the completion of their PhD, which is commonly no later than 3 years after the PhD defense. All documents have to be submitted in English since the evaluation and selection processes are carried out by an international committee. If one or more documents are not available in English, certified English translations are required.

In their proposal, applicants have to outline their understanding of and approach to transformation and how their project approaches the conceptual questions emerging in transformation research. We accept proposals on a wide variety of topics including, but not limited to AI, demographic change, infrastructural development, anticipatory governance, adaptation regimes, or sensing technology. We are interested in disciplinary breadth and welcome fresh methodological approaches (e.g., participatory research, arts or design-based methods, materially or visually experimental practices) in historical, normative or theoretical work which seek not only to analyze but also to reconfigure how transformation may be understood, experienced, or practiced.

Proposals have to align with one of the three conceptual streams that will guide the research carried out in the Leuphana Transformation Lab.

• “Epistemologies of Transformation” critically examines how transformation can be known, conceptualized, narrated, and enacted across different social, cultural, and political contexts as well as diverse disciplines. We are interested in work that interrogates the epistemic foundations of “transformation” as an analytical category and a normative project.
• “Disruption and Transformation” explores disruptiveness as a central feature of life in contemporary globalized societies at a moment when a putatively permanent mode of crisis may intensify experiences of rupture. We are interested in work that explores, analyzes, or problematizes disruption as part of transformative processes which shape and haunt contemporary life.
• “Scales and Temporalities of Transformation” critically engages the scalar and temporal frames through which transformation is envisioned, narrated, and organized. We are interested in work that examines how different scales are privileged, linked, or opposed in transformative projects and how temporality structures transformation.

Applicants may additionally choose to link their research proposal to one of the Key Subject Areas of Embracing Transformation (climate futures in digital cultures, democratic resilience, organizing in times of crisis, towards a regenerative society, and companies as drivers of sustainability transformations), to psychology of transformation, or to another discipline represented at Leuphana.

PARTICIPATION IN AND CONTRIBUTION TO THE LAB AND THE PROGRAM EMBRACING TRANSFORMATION

As members of the Leuphana Transformation Lab, the postdoctoral fellows are expected to actively participate in the Lab's life and work. They will benefit from the many opportunities for interdisciplinary and international exchange with the resident researchers and invited guests at the Leuphana Transformation Lab and across Embracing Transformation. Postdoctoral fellows are invited to collaborate with scholars at Leuphana and to participate in the university's activities. 

As a result, they will have developed a personal high-quality grant proposal (funded by DFG, ERC, Volkswagen Foundation, or other funders) for transformation research within one of the three conceptual streams of the Leuphana Transformation Lab (see above). Applicants will receive assistance throughout the grant-writing process. Successful grants are meant to be hosted by Leuphana.

CONDITIONS

The postdoctoral fellowships of up to two years are offered at different rates, dependent on career level. For more information, please visit our website. Work spaces are provided in Leuphana’s Central Building. 

FORMAL REQUIREMENTS

Applications must include the following documents, uploaded in separate PDF files; please use the file-naming schemes shown in brackets (All documents have to be submitted in English or accompanied by a certified English translation):

• 1. proof of successfully defended doctoral dissertation [surname_firstname_phdproof]
• 2. an academic CV without photo, including a list of publications [surname_firstname_cv]
• 3. proof of other university degrees: Bachelor, Master or equivalent [surname_firstname_degree]
• 4. a cover letter (no more than 2 pages) stating your motivations to apply to Leuphana in general and to the Leuphana Transformation Lab specifically [surname_firstname_coverletter]
• 5. a short proposal (no more than 3 pages) outlining the applicant's understanding of and approach to transformation and how their topics relate to it. The proposal shall give an idea of the applicant's future research at the Leuphana Transformation Lab and their prospective grant proposal. In a separate section, the proposal should include a short (max. one page) reflection on how the research will fit into one of the aforementioned conceptual streams [surname_firstname_proposal_epistemologies OR disruption OR scales]. 

For further information about the application process, see: https://www.leuphana.de/en/portals/embracing-transformation/academic-career/postdoctoral-fellowships.html 

The selection process will start in October 2026 and will be finished as soon as all postdoctoral fellowships are filled. The successful candidates will be informed of the results once the process has concluded.

One postdoctoral fellowship will be reserved for an applicant currently based at a university in Scotland as part of the Lower Saxony – Scotland academic partnership coordinated by the European Centre for Advanced Studies (ECAS).

Leuphana encourages persons with disabilities and from diverse backgrounds to apply. Applications from candidates with disabilities will be considered preferentially in accordance with German equal opportunity guidelines. 

Please upload your complete application to Leuphana Portal by September 30, 2026.