Postdoctoral Fellowship in Foundations of Physics (EXPIRED)

The Rotman Institute of Philosophy is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in foundations of physics. The Fellow will be supervised by Chris Smeenk, partially supported through his research project New Directions in Philosophy of Cosmology.  Within the philosophy of physics, faculty pursue topics in the foundations of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and history and philosophy of space-time theories, as well as in connections between physical theory and general questions in methodology, epistemology, and metaphysics.

The Rotman Institute of Philosophy is situated in one of Canada’s leading departments of philosophy. It brings together philosophers and scientists to work on problems of social significance. Ongoing research focuses on a variety of philosophical problems arising in contemporary physics, biology, cognitive neuroscience, and medical science.

Each Postdoctoral Fellowship has a one-year term with the possibility of renewal for a second year, assuming agreement by both parties, and sufficient funding. The Fellow will have an office within the Rotman Institute. She or he will be required to involve themselves fully in the research life of the Institute by conducting research leading to peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations, and by participating in conferences, research groups, reading groups, and outreach activities.

Candidates must have had a PhD in Philosophy conferred within five years of the start of the Fellowship. All PhD requirements must be completed by the starting date of this Postdoctoral Fellowship, typically July 1, 2020. The stipend is $40,500 CAD. Additionally, the Fellow will be provided a research allowance.

Postdoctoral Fellows at the Rotman Institute have gone on to great things. Alida Liberman was awarded the Young Ethicist Prize for best paper by a non-tenured philosopher at the Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress just after her term at the Rotman Institute (August, 2016). Her paper, “Wrongness, Responsibility, and Conscientious Refusal in Health Care.”, was the first applied ethics paper to win the prize in the 9 years that the conference has been going. Rachael Brown (Postdoc in the Institute 2013-2014) won the Sir Karl Popper Prize for 2014, for the best paper appearing in the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. Kerry McKenzie (2013-14) was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at UC San Diego after her Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Rotman Institute. Learn about all our former fellows on our alumni page.

Review of applications will begin on February 1, 2020 and will continue until the position is filled.