Postdoctoral Scholarship (2 years) in Philosophy

The Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies is offering a postdoctoral scholarship in philosophy for research on the project ‘Why is causation so useful?’ The scholarship is full-time for two years, starting on January 1st, 2027, or by agreement. We invite applications from qualified applicants who have a background in metaphysics, philosophy of science, or a related field and want to work on causation.

The scholarship is funded by the Kempe Foundations. The tax-free scholarship amounts to 720 000 SEK (approximately 30,000 SEK per month) and is typically paid out in four separate installments during the scholarship period. The last day to apply is October 7th, 2026.

Departmental specific information

The Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies is part of Umeå University’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities and has approximately 110 employees. It includes the subjects philosophy, archaeology, environmental archaeology, history, history and education, history of science and ideas, religious studies, and theology.

The philosophy unit has 18 tenured faculty members and offers education and degrees at the undergraduate, advanced, and doctoral levels. Research activity is high, with a weekly research seminar, as well as frequent guest lectures, reading groups, and a yearly named lecture series. We have an international profile with a strong record of publications in high-quality international journals. Previous philosophy postdocs in Umeå have gone on to hold positions at Stanford University, Syracuse University, Auburn University, University of Birmingham, University of Reading, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, and Umeå University. The unit has ongoing collaborations with researchers from other institutions both nationally and internationally.

Research interests at the department cover a wide spectrum of philosophical areas, comprising, metaphysics, philosophy of science, aesthetics, history of philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of mind, metaethics, normative ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of artificial intelligence, philosophy of language, and applied ethics. For more details about research in philosophy at Umeå, please visit individual researchers’ websites.

Project description

Few would disagree that causation is fundamental to effective intervention and explanation. Even so, it is surprisingly difficult to give a satisfying account of what causation must be in order to play this explanatory and practical role. On the one hand, the success of causal judgements in science and everyday life suggests that causal knowledge tracks objective features of the world. On the other hand, research in cognitive science shows that these causal judgments are sensitive to factors such as normality and counterfactual mutability. Moreover, these influences have been shown to improve our ability to plan and intervene effectively. This raises a foundational question: how can causal reasoning be both anchored in the structure of the world and shaped by our cognitive constitution?

The project investigates what makes causal understanding so cognitively valuable in science and everyday life, and how causal reasoning can be both objectively reliable and yet bear the imprint of human cognitive constraints.

We welcome applications with a research plan related to any aspect of this topic. Applicants are encouraged to think broadly.

The successful applicant will be integrated in the international research groups led by Christian Loew and Bram Vaassen.

Qualifications

The post-doctoral fellow is required to have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree in philosophy or have equivalent competence. This qualification requirement must be fulfilled no later than at the time of the decision about scholarship recipient.

Priority should be given to candidates who completed their doctoral degree, according to what is stipulated in the paragraph above, no earlier than three years before the application deadline. If there are special reasons, candidates who completed their doctoral degree before that may also be eligible. Special reasons include absence due to illness, parental leave, appointments of trust in trade union organizations, military service, or similar circumstances, or other forms of appointment/assignment relevant to the subject area.

Proficiency in English, both written and spoken, is required.

Assessment criteria

Successful applicants will be required to work in Umeå and participate regularly in the department’s research seminars and activities. Successful applications must demonstrate:

• The ability to conduct and publish research of the highest international quality will be given primary weight in the assessment.
• Alignment of the research plan and research profile with the project aims
• Fit of the candidate’s background with the existing research environment at the department

Application

The application should be written in English or Swedish, and attached documents should be in Word or PDF format. The application should be registered via Umeå University’s e-recruitment system Varbi and submitted by the deadline October 7th 2026.

Further information

The postdoctoral scholarship is fixed-term (2 years) and full-time (100%) in accordance with the terms of the Kempe Foundations, which fund the scholarship. The starting date is January 1st, 2027, or as otherwise agreed. The scholarship holder is expected to actively contribute to the development of the local research environment at Umeå University to which the scholarship is linked. Therefore, the selected candidate is expected to be physically present in Umeå to a high extent.

Further details can be provided by Bram Vaassen, [email protected] 

We look forward to receiving your application!