Mar 19, 2024: Social Scientist with a Focus on GIS, Cartography, and Mixed Methods (Pre-/Post-Doctoral)

Logo of the University of Vienna

The InfraNorth project, funded by the European Research Council, is seeking a social scientist with expertise in GIS, cartography, and mixed methods for a pre-doctoral or post-doctoral position (20 hours per week, starting as soon as possible, limited until March 31, 2025), based in the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna.

The project explores how residents of the Arctic engage with transport infrastructures and their intended and unintended local consequences. The focus of our research is the role of transport infrastructures in sustaining northern communities. Our approach combines ethnographic fieldwork with mapping, future scenario workshops, and archival research. Quantitative population data and a survey about the role of transport infrastructures are used to upscale our research from local communities to regional and pan-Arctic levels. In doing so, InfraNorth contributes locally informed results to critical conversations about Arctic futures.

The ideal candidate for this position should have a Master’s degree or PhD in geography, spatial planning, or related discipline. The candidate must have a particular interest and experience in GIS and digital cartography skills, as well as in statistical analysis and quantitative research (including the conception, execution, and analysis of questionnaires). Additionally, the candidate should have experience working in multidisciplinary teams and an excellent command of written and spoken English (C1). Having web design skills (CMS) and a good command of written and spoken German (B1) would be an advantage.

The extended deadline for applications is March 19, 2024. The application form and further details can be found here.

Jan 2026: InfraNorth Contributions to Forthcoming Book “Arctic Silk Roads”

InfraNorth researchers contribute two chapters to the forthcoming book Arctic Silk Roads: An Anthropology of the Unbuilt, edited by Natalia Magnani and Matthew Magnani. The volume will be published by Berghahn Books in January 2026 as part of the Studies in the Circumpolar North series. As climate change accelerates, the melting of sea ice is […]

Dec 2025: Peter Schweitzer Interviewed on Austrian Public Radio Ö1

The Austrian public broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) featured InfraNorth principal investigator Peter Schweitzer in an interview on its Ö1 weekend feuilleton “Diagonal” on December 6, 2025, which focused on the politics of infrastructure. Schweitzer appeared in a segment titled “A Silk Road Across the Arctic” (in German: Seidenstrasse über die Arktis), interviewed by Erich Klein […]

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

Dec 2025: Forthcoming Special Issue of the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

The forthcoming special issue “Ethnographies of Infrastructure” of the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, guest edited by Philipp Budka, Peter Schweitzer, and Olga Povoroznyuk, is progressively being made available online ahead of the print edition, which will appear in February 2026. The introduction, authored by Schweitzer, Povoroznyuk, and Budka, is now available open-access. It presents the […]

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

Dec 2025: Article by Peter Schweitzer, et al. in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography has recently published the article “Scenarios and Ethnography: Infrastructural Futures as Windows into the Present” by Peter Schweitzer, Olga Povoroznyuk, Philipp Budka, Alexandra Meyer, Katrin Schmid, and Nikita Strelkovskii. This article reflects on two scenario workshops conducted in 2023 in Kirkenes, Norway, and Churchill, Canada, as part of the ERC […]

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

Dec 2025: Article by Katrin Schmid in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography has published the article “Amazon in the Arctic: E-Commerce, Infrastructure, and Alimentary Assemblages in Nunavut, Canada” by InfraNorth researcher Katrin Schmid. Since establishing a delivery hub in Iqaluit, Nunavut in 2020, Amazon.com, Inc. has become an essential resource for many Nunavut residents, providing affordable access to goods otherwise constrained by […]