Deadline (IHC): 15 de Dezembro de 2025
Deadline (FCT): 29 de Janeiro de 2026
Place of work / Hosting institution: Institute of Contemporary History — NOVA FCSH / University of Évora

Call for applicants:

The Institute of Contemporary History (IHC), a leading Portuguese research centre in the field of Modern and Contemporary History, welcomes applications for three-year research contracts, funded by the FCT — Foundation for Science and Technology in the framework of the eighth edition of the Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus.

The IHC has facilities both at NOVA University Lisbon and at the University of Évora. We are also a member of IN2PAST, the Associate Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Heritage, Arts, Sustainability and Territory, and the host of the Digital Humanities Lab, an interdisciplinary space where knowledge in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences converges with methodologies from the Computational Sciences.

Joining the IHC means becoming part of a multicultural, creative, collaborative and publicly engaged environment that brings together researchers from the fields of History, Anthropology, Sociology, Arts, Biology, among others. As a Modern and Contemporary History research centre working on a wide range of topics, we regularly collaborate with the media, museums, archives, local authorities, and schools. All these activities are part of our History in the Public Sphere Programme, which promotes the IHC’s involvement in non-academic settings.

The IHC fosters interdisciplinary approaches and covers a wide range of subjects concerning the conceptualisation, contextualisation, and interpretation of the historical reality for the period between the 18th century and the present time. The IHC encourages research approaches that overcome the limits of methodological nationalism and fosters the critical practice of comparative, transnational, and global history; it also considers the centrality of the colonial and anti-colonial question for the history of the contemporary world.

Evaluation panels for this call will include ‘History and Archaeology’, ‘Arts’, ‘Sociology’, ‘Media and Communications, Law and Political Science’, ‘Languages and Literature’, among others. The IHC has accomplished 40 successful applications in the last five editions of this call in diverse panels such as ‘History and Archaeology’, ‘Arts’, and ‘Media and Communications, Law and Political Science’.

Prospective applicants should present their research plan bearing in mind the IHC’s scientific agenda, as reflected on our Research Groups, as well as the conditions set forth in the Scientific Employment Stimulus programme. Applicants with a relevant track-record of securing funding for their research activities are especially welcomed. If hired, researchers are expected to be in-residence at the IHC for the duration of the contract, actively participating both in the intellectual and administrative life of the Institute..

To apply, please send us the following documents and information by 15 December 2025:

1. A summary of the work plan (in English; max. 5000 characters);
2. The applicable contract level (Junior/Assistant) and evaluation panel;
3. A detailed Curriculum vitae;
4. A motivation letter explaining your trajectory in the last five years and the relevance of your achievements (max. 5000 characters);
5. One copy of a relevant publication.

Please submit your application material or any questions that may arise to Rosa Fina via the email ihc.concursos@fcsh.unl.pt.

Download the call for applicants (PDF)