Deadline for pre-applications (IHC): 1 de June 2026
Pre-selection: 17 de June 2026
Deadline for applications (MSCA): 9 Deptember 2026
Place of work: Institute of Contemporary History — NOVA FCSH or University of Évora

The Institute of Contemporary History (IHC), a leading Portuguese research centre in the field of Modern and Contemporary History, welcomes applications for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA PFs), acting as host institution, from researchers interested in developing their studies of the past in the following main areas — that correspond to our four Research Groups:

1. Political History – Regimes, Transition, and Memory
2. Economy and Society – State, Classes, and Gender
3. Culture – Power, Mediations, and the Arts
4. History of Science, Technology, and the Environment

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, Social Sciences, and Humanities converges with methodologies from the Computational Sciences. The IHC thus fosters interdisciplinary approaches and covers a wide range of topics concerning the conceptualisation, contextualisation, and interpretation of the historical reality for the period between the eighteenth century and the present.

With a strong internationalisation strategy, we believe at the IHC that it is necessary to overcome the limits of methodological nationalism and foster the critical practice of comparative, transnational, and global history, as well as to consider the centrality of the colonial and anti-colonial question for the history of the contemporary world.

Working at the IHC is to be part of a multicultural, creative, collaborative, and publicly engaged environment that gathers approximately 120 PhD researchers and 50 doctoral candidates. As a modern and contemporary history research centre working on a broad range of topics, we regularly collaborate with museums, archives, city councils, high schools, and media outlets.

We welcome applications for both the European and Global Postdoctoral Fellowships. Applicants with a relevant track-record of securing funding for their research activities are especially welcomed. Fellows are expected to be active researchers in regular residence at the IHC, participating in the intellectual life of the Institute..

To apply, please send us the following documents and information:

1. Title and short summary of the work plan, explaining the objectives of the proposal and how they will be achieved (written in English, max. 2500 characters, spaces included);
2. A detailed Curriculum vitae;
3. A motivation letter explaining your trajectory in the last five years and explaining the relevance of your achievements (max. 5000 characters, spaces included);
4. A recommendation letter from a senior scholar;
5. One copy of a relevant publication.

The MSCA PFs are aimed at researchers holding a PhD who wish to carry out their research activities abroad, acquire new skills and develop their careers. Interested researchers:

• should have a PhD degree at the time of the deadline for applications;
• must have a maximum of eight years experience in research, from the date of the award of their PhD degree;
• should comply with mobility rules: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline.

Please submit your application materials to Rosa Fina via the email ihc.concursos@fcsh.unl.pt.

Download the call for applicants (PDF)