PhD Position: Blockades and the Second World War in Asia (4 years)

The Amsterdam School for Historical Studies (ASH) invites applications for a fully funded postdoctoral researcher position (3 years, 0.8ft). This position is part of the ERC Synergy-funded research programme BLOCKADE, which explores the two global blockades of the First and Second World Wars, and their aftermaths.

A cooperation between the universities of Trondheim, Hamburg, Freiburg and Amsterdam, BLOCKADE sets out to prove that these blockades are crucial to understanding not only the way the world wars were fought but also their globality and totality, their immediate effects and their long-term global repercussions. More information can be found on the project website: https://blockades.eu/

Join our project!
The extra-European dimension of the Second World War-era blockades remains seriously understudied. Your PhD project will research Japanese analyses of resilience and vulnerability during the First World War and the interwar period. Among your research objectives, you will look into key determinants of the Japanese alliance and empire-building and maintenance in Asia from 1931 onwards, in order to explain the practical and intellectual origins of key elements of the Japanese preparation for and conduct of war. Sources will include the Japanese Diplomatic Archives in Tokyo, the Greater East Asia Ministry, and the ministries of the Navy, Agriculture and Transportation. Sheldon Garon, one of our expert partners, will co-supervise.
The PhD will be supervised by the University of Amsterdam-based PI, Samuël Kruizinga, and work closely together with the other PIs, professors Alan Kramer (Hamburg), Elisabeth Piller (Freiburg) and Jonas Scherner (Trondheim), with project Expert Partner professor Garon Sheldon, and with the other PhDs and postdoctoral researchers of the project. Specifically, this PhD position is one of five across the four BLOCKADE locations that should speak to the themes of resilience and vulnerability, that is, exploring the impact of blockades on economic, strategic and social vulnerabilities and the corresponding ability to prepare for or adapt to shocks caused by blockade from different angles.

This is what you will be doing
Required:

• submission of a PhD thesis within the period of appointment on the topic outlined above;
• presenting intermediate research results and actively participating in workshops and conferences, both those organised by the BLOCKADE project;
• contributing to BLOCKADE’s (online) research and reading seminars;
• contributing to archival data collection (qualitative and quantitative primary souces) for the central project database;
• participation in the Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH) and Faculty of Humanities PhD training programmes.
• participating in meetings of the project research group and developing a shared database;
• (co-)teaching courses at BA-level in the second and third year of the appointment (maximum 0,2 fte per year).

Optional:

• Co-organising knowledge dissemination activities;
• Co-organising project group activities.

This is what we ask of you
Required:

• a completed Master's degree in history, or a closely related field;
• excellent historical research skills demonstrated by a Master thesis;
• strong familiarity with the history and historiography of Japanese domestic and international politics in the first half of the twentieth century;
• excellent oral and written presentation skills in English (equivalent to at least level B2);
• excellent reading skills in Japanese (equivalent to level B2).
• a strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research.

Optional:

• solid knowledge of quantitative and/or qualitative research methods;
• enthusiasm for communicating academic research to non-academic audiences;
• reasonable command of Dutch.

Please note that if you already hold a doctorate/PhD or are working towards obtaining a similar degree elsewhere, you will not be admitted to a doctoral programme at the UvA.

This is what we offer you

• a PhD contract initially for 16 months, starting on September or October 2025, with a 32-month extension contingent on a positive review after the first year;
• PhD candidates receive a tuition fee waiver and a dedicated working space;
• PhD candidates have free access to courses offered by the Graduate School of Humanities and the Dutch National Research Schools;
• experience in an exciting, multi-location international research project;
• generous travel and conference funds and opportunity to invite guest scholars;
• opportunity for intellectual growth and career advancement, including a wide variety of training, mentoring and professional development offerings available at the university;
• open, inclusive and supportive work environment with committed colleagues;
• excellent possibilities for further professional development and education;
• an inspiring academic and international work environment in the heart of Amsterdam;
• an enthusiastic and professional academic team.

This is where you will be working
At the Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH) of the University of Amsterdam you will benefit from an international, creative and independent work environment, as well as excellent terms of employment. Your place of work will be the vibrant city centre of Amsterdam as part of an internationally orientated history department. The project you will be working on is an essential part of the wider BLOCKADE project, bringing together four universities, 18 project members, and 4 PIs, in an interdisciplinary working environment with the ambitious goal to rewrite the history of the World Wars and their aftermaths.

As part of your application, please submit the following:

• a letter of motivation detailing your prior experience and your fit for the project (1 page max.);
• a research plan (2-4 pages);
• a full academic CV;
• Name and contact information of two referees to be contacted for references.

You can apply until 11 May 2025. If you have any questions, please contact Samuël Kruizinga: s.f.kruizinga@uva.nl. Interviews for this position will be held online in June 2025.

32 hours per week

Kloveniersburgwal 48