Associate researcher in the EU SYNERGY project REM@KE - Reconstructing Embodied Musical knowledge at

The University of Gothenburg tackles society's challenges with diverse knowledge. 58 000 students and 6800 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

The Artistic Faculty consists of the departments HDK-Valand - Academy of Art and Design and Academy of Music and Drama. As a combined faculty of art and learning, we are an independent, visionary and critical force in the necessary work to create a more sustainable and open society.

The Academy of Music and Drama is now looking for an associate researcher whose main task is to coordinate and communicate research around the Stein and Pleyel projects within the new EU Research Project REM@KE. You will be part of the unit of classical music and church music, one of four units in the department. For more information about the Academy of Music and Drama, see to www.gu.se/scen-musik

About the project

REM@KE is a 6-year interdisciplinary program funded by the Synergy platform of the European Research Council with start date of September 1, 2025. Within the project we will attempt to build new bridges between performance research Gothenburg), keyboard organology (Pavia) and cognitive sciences (York) using a micro-historical approach to study specific historical keyboard instruments and their wider contexts.

The beauty of artefacts built by artisans before the Industrial Revolution is that every object is different. It is difficult to explore the kinds of affordances in specific instruments from the past because we have such limited access to working historical instruments in their original form and, furthermore, time has altered both their materiality and sound. We will attempt to use micro-historical studies of four specific keyboard instruments from the Renaissance to the Romantic period to make new models of documentation, performance practice, and communication involving senior researchers, doctoral students, museum professionals, performers, builders, and new audiences. The Principal Investigators responsible for the project are Joel Speerstra (Göteborg), Massimiliano Guido (Pavia), and Andrea Schiavio (York). For more information about the project, see: remake.unipv.it

Duties

The project is looking for a Researcher with proven competence in documentation of research as a conceptual framework. The researcher will be responsible for coordinating researcher teams, builders, and museums and guiding and documenting the research process, as well as coordinating the construction of copies of two of the REM@KE instruments: the 1781 Johann Andreas Stein claviorgan in Gothenburg, and the Pleyel pianino from the 1840s. The researcher will travel with PI Speerstra, PI Guido and their teams to museums for data collection campaigns and help communicate the knowledge.

The researcher will be expected to actively participate in communicating the documentation process within museum contexts, as well as cultivating relationships with relevant builders and experts.

The researcher will also:

• Coordinate between research/documentation teams, museums, and builders

• Work with the Gothenburg research team and the City Museum to develop further research projects relating to the Stein project

• Document of both the research and building processes relating to the two identified microecologies

• Coordinate with York team/facilitating cognitive research with builders involved
• Develop own research profile within the project, focussing on history of ideas and/or ethnological study of instrument building practices.

Qualifications

The following is required:

• a master's degree in a relevant field, for example keyboard organology, musicology, museum sciences; preferably in a related subject to one of the two target instruments

• Experience of process documentation, preferably relating to musical instrument construction

• Experience in academic editing and publishing

In making the appointment, emphasis will also be placed on the applicant having:

• Experience in instrument building and/or documentation practices relating to instrument building

• Experience presenting at academic conferences

• Experience working with large-scale projects involving researchers from different fields

• Experience developing studies of research documentation from a micro-history/ history of ideas framework
• Competence in the project languages (English, Swedish, German, French)

In addition to these requirements and qualifications it is important that you have good organisational skills, are responsible, take initiative, and work independently. We are looking for a person who is meticulous, structured, and creative, who has good social skills and flexibility in how they work.

We will primarily consider the person who, after an overall assessment of competence, skill and documented merits, is deemed to have the best prerequisites to carry out the relevant tasks and contribute to the positive development of the organisation.

Employment

• Form of employment: The employment is limited (temporary) for 2 years

• Scope: 40% of full time

• Location: Academy of music and drama, University of Gothenburg
• Start date: As soon as possible, or as agreed

If you are an international applicant, read more here:

Working hours are based at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Gothenburg with several sessions each working week. Remote work from abroad is not possible as the University of Gothenburg is a government agency.

In Sweden, there is a dependency requirement for those applying for a work permit. To find out how this affects you as an international applicant, please read about income requirements for work permits on the Migration Agency's website or contact hr@hsm.gu.se.

The official language of communication at the University of Gothenburg is Swedish, but internationalisation means that English is often used in parallel. Since knowledge of Swedish is often a prerequisite for collegial cooperation, teachers, researchers and doctoral students who do not have a good knowledge of Swedish should be offered the opportunity to learn the language. This is in order to be able to take on assignments and for promotion to senior lecturer and professor where Swedish is a requirement.

Selection process

Digital nterviewes will be held during week 30

Contact information for the post

If you have questions about the project and/or duties, please contact: Joel Speerstra, Senior lecturer and researcher, e-mail: joel.speerstra@hsm.gu.se
If you have any questions about the recruitment procedure, please contact HR at the Academy of Music and Drama: hr@hsm.gu.se

Unions

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here: https://www.gu.se/en/work-at-the-university-of-gothenburg/how-to-apply-for-a-position#collective-agreement-and-union-representatives

Application

To apply for a position at the University of Gothenburg, you have to create an account in our recruitment system. Submit your application via the University of Gothenburg's recruitment portal by clicking the "Apply" button. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per the vacancy notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.

The application shall include:

• Cover letter stating why you are interested in and suitable for the position

• A CV including information about your education, relevant work experience, language skills and other merits.

• Copy of master's degree and / or doctoral certificate

• Relevant scholarly publications
• Name of two reference persons and their contact information

Publications that cannot be attached to the application online should be sent to

HR at Academy of Music and Drama
Box 210
405 30

and must be received by the deadline.

Applications must be received by: 2026-07-15

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden's regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.