Research Group Leader (m/f/d) at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Frankfurt, with BCDSS, University of Bonn (EUR 67,500 - 96,000 per year)

The Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory (MPILHLT), Department 'Historical Regimes of Normativity' (director Prof. Dr. Thomas Duve), and the Cluster of Excellence 'Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies' (BCDSS) at the University of Bonn are recruiting one Research Group Leader (m/f/d), from 1 March 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The successful candidate will design and lead an independent research group comprising the group leader position and two doctoral (PhD) positions, based at the MPILHLT in Frankfurt and affiliated with the BCDSS. The group is jointly embedded in the BCDSS Phase 2 (2026-2032) programme of Historically Informed Dependency Studies and in the MPILHLT department's research programme on historical regimes of normativity, that is, the historical study of law as one among several competing and interacting bodies of normative knowledge.

Applicants propose a research project situated in one (or, where genuinely warranted, both) of these BCDSS Research Areas:

• RA A, Transitions and Transformations: how Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies (SADs) change, persist or dissolve across the macro-, meso- and micro-levels of societies, and how they relate to and co-determine one another over time.
• RA D, Cultural Heritage, Transitional Justice, Memory Cultures: cultural heritage, memory and (in)justice as contested fields, including how contemporary notions of justice engage with histories of colonial dispossession, enslavement and other forms of SAD.

Projects combining RA A and RA D, or bringing legal-historical and legal-theoretical questions from the MPILHLT department into dialogue with either area, are particularly welcome. Preference will be given to projects focused on the early modern Iberian empires (Spanish and/or Portuguese, in the Americas, Africa and/or Asia), for example coerced labour and ownership regimes, normativity on dependency and indigenous, colonial and spiritual knowledge across empire, or the afterlives of these regimes in memory cultures, heritage debates and claims to (transitional) justice.

• A doctoral degree in history, law, area studies, or a related discipline of the humanities or social sciences, completed with distinction.
• An excellent, internationally visible record of publication in a field pertinent to the proposed project.
• Postdoctoral research experience and, ideally, prior experience in leading, co-leading or coordinating research projects.
• Willingness and ability to relocate to Frankfurt and to engage actively in the BCDSS and the collaborative formats of both host institutions in Frankfurt and Bonn.

The advertisement states no nationality restriction: the Max Planck Society and the University of Bonn 'welcome applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of ethnic or social origin, religion, disability, age, or sexual orientation and identity'.

• A full-time appointment (39 hours per week); a part-time appointment is theoretically possible.
• A fixed-term position from 1 March 2027 for 54 months, with a group of two doctoral researchers (65% E13 TVöD) selected by the group leader and the department director, starting 1 October 2027 for 36 months; each contract may be extended by up to 12 additional months.
• Annual salary before tax from EUR 67,500 (E14 band 1) to EUR 96,000 (E14 band 6) for a full-time position, depending on qualification, under the German Civil Service Collective Agreement (TVöD), with public-sector social benefits including a pension plan (VBL). Previous work experience is taken into account.
• A research budget for travel, archival research, workshops and publication.
• Mobile working and flexible hours, 30 days of holiday per year (31 from 2027), and access to the Max Planck Society's Planck Academy training courses.

Applications must be in English and comprise three documents:

• Research project description (max. 5 pages): research questions, sources, methodology and structure over the funding period (work packages or phases); the scope of the two PhD projects and how the three projects form a coherent group; the project's position within the BCDSS research agenda (Research Area A and/or D and, where relevant, other areas, Spaces of Synergy or the Methods Lab); and its position within the MPILHLT department's programme on historical regimes of normativity.
• Research statement / motivation letter (max. 1 page): motivation, scholarly trajectory, expectations and personal fit for leading this group.
• Curriculum vitae: with a list of publications, electronic copies of two relevant publications by the applicant and, where applicable, prior research funding, teaching and supervision experience.

Submit the application as a single PDF file (research project description, research statement and CV) through the MPILHLT online application portal by 20 October 2026. Interviews are expected to take place in November 2026.

For questions on the advertisement and the application process, the institute directs applicants to jobs@lhlt.mpg.de.