Pascale Willemsen’s x-phi team at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, is hiring two postdocs (60–100%, 2–3 years) for the SNSF-funded research projects “Shining Light on Praise” and “The Social Power of Praise.”
Applications are possible until November 20, 2026. The job announcement reads:
I am happy to announce two Postdoctoral Research Positions (60–100%, 2–3 years) in my Xphi Team at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Zurich, starting 1 February 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter. Please share this announcement with anyone who might be interested!
The positions are part of two SNSF-funded research projects, “Shining Light on Praise” and “The Social Power of Praise,” which operate at the intersection of moral philosophy and experimental philosophy and investigate the nature, mechanisms and social impact of moral praise. “The Social Power of Praise” is a joint SNSF–FWF Weave project carried out in close collaboration with the team of Prof. Dr. Leonhard Menges at the University of Salzburg. These are pure research positions with no teaching duties.
Responsibilities
- Conduct high-quality research on moral praise within the scope of the projects
- Co-author and publish articles in leading international peer-reviewed journals
- Contribute to the organization of conferences, workshops and project events
- Collaborate closely with the teams in Zurich and Salzburg
Required
- PhD in Philosophy, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Linguistics, Behavioral Economics or a related field (completed by the start date, but not necessarily at the time of application)
- Demonstrated experience in empirical and/or experimental philosophy and proficiency with quantitative research methods
- A publication record in international peer-reviewed journals commensurate with career stage
- Strong competence in one or more of: experimental philosophy; social and moral cognition; moral philosophy (especially moral responsibility, praise and blame); philosophy of language (especially pragmatics); moral psychology; feminist philosophy (especially oppression, epistemic injustice and social norms); experimental linguistics
- Fluency in English (German is not required)
Desirable
- Experience with experimental paradigms such as linguistic tests, economic games, or corpus-based and computational methods
- Advanced statistical skills (e.g., mixed-effects or Bayesian models in R or Python)
- Commitment to open-science practices (preregistration, open data, reproducible code)
- Experience in collaborative, international and interdisciplinary research
- Prior research on praise, blame, moral responsibility or evaluative language
- Experience in organizing academic conferences and workshops
We offer
A highly collaborative, international research environment; 100% research time; funding for travel, conferences and experimental studies; and attractive salary and employment conditions in line with the standards of the Canton of Zurich and the SNSF. The positions are based in Zurich. Successful candidates are expected to relocate to the Zurich area and to work on site at least three days per week.
Please note that the Zurich positions focus on empirical and experimental research. Applications from candidates with a purely theoretical background cannot be considered. Such candidates are warmly encouraged to contact Prof. Dr. Leonhard Menges (leonhard.menges@plus.ac.at) about the positions in Salzburg.
How to apply
Please send a single PDF containing your CV, a list of publications, up to three publications particularly relevant to the projects, and the names and contact details of two academic referees to pascale.willemsen@uzh.ch, with the subject line “Application for Postdoc PoP & PRAISE.”
Deadline: 20 November 2026
For informal inquiries, feel free to contact me at pascale.willemsen@uzh.ch.