Research Explorer Ruhr: Hosts and Application

Institute for Diversity Studies
Chair for Modern German Literature with a focus on Gender & Diversity Studies
Host's Website

Research Area:
My research focuses on gender and diversity studies, narratology and biographical research, as well as the intermediality of literature, especially with regard to film and music.

Candidate Profile:
Our working group particularly welcomes doctoral students who are interested in cultural studies, gender, queer, and diversity studies. Candidates should have developed an interest in this field during their studies and hold a master's degree in cultural studies, i.e. literature, music, or film studies. Doctoral collaboration is particularly possible with proof of a master's degree in one of those fields. It would be very welcome if candidates were enthusiastic about working with our young and committed team.

Institute of Romance Literatures and Languages
Chair of Didactics of Romance Languages
Host's Website
Host's LinkedIn Profile

Research Area: 
My research examines how foreign-language lessons can be effectively planned and designed in secondary education. I study how teachers use textbooks and digital resources when planning and implementing instruction in French and Spanish, and how these materials shape task design and classroom processes. A second focus is digital reading in foreign-language learning, including learners’ interaction with multimodal texts and digital tools. In addition, I investigate lesson-planning processes themselves, using qualitative research methods to analyse how teaching decisions are made and how they can be supported, including with AI-based tools.

Candidate Profile:
Candidates should have a strong interest in foreign-language education and in how teaching and learning are shaped by textbooks, digital media, and lesson planning. Ideally, they have a background in language education, or a related field and are familiar with school-based foreign-language teaching (especially French or Spanish). They should be willing to work with qualitative empirical data (such as classroom observations or interview data) and to engage critically with instructional materials and tasks. Experience with digital reading, multimodal texts, or AI-supported tools for teaching and planning is an advantage, but not a prerequisite. I am looking for reflective, motivated researchers who enjoy linking theory and practice and who are open to collaborative work in an empirically oriented research environment.

Institute of Romance Literatures and Languages
Chair for Spanish and Latin American Studies
Host's Website

Research Area: 
Our group explores Spanish and Latin American literatures and cultures across periods (medieval, early modern/Golden Age, modern/20th-21st c.), with a transnational Iberophone focus that includes Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking Africa. We work comparatively across Romance traditions (Spanish, Portuguese, French) and welcome projects on poetics, genre, and media from lyric to narrative, theater, and film. Core lines include Jewish literatures (Sephardic/Iberian and Latin American), law and literature, memory and trauma, exile and migration, and the politics of translation and reception. We value historically grounded, theory‑informed research and archival as well as interdisciplinary approaches. Candidates interested in Continental European, Latin American, and African histories in Spanish and Portuguese contexts - alongside colonial/Atlantic worlds, avant‑gardes, and contemporary cultural debates - will find a strong fit. Projects may be written in Spanish, English, Portuguese, or French; co‑supervision across Romance languages is possible.

Candidate Profile:
We seek to connect with researchers developing projects on Spanish‑ and Portuguese‑language cultures across Europe, Latin America, and Africa. We especially value work that grounds literary and cultural analysis in robust historical frameworks - from medieval and early modern through modern and contemporary - attentive to archives, circulation, and reception. Competence in Spanish and readiness to work with Portuguese are important; French is a plus but not required. We are method‑agnostic: close reading, archival research, translation and reception studies, law and literature, memory/trauma, migration and exile, Atlantic/colonial and postcolonial studies, and media/film approaches are all welcome. We look for clear research questions, solid design, intellectual independence combined with a collaborative spirit, and intercultural sensitivity, as well as a willingness to present and publish in multilingual settings (Spanish, English, Portuguese, French).