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The Europainstitut / Institute for European Global Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland, invites applications for a fully-funded, four-year (1 plus 3) PhD position in the Swiss National Research Foundation project “Feeding the Earth: Synthetic Fertilizers and the Remaking of Agriculture in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries”. The position is to be filled as of June 1st, 2026.

The project “Feeding the Earth” is a collaboration between the University of Basel, the University of Birmingham, and the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg. It enquires into the spread of synthetic fertilizers and the ways in which it transformed agriculture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The use of synthetic fertilizers exploded over the twentieth century, boosting yields while fostering dependencies, land concentration, soil degradation, and water pollution. Despite their lack of sustainability and resistance from some farmers, synthetic fertilizers continue to dominate agriculture worldwide. As climate change, soil loss, and pollution compel a rethinking of food systems, this research project asks how societies in the past switched between different fertilizing regimes and adapted to changing conditions of agricultural production. The project investigates the uneven transition from traditional to synthetic fertilizers in northern Europe, South Africa, Turkey, and Morocco, addressing the largely understudied global history of fertilizer adoption. 

The University of Basel will execute two of these case studies. The South Africa case study will be based at the Department of History (https://dg.philhist.unibas.ch/de/), the Turkey case study at the Europainstitut/Institute for European Global Studies (https://europa.unibas.ch/en/). Hereby we invite applications for the PhD position to work on the Turkey case study. The call for applications for the doctoral position on the case study on South Africa will be published separately.

Application / Contact 

We are looking forward to receiving your application by December 8th, 2025. Applications must be submitted exclusively via the University of Basel job portal.

Applications need to include a letter of motivation, a curriculum vitae, a list of publications, diplomas / MA certificates, a scientific writing sample (max. 10 pages) and two referees (name and contact). The University of Basel is committed to increasing the number of women in its scientific personnel and encourages well-qualified women researchers to apply.

It is anticipated that interviews will be held via videocall on 8/9 January 2026.

If you have any questions about the position, please do not hesitate to contact Prof. Dr. Corey Ross: corey.ross@unibas.ch or Prof. Dr. Heinrich Hartmann: heinrich.hartmann@hsu-hh.de.

For further information on the Department of History, University of Basel: https://dg.philhist.unibas.ch/de/. For further information on the Europainstitut / Institute for European Global Studies, University of Basel: https://europa.unibas.ch/en/

Further job vacancies in this project:

• see University of Basel job portal: https://www.unibas.ch/en/Working-at-the-University-of-Basel/Current-Vacancies.html
• Position at the University of Birmingham: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/spreading-fertilizer-around-the-phosphatvilles-chemical-fertilizer-and-moroccan-agriculture-1920s-1970s/?p190596