Postdoctoral Scholarship in History (University of Antwerp)

Department: Heritage Regime: Full-time Let’s shape the future – University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp is a dynamic, forward-thinking, European university. We offer an innovative academic education to more than 20000 students, conduct pioneering scientific research and play an important service-providing role in society. We are one of the largest, most international and most innovative employers in the region. With more than 6000 employees from 100 different countries, we are helping to build tomorrow's world every day. Through top scientific research, we push back boundaries and set a course for the future – a future that you can help to shape. The Department of Conservation-Restoration in the Faculty of Design Sciences is looking for a full-time (100%) doctoral scholarship holder in the field of Technical Art History/Conservation-Restoration. Position You will work actively on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in the domain of Technical Art History/Conservation-Restoration, within the project "La peinture en bois - Visualising the colourful past based on the faded present". This is a multidisciplinary project that combines heritage science (e.g., SEM-EDX, XRF, FTIR-analysis), 17th and 18th-centuries archival studies and historical recipe studies with historically accurate reconstructions, to generate new insights into the wood colouring technologies and traditions on furniture from the 17th- and 18th-century Low Countries. You will collaborate with the colleagues and stakeholders of the Belspo FED-tWIN HOME-AGE project, including the Royal Museum for Art & History, Brussels (KMKG-MRAH). You will collaborate with heritage scientists, chemists, technical art historians, museum professionals and private collectors, and you may occasionally travel to partner collections/institutions linked to relevant case studies. Therefore, good communication skills are expected to act as a mediator between the different disciplines and various stakeholders. You will have to travel to national and international museums, conferences, expert meetings… according to the project’s needs. You will reconstruct a selection of historical recipes. You will conduct non-invasive/micro-invasive chemical characterisation primarily using X-ray and IR-based methods (e.g., pXRF/macro-XRF, pFTIR) and UV/Vis spectrometry, and you will manage multi-technique reference datasets. You will publish scientific articles in WoS/VABB-SHW journals with impact factor, related to the research project. You will carry out a limited number of teaching and research support tasks for the ARCHES Research Group. Profile You hold a master’s degree in Conservation-Restoration, Technical Art History, Chemistry or Physics related to heritage science, or you will have obtained it by the time you start work. Language skills: You have professional proficient reading skills of Dutch. You have professional proficiency in reading, speaking, and writing in English. Professional proficient reading skills of French is considered a plus. Demonstratable reading proficiency of additional languages is considered a plus (e.g. German). Expertise or notable experience in material-technical study and analysis of heritage objects is considered a plus. Expertise or notable experience in the study and/or the reconstruction of historical technologies is considered a plus. Expertise or notable experience with material characterisation by means of XRF and/or FTIR is considered a plus. When eligible, the candidate is obliged to apply at least one time for either a FWO PhD Fellowship fundamental research or a fellowship strategic basic research during the first two years of their PhD appointment. Your teaching competences are in line with the University of Antwerp’s educational vision. Your research qualities are in line with the faculty and university research policies. You act with attention to quality, integrity, creativity and cooperation. What we offer We offer a doctoral scholarship for a period of 1 year. Following a positive evaluation, the scholarship can be renewed for another period of 1 year, up until a maximum of 4 years in total. The planned start date is May 1 2026 or as soon as possible after that date. Your monthly scholarship amount is calculated according to the scholarship amounts for doctoral scholarship holders (Dutch: Bijzonder Academisch Personeel, BAP). You will receive ecocheques, Internet-connectivity allowance, and a bicycle allowance or a full reimbursement of public transport costs for commuting. You will work in an international context on an interdisciplinary project, giving access to state of the art equipment and key museum collections. As a doctoral researcher, you will have access to a wide and varied range of courses and an educational credit through the Antwerp Doctoral School. You will do most of your work at the City campus in a dynamic and stimulating working environment. Find out more about working at the University of Antwerp here. Want to apply? You can apply for this vacancy through the University of Antwerp’s online job application platform up to and including 9 March 2026 (by midnight Brussels time). Click on the 'Apply' button and complete the online application form. Be sure to include the following attachments: A motivation letter Your academic CV The selection committee reviews all applications as soon as possible after the application deadline. As soon as a decision is made, we will notify you. If you are still eligible after the pre-selection, you will be informed about the possible next step(s) in the selection procedure. If you have any questions about the online application form, please check the frequently asked questions or send an email to jobs@uantwerpen.be. If you have any questions about the job itself, please contact Vincent Cattersel, promotor of this project vincent.cattersel@uantwerpen.be. Context This project aims to study, reconstruct and contextualise artificially coloured wooden surfaces on late-17th- and 18th-century furniture from the North and South Netherlandish regions by chemically characterising their photodegraded, visually monochromatic surfaces. Research on an 18th-century South Netherlandish table from the KMKG-MRAH collections demonstrated that its original polychromy had gone unnoticed due to heavily faded colourants. Further investigation identified additional furniture pieces that were likely originally coloured, highlighting a broader issue within the field. Existing scholarship shows that the tradition of colouring or “painting on wood” in these regions remains largely unstudied, leading to misinterpretations of the furniture’s original aesthetic and historical significance. The project begins with an art-technical analysis of 17th- and 18th-century sources describing wood-colouring practices (Dutch, English; might include French, German). These sources will be structured into a relational dataset linking recipes, materials, techniques, and surviving objects. Selected recipes will then be experimentally reconstructed as mock-ups and subjected to artificial UV ageing under controlled conditions. Both the mock-ups and selected historical objects will be analysed at defined intervals using advanced imaging and spectroscopic techniques (FTIR, XRD, macro-XRF). The resulting data will be consolidated into a reference database to clarify the relationship between reconstructed materials and surviving furniture. Through this methodology, the project seeks to digitally reconstruct original polychrome appearances and generate knowledge that will support future research, including the development of safe conservation and stabilisation strategies for these fragile surfaces. The University of Antwerp received the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award for its HR policy. We are a sustainable, family-friendly organisation which invests in its employees’ growth. We encourage diversity and attach great importance to an inclusive working environment and equal opportunities, regardless of gender identity, disability, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or age. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse characteristics to apply. If you apply for this position please say you saw it on Socioloxy

Department: Heritage
Regime: Full-time

Let’s shape the future – University of Antwerp

The University of Antwerp is a dynamic, forward-thinking, European university. We offer an innovative academic education to more than 20000 students, conduct pioneering scientific research and play an important service-providing role in society. We are one of the largest, most international and most innovative employers in the region. With more than 6000 employees from 100 different countries, we are helping to build tomorrow's world every day. Through top scientific research, we push back boundaries and set a course for the future – a future that you can help to shape.

The Department of Conservation-Restoration in the Faculty of Design Sciences is looking for a full-time (100%) doctoral scholarship holder in the field of Technical Art History/Conservation-Restoration.

Position

You will work actively on the preparation and defence of a PhD thesis in the domain of Technical Art History/Conservation-Restoration, within the project "La peinture en bois - Visualising the colourful past based on the faded present". This is a multidisciplinary project that combines heritage science (e.g., SEM-EDX, XRF, FTIR-analysis), 17th and 18th-centuries archival studies and historical recipe studies with historically accurate reconstructions, to generate new insights into the wood colouring technologies and traditions on furniture from the 17th- and 18th-century Low Countries.
You will collaborate with the colleagues and stakeholders of the Belspo FED-tWIN HOME-AGE project, including the Royal Museum for Art & History, Brussels (KMKG-MRAH).
You will collaborate with heritage scientists, chemists, technical art historians, museum professionals and private collectors, and you may occasionally travel to partner collections/institutions linked to relevant case studies. Therefore, good communication skills are expected to act as a mediator between the different disciplines and various stakeholders.
You will have to travel to national and international museums, conferences, expert meetings… according to the project’s needs.
You will reconstruct a selection of historical recipes.
You will conduct non-invasive/micro-invasive chemical characterisation primarily using X-ray and IR-based methods (e.g., pXRF/macro-XRF, pFTIR) and UV/Vis spectrometry, and you will manage multi-technique reference datasets.
You will publish scientific articles in WoS/VABB-SHW journals with impact factor, related to the research project.
You will carry out a limited number of teaching and research support tasks for the ARCHES Research Group.

Profile

You hold a master’s degree in Conservation-Restoration, Technical Art History, Chemistry or Physics related to heritage science, or you will have obtained it by the time you start work.
Language skills:
- You have professional proficient reading skills of Dutch.
- You have professional proficiency in reading, speaking, and writing in English.
  - Professional proficient reading skills of French is considered a plus.
  - Demonstratable reading proficiency of additional languages is considered a plus (e.g. German).
Expertise or notable experience in material-technical study and analysis of heritage objects is considered a plus.
Expertise or notable experience in the study and/or the reconstruction of historical technologies is considered a plus.
Expertise or notable experience with material characterisation by means of XRF and/or FTIR is considered a plus.
When eligible, the candidate is obliged to apply at least one time for either a FWO PhD Fellowship fundamental research or a fellowship strategic basic research during the first two years of their PhD appointment.
Your teaching competences are in line with the University of Antwerp’s educational vision.
Your research qualities are in line with the faculty and university research policies.
You act with attention to quality, integrity, creativity and cooperation.

What we offer

We offer a doctoral scholarship for a period of 1 year. Following a positive evaluation, the scholarship can be renewed for another period of 1 year, up until a maximum of 4 years in total.
The planned start date is May 1 2026 or as soon as possible after that date.
Your monthly scholarship amount is calculated according to the scholarship amounts for doctoral scholarship holders (Dutch: Bijzonder Academisch Personeel, BAP).
You will receive ecocheques, Internet-connectivity allowance, and a bicycle allowance or a full reimbursement of public transport costs for commuting.
You will work in an international context on an interdisciplinary project, giving access to state of the art equipment and key museum collections.
As a doctoral researcher, you will have access to a wide and varied range of courses and an educational credit through the Antwerp Doctoral School.
You will do most of your work at the City campus in a dynamic and stimulating working environment.
Find out more about working at the University of Antwerp here.

Want to apply?

You can apply for this vacancy through the University of Antwerp’s online job application platform up to and including 9 March 2026 (by midnight Brussels time). Click on the 'Apply' button and complete the online application form. Be sure to include the following attachments:

A motivation letter
Your academic CV

The selection committee reviews all applications as soon as possible after the application deadline. As soon as a decision is made, we will notify you. If you are still eligible after the pre-selection, you will be informed about the possible next step(s) in the selection procedure.

If you have any questions about the online application form, please check the frequently asked questions or send an email to jobs@uantwerpen.be. If you have any questions about the job itself, please contact Vincent Cattersel, promotor of this project vincent.cattersel@uantwerpen.be.

Context

This project aims to study, reconstruct and contextualise artificially coloured wooden surfaces on late-17th- and 18th-century furniture from the North and South Netherlandish regions by chemically characterising their photodegraded, visually monochromatic surfaces. Research on an 18th-century South Netherlandish table from the KMKG-MRAH collections demonstrated that its original polychromy had gone unnoticed due to heavily faded colourants. Further investigation identified additional furniture pieces that were likely originally coloured, highlighting a broader issue within the field. Existing scholarship shows that the tradition of colouring or “painting on wood” in these regions remains largely unstudied, leading to misinterpretations of the furniture’s original aesthetic and historical significance.

The project begins with an art-technical analysis of 17th- and 18th-century sources describing wood-colouring practices (Dutch, English; might include French, German). These sources will be structured into a relational dataset linking recipes, materials, techniques, and surviving objects. Selected recipes will then be experimentally reconstructed as mock-ups and subjected to artificial UV ageing under controlled conditions. Both the mock-ups and selected historical objects will be analysed at defined intervals using advanced imaging and spectroscopic techniques (FTIR, XRD, macro-XRF).

The resulting data will be consolidated into a reference database to clarify the relationship between reconstructed materials and surviving furniture. Through this methodology, the project seeks to digitally reconstruct original polychrome appearances and generate knowledge that will support future research, including the development of safe conservation and stabilisation strategies for these fragile surfaces.

The University of Antwerp received the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award for its HR policy. We are a sustainable, family-friendly organisation which invests in its employees’ growth. We encourage diversity and attach great importance to an inclusive working environment and equal opportunities, regardless of gender identity, disability, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or age. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse characteristics to apply.

If you apply for this position please say you saw it on Socioloxy

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