[INDOLOGY] Four Year Doctoral Fellowship in Gandhāra Corpora Project at Ghent University

Fri Jul 18 16:00:08 UTC 2025

Dear Friends,

I would like to bring your attention to the following call for applications
for a doctoral fellowship in the ERC funded Gandhāra Corpora Project. a
project dealing with Buddhist and related manuscripts in several genres, to
the attention of the H-Buddhism community. This is a fully funded,
four-year fellowship resulting in a PhD. Please share this with any younger
scholars in your network who are interested in pursuing an academic career
in Buddhist Studies. The candidate should know Sanskrit, but beyond that I
am quite pleased to leave the profile rather open and am happy to receive
applications from folk of various backgrounds and interests. The
application deadline is August 15th and, knowing the way of the summer,
will arrive quicker than we all may like. So, please do not hesitate to
share this with any recent graduates who may be interested.

The vacancy may be found *here*
<https://www.ugent.be/en/work/scientific/doctoral-fellow-47> and here
<https://www.cbs.ugent.be/uncategorized/phd-opportunity-at-the-ghent-centre-for-buddist-studies-2/>
and
the details are also pasted below.

With my best wishes,
Charles

Doctoral fellow
Last application date: Aug 15, 2025 00:00

DepartmentLW21 - Department of Languages and Cultures

Contract :Limited duration (4 years)

Degree: MA

Occupancy rate: 100%

Vacancy type: Research staff

Job description
Doctoral Fellowship in the ERC Funded Gandhāra Corpora Project at Ghent
University

Applications are invited for one full-time PhD research position of 4 years
within the ERC Starting Grant project “Corpora in Greater Gandhāra: Tracing
the Development of Buddhist Textuality and Gilgit/Bamiyan Manuscript
Networks in the First Millennium of the Common Era” (Gandhāra Corpora) led
by Professor Charles DiSimone at the Department of Languages and Cultures,
Ghent University located in the center of the beautiful and historic city
of Ghent, Belgium.

In the last several years, fantastic manuscript finds have surfaced opening
new windows into the scholarly study of the development of Buddhist
literature. Gandhāra Corpora represents a multifaceted, holistic approach
to the study of an important and voluminous genre of manuscript witnesses
from an early era of Buddhist textual transmission composed mainly in
Sanskrit in the Gilgit/Bamiyan type scripts from the historic region of
Greater Gandhāra covering modern day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of
Northern India. The advertised PhD fellowship offers an opportunity for a
young scholar to situate themselves within the field of the philological
study of Buddhist manuscript cultures specifically and Buddhist Studies
broadly.

In the Gandhāra Corpora project, the researcher will join an international
team of scholars working on manuscript materials recently uncovered from
the historic area of Greater Gandhāra and contribute to the study and
preservation of this material. Within the department, the Pre-doctoral
researcher will be a member of both the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies (
https://www.cbs.ugent.be/) and the Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies
research groups (https://www.india.ugent.be/english/). A project website
will be up this fall but brief project details may be found here:
https://research.flw.ugent.be/en/projects/corpora-greater-gandh%C4%81ra-tracing-development-buddhist-textuality-and-gilgitbamiyan

All nationalities are welcome to apply.

You will contribute to the project in the following ways:

1. You will complete a doctoral dissertation on a Buddhist Studies project
for a degree in Oriental Languages and Cultures.

2. Your dissertation will consist of an original research project based
upon your research interests within the scope of the Gandhāra Corpora
project. The topic will be agreed upon in the early stages of your
fellowship. While no particular dissertation topic is anticipated, projects
on Buddhist sūtra literature and textual transmissions are most welcome.

3. You will contribute to the project’s goals including but not limited to
the digitization of manuscript materials in the field, the development of a
database of akṣara usage in the manuscripts the project is focused upon,
the creation of a digital archive of Buddhist and secular textual materials
from the area of Greater Gandhāra, cataloging of manuscript witnesses, and
additional research goals as deemed relevant to your doctoral project.

4. You will work closely with the research carried out by the project
supervisor, post-doctoral fellows, and with the other project members
including expert research partners stationed around the globe consisting of
scholars in Europe and Asia and our partners at the Archaeology Institute
of Afghanistan in Kabul consisting of a dedicated team of archeologists and
conservationists.

5. You will be encouraged and expected to disseminate research results
together with the research team via publications in international
peer-reviewed journals, the participation in international conferences, etc.

6. You will contribute to the research environment in South Asian and
Buddhist Studies at Ghent University through participation in reading
groups, workshops, and other scholarly events.

Job profile
Your profile includes the following items:

• You hold a master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Buddhist Studies,
Religious Studies, South Asian Studies, Indology, Sanskrit, etc.).
• You have a good or above proficiency in Sanskrit.
• You have some background in the study of Buddhist textual transmissions.
• You have the ability to develop an original research project.
• You have an excellent command of written and spoken English.
• You are a dynamic and enthusiastic person looking to do something you
love in a thriving research community where you are valued.

Additional desirable qualifications (not required but viewed positively):

• Proficiency in any of the historic languages of Buddhist textual
transmission beyond Sanskrit (Classical Chinese, Classical Tibetan, Pali,
Gāndhārī, etc.), proficiency in Japanese or Bactrian, knowledge of any
Brahmic scripts.
• An interest in the philological and paleographical study of Buddhist
texts and/or North Indian/Central Asian textual history broadly.
• An interest in archeology and the preservation of objects of historic and
cultural significance.
• Any previous background in the Digital Humanities or an interest in
developing such skills.

CONDITIONS AND BENEFITS

• We offer a full-time position as a doctoral fellow, consisting of an
initial period of 12 months, which - after a positive evaluation, will be
extended to a total maximum of 48 months.
• Your contract will start on October 1, 2025 at the earliest.
• The scholarship amount is quite generous at 100% of the net salary of an
AAP (Academic Assistant Personnel) member in equal family circumstances.
The individual scholarship amount is determined by the DPO (Department of
Personnel and Organization) on the basis of family circumstances and
seniority. A grant that meets the conditions and criteria of the
regulations for doctoral scholarships is considered free of personal income
tax. More information about our salary scales may be found here:
https://www.ugent.be/en/work/talent/welcoming-new-staff/salaryscales
• All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a
wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday
leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed
bridge days, bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. For a complete overview of
all the staff benefits see here:
https://www.ugent.be/en/work/talent/considering and here (in Dutch):
https://www.ugent.be/nl/jobs/personeelsvoordelen.htm
• The City of Ghent is truly unique. The campuses of Ghent University are
integrated in the medieval town and 19th century districts that circumvent
the medieval part of the city. Ghent has a lively art scene and numerous
world-class museums, covering ancient, modern and contemporary art,
folklore and industrial heritage. The city is also home to a wide range of
performing arts centers. The vibrant cultural scene of the city fuses in
with the daily life of Ghent people and the city’s more than 70,000
students who together enjoy one of Europe’s largest pedestrian areas. This
unique combination of old and new has made Ghent a cultural hot spot with
Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, London and Cologne only a few hours (or less)
away by train.

How to apply
To apply submit the following materials in pdf format directly via email to
Prof. Charles DiSimone (Charles.DiSimone at UGent.be
<https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20120738/(Charles.DiSimone@UGent.be>)
with the subject header "LAST NAME Gandhāra Corpora PHD 2025" cc project
coordinator Els Bourgeois (Els.Bourgeois at UGent.be
<https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20120738/(Els.Bourgeois@UGent.be>
).

• Your complete CV and an overview of your study results.
• Your MA diploma (if already in hand) and transcripts of your studies at
the undergraduate and MA level (official or unofficial).
• A cover letter outlining your experience and interest in undertaking
doctoral studies at Ghent University in the Gandhāra Corpora project.
• A research statement or NO MORE THAN 1500 words (excluding bibliography)
outlining your research interests and past experiences including any
potential dissertation project you may be interested in undertaking within
the broader aims of the Gandhāra Corpora project.
• Up to two samples of academic work (journal articles, research papers, a
chapter of your MA thesis, etc.).
• Names and contact details of two or three referees (do not include
reference letters).

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted shortly after the application
deadline for an online interview with the results announced soon
thereafter. Any questions about this vacancy may be sent by email directly
to Prof. DiSimone. Interested parties are welcome to initiate contact
before submitting their application.

Prof. Dr. Charles DiSimone
Associate Professor of Buddhist Studies & Indology
Department of Languages and Cultures
Ghent University
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