Contrats doctoraux sur la science invisible dans l'Espagne du 20e siècle

Doctoral Fellowships on the Invisible Science in Twentieth-Century Spain

Call for applications


The research project “INVISIBLE SCIENCE IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY SPAIN” seeks potential candidates for 2 Doctoral fellowships for a 4 year period (2021-2024). The project is a joint venture between the Institut Interuniversitari López Piñero (IILP) at the Universitat de València, and the recently created Institut d’Història de la Ciència (IHC) – former CEHIC-, at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. The project is financed by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación until 2024.

At the IILP, the selected candidate will work under the supervision of Professor José Ramón Bertomeu-Sánchez on a specific topic related to the subproject 1, which is entitled: INVISIBLE TOXICS: CHEMISTRY, AGRICULTURE AND PUBLIC HEALTH (1940-1990). The subproject deals with the invisibilization of toxic risks in twentieth-century Spain in different contexts: agriculture (pesticides), public health (fumigations), mining (lead mines) and pharmacy (opioids, sulfones). Adopting a “biographical approach” to toxic products, the members of the project aim to integrate different scientific, legal, political, economic and medical realms related to the production and use of toxic products and the (in)/visibilization of the risks. The different cases are connected by similar sources (mainly Spanish), historical actors, and regulatory frameworks.

At the IHC (former CEHIC), the selected candidate will work under the supervision of Professor Agustí Nieto-Galan on a specific topic related to the subproject 2, which is entitled: INVISIBLE KNOWLEDGE: THE POLITICS OF CENSORSHIP, AND SCIENCE POPULARIZATION (1940-1990). The subproject deals with several mechanisms that made science (and knowledge, in a broad sense) invisible along the 20th century in Spain. It pays particular attention to censorship in scientific books, periodicals, and the daily press during General Franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975). Equally, it approaches several cases of science popularization, in dictatorship and democracy, which served particular interests, promoted specific domains of scientific knowledge and deliberately made others invisible to the general public.

Selected candidates must be officially enrolled in the History of Science Doctorate programme, either at the IILP or the IHC. They will earn an annual gross salary around 16.250€ in the first 2 years; 17.410€ in the third year; and 21.760€ in the fourth year. Under certain requirements, candidates can apply for a 6-12 months funded postdoctoral extra period.

Further details of the application procedure, which will be open from 13 to 23 October (14:00 hrs ECT), can be found at the website of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Inovación ,

For more details on the research projects, as well as for help on the application procedure (if necessary), please contact Professors Bertomeu-Sánchez [Jose.R.Bertomeu@uv.es], and/or Nieto-Galan [agusti.nieto@uab.cat].