Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Research Innovation Hub 2025

Listing reference: nwu_003584
Listing status: Online
Apply by: 4 July 2025
Position summary
Industry: Education & Training
Job category: University and Academy
Location: Mafikeng - Capital City
Contract: Fixed Term Contract
Remuneration: Market Related
About our company
NWU
Introduction
Suitable candidates are invited to apply for the position of a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Research Innovation Hub within the Faculty of Education at the North-West University (NWU), South Africa. This postdoctoral fellowship is funded by the North-West University and is a two-year position, but the contract can be extended for up to three years, subject to satisfactory performance during the previous year. The Research Innovation Hub will host the appointed fellow, who will be expected to reside in Mafikeng for the duration of the contract. Information on the Research Innovation Hub is available at https://education.nwu.ac.za/research-and-innovation/about-us and for more information on the North-West University, please visit http://www.nwu.ac.za/
Job description

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow is expected to conduct and publish ethical research anchored on one of the cornerstones of postcolonial and decolonial discourse with an emphasis on Homi Bhabha’s theory of hybridity, which postulates the creation of new cultural identities through the amalgamation of different cultural elements. Central to hybridity is the notion of the “third space” -  an interstitial space where cultures and justice-oriented  pedagogies intersect and interact. Bhabha contends that this space nurtures a common ground for negotiation and transformation, leading to the negation of traditional binary oppositions. That third space, though unrepresentable in itself, constitutes the discursive conditions of enunciation that ensure that the meaning and symbols of culture have no primordial unity or fixity. This intriguing third space in literature and language teaching reimagines cultural signs and practices that can be appropriated, translanguaged and rehistoricized, fostering the creation of new meanings and identities that challenge the conventional binary divide, especially in education in post-apartheid South Africa.

Minimum requirements

Qualification and Experience 

  • The applicant should hold a Doctoral degree in Literature, Language Education, or Education Research, obtained within the past five years from a university other than North-West University, with a focus on education as the practice of freedom, intersectionality, gender solidarities, languages, literacies and learning in diverse settings, and multidisciplinary knowledge production;
  • The applicant must be willing to significantly contribute to the research outputs related to the central scholarly focus of the Research Innovation Hub that is strongly inclined towards a Southern epistemology;
  • The applicant must demonstrate evidence of scholarly performance, including a relevant publication record preferably in ISI-listed or IBSS-listed journals and
  • The applicant must demonstrate English language proficiency, as well as sound conceptual and writing skills.

Application

To apply for this contract engagement, please provide via email the following documentation:
  • A motivation letter for the research you are interested in pursuing in the Research Innovation Hub (Indicate your research focus/interest).
  • A detailed CV including your journal articles/relevant publication record.
  • The names and contact details of three contactable referees.
  • A copy of you PhD qualification.
  • A certified copy of ID or Passport.

Kindly submit the above-listed documents to the Acting Deputy Dean Research and Innovation Prof Martha Matashu . Martha.Matashu@nwu.ac.za APPLICATION DEADLINE: 4 July 2025

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