[SydPhil] Expressions of interest: PhD scholarship; Research Assistant

[Maureen O'Malley]

Expressions of interest: PhD scholarship; Research Assistant

PhD Scholarship for a 3-year project on microbiome research: Symbiotic Synergies: How the Body Became a Chimera (1950-2000)

Project abstract: This project aims to investigate how central concepts in today’s revolutionary microbiome paradigm formed in earlier microbiology. We seek to study how the microbes inhabiting us came to be seen as symbiotic, and how certain concepts of symbiosis led to a new view of human bodies as multi-species chimeras. The project aims to generate historical and philosophical knowledge that can inform the metamorphoses biomedicine is now undergoing in the light of discoveries showing that health and disease depend on our microbes. Expected outcomes are novel interdisciplinary insights into the conceptual transformations that led to microbiome science. Benefits include a public-facing combination of scientific, historical and philosophical knowledge.

You’ll be working with a philosopher of biology (Maureen O’Malley) and two historians of science (Nic Rasmussen, Claas Kirchhelle). There will be some bibliometric work involved (training provided) as well as standard philosophical analysis of new historiographical material the historians will unearth. We expect you to gain a PhD by publication (3-4 articles).

Start date: Any time from March 2026 to June 2026.
Eligibility/skills: Domestic or international. Good Honours or MA degree. Relevant HPS background. Interest in microbiome research. Must be resident in NSW while carrying out the project.

Research Assistant for the same 3-year project on microbiome research:
This is a part-time position of 0.5 FTE for all 3 years. You’ll be constructing the database of new historical materials, helping classify and organize them with the historians, and assisting with their use in the philosophical bibliometric analysis. You’ll need some data management skills and will learn a lot more. You’ll also help with conference organization. There is some scope for the PhD student to be part-time and to combine it with this RA role, but that needs further investigation and confirmation.

Start date: March 2026
Eligibility/skills: Must have rights to work in Australia and be resident in NSW. Data management skills and capacities. HPS background an advantage.

Please contact Maureen O’Malley for further discussion of either/both positions: maureen.omalley at sydney.edu.au<mailto:maureen.omalley at sydney.edu.au>



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