‘Transformations of Decadence in Contemporary Finnish Metal Music’
🇩🇪 & 🇫🇮
JGU [Johannes Gutenberg-Universität-Mainz] and Helsinki University [Helsingin Yliopisto]
DECADOCS is a pioneering research and training programme enabled by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks (MSCA-DN) aimed at reinterpreting the concept of decadence. Traditionally associated with decline, decadence will be explored through new perspectives, focusing on sustainability, transnationalism, and sensoriality. The programme offers tailored intersectoral training in collaboration with museums, archives, galleries, and other partners, reinforcing its scientific and social impact.
We are recruiting a PhD candidate for a fully-funded project within DECADOCS, a pioneering research and training programme enabled by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks (MSCA DN) aimed at reinterpreting the concept of decadence.
The doctoral project “Transformations of Decadence in contemporary Finnish metal music” contributes to DECADOCS through a case study of a Finnish metal band Moonsorrow. In the light of a selection of Moonsorrow music, the project will develop new tools and perspectives to understand the legacy and appeal of decadence in contemporary culture. The research includes a poetic analysis of a selection of Moonsorrow’s lyrics, defining their affiliation both to Finnish mythology and tropes of decadence, combined with an empirical study of music perception. The results will be compiled into a doctoral thesis.
The successful candidate will be offered a fully funded four-year contract to obtain a joint doctoral degree at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, and the University of Helsinki, Finland, under the supervision of Prof. Riikka Rossi and Prof. Birger Petersen. The doctoral researcher will be expected to move to Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz for the first 24 months of the project, and then complete the project at the University of Helsinki, Finland during the last 24 months of the project.
The four-year doctoral project includes two four-month secondments. The first is at the Max-Planck-Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Germany where the candidate will conduct empirical and applied research in music perception. The second is at the Finnish Literature Society, where the PhD candidate will join the research department, a vibrant interdisciplinary community in humanities. During both secondments, the candidate is expected to engage in cultural management, e.g. tasks in organizing public events and assisting with research projects.
Requirements
Research Field
literature; musicology
Education Level
Master’s degree or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications
We are looking for highly motivated and talented candidates with:
- A master’s degree in relevant fields (literature, musicology or art studies)
- Excellent skills in Finnish and English
- A strong interest in Decadence studies and interdisciplinary research
- Interest in methods of analysing popular music
- A strong academic performance
Specific Requirements
Experience in decadence studies, interdisciplinary research and/or knowledge of other languages is considered as an asset.
Key responsibilities
The position is available for 48 months and the key tasks as a PhD student are:
- To manage and carry out the research project
- To write a PhD thesis
- To write articles for scientific peer-reviewed journals
- To attend and participate in research and training activities within the international DECADOCS network and local courses of the doctoral programme
- To teach and disseminate research in the scientific community (international conferences) and non-scientific community, by outreach and public engagement
Languages
English; Finnish
Level
Excellent (C2)
Additional Information
About JGU and Helsinki University
Founded in 1476, the Johannes Gutenberg-University is one of the oldest universities in Germany. Today more than 30,000 students, including 4.500 international students from more than 130 different countries, comprise the student body. The faculties include Natural Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences as well as Law, Economics and Medicine. In addition to these classical subjects, the university also offers studies in Art History, Film and Theater, Journalism, Athletics and graduate classes for interpreters and translators. Furthermore, the Johannes Gutenberg-University is the only German university to include two artistic-practical departments – the Academy of Fine Arts and the School of Music. This unique combination of science and art as well as research, teaching and artistic practice is reflected in many interdisciplinary study programs such as the Studium Generale, training in choral singing, interdisciplinary work groups and graduate lectures.
JGU seeks to attract the best and brightest minds, thus employing a professional, transparent recruitment and appointment strategy. The university is committed to ensuring diversity and equal opportunities, creating positive prospects and enriching all its members through the promotion and reward of their individual skills and talents. With this clear commitment to a diversity-based university culture, we have created a motivating work environment that fosters job satisfaction and invites our staff to contribute to diversity management at the university.
More on https://universitaet.uni-mainz.de/en/
A good study atmosphere, personal supervision, and individual support – the Mainz School of Music combines all these conditions necessary for successful study. The wide range of performance opportunities and the preparation given for different professional areas represent a clear educational advantage for our students.
Professional musicians have been trained in Mainz for over 60 years. With the aim of bringing together art and science in one location, the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate opted to tread a new path within Germany’s higher education landscape: Instead of establishing an independent school of music and art in Rhineland-Palatinate, artistic education was integrated into the university structure. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is the only university in Germany that combines the scientific and artistic fields under one roof. Even though both the School of Music and the Mainz Academy of Arts belong to the university, both institutions enjoy special status with far-reaching partial autonomy, guaranteed by the university’s charter in recognition of the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Education Act.
The unique combination of artistic practice, research, and teaching gives the Mainz School of Music a special profile. While, like all schools of music, the school offers artistic and music education programs of study, the school’s integration into Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz produces an exciting dialog between art and science. Artistic, musicological, music education, and other academic course elements are combined and weighted differently in the different programs of study on offer.
The profile focus on »Historically informed performance practice« was developed in recent years through, amongst other things, the university’s support. Nowadays, solid knowledge and ability in this area are indispensable for singers and instrumentalists alike. To this end, the performance practice-oriented education offered does not concentrate solely on the realization of older music styles but instead aims to develop students’ sensibilities for the esthetics of different musical periods as well as to develop interpretive approaches that suit the period in which musical works were created. For some years now, the Mainz School of Music has been leading the way among German music schools when it comes to the area of class music making. Experience and research go hand in hand. The objective is an action-oriented music lesson, for which practice materials can be created based on the research carried out. The artistic and artistic-teaching programs of study offered are supplemented by a variety of additional courses offered as an accompaniment to the major field of study.
https://www.music.uni-mainz.de/
The University of Helsinki (est. 1640) is the oldest and largest institution of academic education Finland, and an acknowledged multidisciplinary university featuring in the number of top 50-100 in most international university rankings and attracts over 30, 000 students. The university encompasses 11 faculties, including Theology, Law, Medicine, Natural Sciences, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Educational Sciences, Social Sciences, Agriculture and Forestry, and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
At the University of Helsinki, the doctoral researcher will join the thriving, international research community at the Faculty of Arts, which located right in the historical city centre of Helsinki. With a great variety of disciplines and high-quality degree programmes, the faculty teaches over 5000 students in six departments. Cultural, regional and linguistic diversity is one of the focus areas of the Faculty, which encompasses 50 disciplines ranging from to Digital humanities to Theatre Studies and Indigenous languages. The faculty fosters social and environmental sustainability, both in excelling research in environmental humanities, and by encouraging responsibility, collegiality, and healthy working practices and environments.
The doctoral candidate will work at the Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies, which is the largest unit of its kind in the world. It develops theoretically and methodologically cutting-edge research in several disciplines and in many theoretical orientations, including cognitive linguistics and poetics, interaction studies and Indigenous studies. Literary scholars at the department work with a variety of thriving directions in literary studies, e.g. literature and emotions, ecocriticism, genetic criticism, and empirical and computational literary studies.
For a scholar of decadence, the University of Helsinki provides excellent research environment. The study of Nordic fin-de-siècle in literature and art is namely an established field within the faculty of Arts for decades. In Helsinki, the doctoral candidate will engage with a vibrant community of scholars working on Finnish decadence and its legacy.
The University of Helsinki offers comprehensive benefits to its employees, including:
- Occupational health care.
- Flexible working hours suiting various life situations.
- Access to high quality sports facilities.
- Opportunities for professional development.
Please find more information about working at the University of Helsinki and living in Finland
BENEFITS:
The EU provides support for each recruited researcher in the form of
- a living allowance
- a mobility allowance
- if applicable, family, long-term leave and special needs allowances
ELIGIBILITY:
Researchers funded by MSCA Doctoral Networks
- must not have a doctoral degree at the date of their recruitment
- can be of any nationality
- should not be enrolled in another doctoral programme during the project
- should comply with the mobility rules: in general, they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting organisation for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date
Where to apply and what to send:
- a cover letter stating your motivation to apply for the position and your key competencies relevant for this position
- an up-to-date CV, including details of your BA and MA degrees
- copies of your diplomas and transcripts of records (BA and MA)
- evidence of proficiency in academic English (a sample of academic writing from your MA)
- the names and contact details of two referees
- proof of ID (passport, identity card);
- a declaration of Honour stating that you fulfil the eligibility criteria.
Our selection procedure is merit-based and follows the guidelines of the recruitment of European Commission’s European Code of Conduct for researchers:
All applications are now closed.
Interviews will take place online from 17 to 22 November 2025.
Contact
Riikka Rossi, Helsinki University
Birger Petersen , JGU
Send your application in a single PDF document labelled ‘name.applicationIRP9’ to Profs Rossi and Petersen.
DECADOCS 