Call for Applications: PhD Scholarship in the Project “Glass Bees: Knowing, Valuing and Engaging with Soil in the Age of Digital Agriculture”

The Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences announces a competition for the position PhD-scholarship in the project “Glass Bees: knowing, valuing and engaging with soil in the age of digital agriculture.” (2026/2029) led by dr Celina Strzelecka

Project financed by the National Science Center – Poland,
as part of the “Sonata 21” competition (Grant No. 2025/59/D/HS6/00364)

Projected start of project: October 1, 2026
Number of scholarships: 1
Four-year doctoral scholarship (including 36 months funded from the project budget). The scholarship amount is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Polish Law on Higher Education and Science. The doctoral scholarship currently amounts to PLN 3,571 gross per month before the mid-term evaluation and PLN 5,501 gross per month after the successful completion of the mid-term evaluation.

Information about the project

The project “Glass Bees: knowing, valuing and engaging with soil in the age of digital agriculture” investigates how the digital transformation of agriculture is reshaping relationships between humans, soil, and technology. While sensors, artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and predictive algorithms are increasingly used in agriculture, little is known about how these technologies transform the ways soil is understood, valued, and cared for. The project addresses this gap by examining how digital agriculture reconfigures the ethical, epistemic, and temporal dimensions of human–soil relations in contemporary Poland.

The project is grounded in assemblage theory and environmental anthropology. Rather than treating soil as a passive resource, it approaches soil as a living infrastructure and an active participant in agricultural practices and knowledge production. The research explores how farmers, soils, agroalgorithms, sensors, digital platforms, institutions, and environmental processes jointly shape emerging forms of agricultural knowledge, care, and decision-making. Particular attention is paid to the tensions between embodied farming experience and data-driven models, as well as between ecological rhythms and the accelerated temporalities of digital technologies.
Empirically, the project focuses on Poland, where the rapid digitalisation of agriculture intersects with a large number of small and medium-sized farms, debates surrounding the European Green Deal, and growing interest in regenerative agriculture. Using an interdisciplinary methodological approach, the project combines media analysis, mapping of agroalgorithmic assemblages, ethnographic fieldwork, and participatory Future Workshops conducted with farmers, researchers, designers, advisers, and other stakeholders.

Announcement

Applications must be electronically submitted by August 31, 2026 to the following address:
konkurs@ifispan.edu.pl, with CC to celina.strzelecka@ifispan.edu.pl,
with a note in the title: “Competition PhD student – Glass Bees”.

The selection of applicants will be conducted by a Recruitment Commission on the basis of the principles set out in the Regulations On Awarding Funding For Research Tasks Funded By The National Science Centre As Regards Research Projects (Annex to NCN Council Resolution No 72/2025 of 11 September 2025) and in accordance with generally applicable laws and internal regulations of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, where the project is implemented.

The selection process involves two stages.
Stage 1: At this stage, the Selection Committee will verify the completeness of application packages and conduct a preliminary evaluation based on the submitted documents. Up to 7 top-ranked candidates will be invited to the second stage. (60% of the evaluation)

Stage 2: The second stage will consist of individual interviews conducted in Polish and English, lasting up to 30 minutes. Interviews will take place between 16 and 18 September 2026, at the IFiS headquarters in Warsaw. (40% of the evaluation)

Applicants will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by 22 September 2026. In the event of resignation of the selected application, we reserve the right to indicate the next application from the ranking list.

The successful candidate will be registered as PhD student in sociology at the Graduate School for Social Research (GSSR, https://www.gssr.edu.pl/).

classic-editor-remember:

block-editor