Research engineer | Inventory of Reused Religious Heritage

A 12-month research engineer position is available within the France 2030 programme ReligiS (Religions and Societies Facing Contemporary Challenges).

ReligiS is a major Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) research initiative funded by the French State under the France 2030 investment programme. Running for six years (April 2025–March 2031) with a budget of €9 million, the project is coordinated by the University of Strasbourg and brings together a consortium of twelve French academic partners, including the CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, École Pratique des Hautes Études, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, ENS de Lyon, INALCO, Sciences Po Paris, the Universities of Lorraine, Lyon 2 and Lyon 3, the French School at Athens, and the Strasbourg National and University Library.

ReligiS investigates interactions between religions and societies in the contemporary world from a long-term perspective. The programme has two main objectives:

1. To develop a new, open, interdisciplinary, and international scientific framework for rethinking the transformation of the relations between societies and religions.

2. To create institutional conditions for large-scale knowledge transfer on religion from academia to policymakers and wider society.

These objectives will be supported by the creation of the International College for the Study of Religions and Society based at the University of Strasbourg.

The successful candidate will contribute to Research axis 2, ‘Mapping Religion’, specifically, research group 2.2: ‘Religious Heritage and Memory(ies)’.

Working Conditions

The researcher will be based at the Research Centre for the English-Speaking World (LERMA, UR 853), Maison de la Recherche, Schuman Campus, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Aix-en-Provence.

Founded in 2002, LERMA is a research unit of Aix-Marseille University dedicated to the study of the languages and cultures of English-speaking countries worldwide. The centre brings together around forty researchers specializing in linguistics, translation, history, literature, and visual arts, and hosts several digital mapping projects.

The candidate’s area of specialization does not need to coincide with the geographical areas traditionally covered by LERMA.

Contract Period

January–December 2027

Supervision

At Aix-Marseille University, the researcher will be supervised by Anne Dunan-Page (LERMA, Institut Universitaire de France, Director of the Maison de la Recherche, and Co-Leader of research group 2.2).

They will also collaborate closely with Anne Fornerod (University of Strasbourg), Co-Leader of research group 2.2.

Additional partners involved in the project include:

• Aix-Marseille University’s Scientific Outreach Unit and the University of Strasbourg’s OPUS programme;

• The library of the The Maison méditerranéenne des sciences humaines et sociales and Aix-Marseille University Library Services;

• The Regional Councils for Architecture, Urban Planning and Environment (CAUE) of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Grand Est regions;

• The National Schools of Architecture in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Grand Est regions.

Duties and Responsibilities

The researche engineer will be recruited within the ReligiS programme. Applicants should have experience researching religion and expertise in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), database management, and digital mapping. Experience in other areas of the digital humanities will also be considered an asset.

The research group 2.2 examines the transformation of religious buildings that have lost their original function. The decommissioning of places of worship and the closure of religious institutions have accelerated significantly in many Western countries over recent decades as part of broader secularization processes. These developments have led to sales, occasional demolitions, and, more commonly, the reuse, conversion, repurposing, and recycling of religious buildings.

Although these sites often retain strong symbolic significance, their preservation no longer necessarily entails maintaining religious use. Reuse has therefore emerged as an alternative to physical disappearance and contributes to new forms of religious heritage-making, in which social, cultural, residential, or commercial functions increasingly replace liturgical ones. These transformations profoundly reshape the relationships between the sacred and the secular, religious memory, and heritage.

The project seeks to move beyond an understanding of the reuse of religious buildings as merely a transition from the religious to the secular. Instead, observed forms of reuse reveal considerable diversity depending on territorial contexts, historical periods, religious traditions, and new functions. Relationships between religious value and heritage value generate a wide range of configurations, from symbolic and functional continuity to more pronounced discontinuities.

To assess the scale, pace, and diversity of these transformations over the past fifty years, the first phase of research will focus on creating a quantitative inventory of reused places of worship in two French regions: Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) and Grand Est.

Currently, no systematic inventory documents their spatial distribution (urban/rural), the types of initiatives involved (public/private), the uses adopted (cultural, commercial, residential, recreational), or variations according to religious denomination and building type (churches, chapels, convent complexes, Protestant temples, mosques, synagogues).

This inventory will take the form of a database and visualisation of data on a georeferenced map designed to visualize patterns of circulation and repurposing of religious heritage in contemporary space.

The research engineer will also coordinate the project’s citizen science activities, including communication tools, public engagement initiatives, collection of oral and visual testimonies, and dissemination activities concerning rehabilitated religious heritage.

The successful candidate will contribute to the conceptual and methodological articulation between the project’s quantitative inventory and complementary qualitative approaches, as well as to their implementation.

Main Activities

• Collect and manage data for the inventory project.

• Structure and organize the database to facilitate data analysis and processing.

• Develop and implement digital mapping tools for the visualization and interpretation of results.

• Coordinate and collaborate with project partners.

• Collaborate with other sub-groups and projects within Research Axis 2 of ReligiS.

• Disseminate research findings through social media, research blogs, newsletters, and related communication channels.

• Participate in citizen science initiatives in collaboration with ReligiS Group 7.2.

• Contribute to the organization of scientific events for Research Group 2.2.

• Develop strategies integrating quantitative and qualitative research approaches.

• Produce scholarly outputs based on case studies emerging from the inventory.

Required Qualifications and Skills

Academic Qualifications and Research Experience

• PhD in the Humanities and Social Sciences focusing on religion, regardless of historical period or geographical area.

• Demonstrated digital skills, ideally acquired through projects involving mapping, databases, or research data management.

• Proven research experience evidenced through publications, conference presentations, outreach activities, or equivalent scholarly outputs.

Scientific and Technical Skills

• Strong command of research approaches and methodologies in the Humanities and Social Sciences applied to the study of religion.

• Demonstrated ability to collect, process, and analyse empirical data.

• Experience of database management and exploitation.

• Knowledge of digital mapping issues and mastery of relevant software and tools.

• Excellent analytical and academic writing skills.

Organizational and Interpersonal Skills

• Ability to work effectively in interdisciplinary research teams.

• Capacity to collaborate with a diverse range of institutional and academic partners.

• Autonomy, initiative, and responsiveness.

• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, respect for deadlines, and ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

Language Requirements

Good command of French, written and spoken.

Constraints

Travel to the Grand Est region will be required throughout the contract period for data collection and collaboration with project partners.

Application (PDF format)

Please submit to anne.page@univ-amu.fr the following elements:

• A single PDF file containing:

  • Detailed CV, including experience in digital humanities and data management;

  • PhD dissertation report/examiners’ report;

  • Cover letter.

• PDF copy of the doctoral dissertation.

• One or two publications considered most relevant to the position.

• One letter of recommendation (excluding the PhD supervisor).