We welcome project ideas that engage critically and innovatively with Hans Christian Andersen’s life, oeuvre, and literary and cultural reception, broadly conceived. Successful applicants will develop their MSCA proposal in close collaboration with a senior researcher at the Centre, who will act as supervisor, and will become part of a vibrant, internationally oriented research environment.

About the Hans Christian Andersen Centre

The Hans Christian Andersen Centre is an internationally recognised research centre dedicated to the study of Hans Christian Andersen’s authorship, its historical contexts, and its continuing literary and cultural significance. The Centre is based in Odense, Denmark. It forms part of an extensive international network of Andersen scholars and Scandinavists, while also maintaining close collaborations with cultural and public institutions at the local and national level.

The Centre’s research activities are organised around three overarching and interconnected research perspectives:

• Creative Processes and Textual Genesis: Research into Andersen’s working methods and the genesis of his texts, including manuscript studies, genetic criticism, and digital scholarly editions.
• Global Circulation and Reception: Research into the international circulation of Andersen’s works, including translation, adaptation, remediation, and reception across different cultural, linguistic, and historical contexts.
• Contemporary Relevance: Research into modern and contemporary representations, reinterpretations, and uses of Andersen in literature, children’s culture, biography, visual arts, and other media.

Across these areas, the Centre combines literary scholarship with perspectives from cultural history, translation studies, adaptation studies, digital humanities, and reception studies, and places strong emphasis on both international collaboration and public dissemination.

Project scope and academic profiles

Applicants’ project proposals must fall within, or engage meaningfully with, one or more of the Centre’s research areas. While the Centre has strong expertise in literary studies and cultural analysis, we explicitly encourage applications from candidates whose work complements and expands the existing research profile.

Relevant disciplinary and interdisciplinary backgrounds may include, but are not limited to:

• Literary studies (including world literature, reception studies, and adaptation studies)
• Translation studies and comparative literature
• Manuscript studies, genetic criticism, and digital scholarly editing
• Children’s literature studies
• Cultural history and media studies
• Folklore studies
• Fairy-tale studies
• Illustration studies and visual culture, including book illustration and image–text relations
• Intertextuality studies, including approaches to textual reuse, transformation, and rewriting across genres, media, and cultural contexts

Projects may focus on textual, visual, medial, or performative dimensions of Andersen’s work and legacy, and may address historical as well as contemporary materials.

In the letter of interest, applicants must clearly articulate:

• how their project aligns with and contributes to the Centre’s research environment,
• why the proposed supervisor’s expertise is essential to the project (see list of researchers),
• how the fellowship will support the applicant’s academic and professional development, and
• how collaboration between the fellow, the supervisor, and the Centre will enable mutual transfer of knowledge.

About the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships are among the most prestigious funding schemes within the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme. The fellowships aim to enhance researchers’ creative and innovative potential through advanced training, international mobility, and interdisciplinary research.

MSCA-PF grants cover the fellow’s salary, a mobility allowance, research costs, and institutional overheads.

Two types of fellowships are available:

• European Postdoctoral Fellowships, open to researchers of any nationality, with SDU as host institution (duration: 12–24 months).
• Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, open to European nationals or long-term residents, involving an outgoing phase outside the EU or Horizon Europe Associated Countries (duration: 12–24 months), followed by a mandatory return phase to SDU (duration: 12 months).

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must: 

• have successfully defended their PhD prior to the MSCA call deadline 9 September 2026.
• have a maximum of eight years of full-time equivalent research experience after the PhD (excluding eligible career breaks).
• comply with the MSCA mobility rule (not having resided or carried out their main activity in Denmark for more than 12 months in the 36 months prior to the call deadline, for European Fellowships).

Only one MSCA-PF proposal per applicant is permitted. Applicants who applied to the MSCA-PF 2025 call and received a score below 80% are not eligible to apply in 2026.

About the University of Southern Denmark

The University of Southern Denmark is a research-intensive university with a strong international profile and a strategic commitment to external funding and researcher development. SDU provides structured support for MSCA applicants, including proposal development workshops, feedback, and administrative assistance.

SDU is committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion and has been awarded the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research distinction.