Student Assistant Provenance Studies

2025-05-06

At the Institute of Philosophy and Art History (IPK) at Leuphana University Lüneburg, the Professorship for Provenance Studies in the Department of Art History, led by Prof. Dr. Lynn Rother, is looking to hire a

Student Assistant (m/f/d)

for a start date of September 15, 2025, with a maximum of 19h per week. The position is remunerated in accordance with the collective agreement for student assistants (€13.25/hour). It is intended to be filled for the medium term and can run for up to two years (through the summer semester of 2027).

The Lichtenberg Professorship for Provenance Studies at Leuphana University Lüneburg is the first permanently established professorship in the German-speaking world dedicated exclusively to questions of provenance research. Our aim is to develop new, data-based methods for researching provenance. Provenances show when and how the ownership of an object changed. Writing such a history of ownership requires research in archives and libraries, and the study of catalogues and catalogues raisonnés. We are looking for motivated support for these activities. 

The student assistant will primarily support the project “Modern Migrants: Paintings from Europe in US Museum Collections,” which analyzes a large volume of provenance data as empirical evidence for cultural network phenomena. In doing so, the assistant will gain insight into transatlantic art market research, the history of collecting, and museum studies.

Your Responsibilities:

  • Gathering data on collectors and exhibitions as part of the Modern Migrants research project
  • Supporting the planning and implementation of an international workshop on provenance data
  • Assisting with the development of the Provenance Lab’s social media presence (including the Hypotheses Blog)
  • Contributing to the compilation of the project’s bibliography

Work hours will be arranged individually, with the option to work from home or on campus as needed.

Your Profile:

  • Enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Master’s program related to art history at a German university
  • Experience with academic research in art historical libraries and compiling bibliographies (Zotero experience is a plus)
  • Experience working with (museum) objects
  • Excellent English language skills
  • Enjoy working with data
  • Reliable, self-directed, and detail-oriented
  • Communicative and open to teamwork
  • Good to very good knowledge of common office programs (Microsoft, Google Docs)

You will gain insights into the research activities of the Institute for Philosophy and Art Studies and acquire experience working with object-related data. You will also become part of an interdisciplinary team.

Interested? Please send your resume, transcripts, and a brief cover letter as a single PDF file by May 31, 2025, to Dr. Max Koss: max.koss@leuphana.de