The Department of Public Law and Governance has a vacancy for a PhD Researcher in law or public administration who has a strong interest in the interplay between open government and administrative decision-making. Are you eager to discover how open government can strengthen transparency rights in administrative single-case decision-making in a digital era? And do you want to join a promising and multidisciplinary team with young and leading scholars in the field? Then this could be the ideal PhD project for you!

Tilburg Law School is seeking an enthusiastic colleague for the position of PhD researcher at the intersection of open government, administrative decision-making and transparency rights in the Department of Public Law and Governance.

Digitalization of government is not only potentially constraining public officials in taking tailormade decisions, it can also enable them to take decisions which are better apt for the particular circumstances at stake. At the same time, the rule of law still requires government decisions to be consistent with other decisions. Existing transparency guarantees make it difficult, if not impossible for citizens to compare their case with other relevant cases and therefore fail to address the need for so-called ‘case-inclusive transparency’. Modern open government legislation can act as a game changer here, as it increasingly requires administrative decisions in single cases to be disclosed publicly to everyone.

Central to this research are the effects of public disclosure of administrative single-case decisions to transparency in administrative single-case decision-making. The PhD researcher will be encouraged to formulate their own research questions within this overarching framework, e.g. on the legal necessity or boundaries to public disclosure of single-case decisions, on the organizational conditions or effects of public disclosure or on the consequences for the interplay between citizens and administrative authorities. The project will combine a legal approach, connecting open government legislation with legislation on administrative decision-making, with an empirical approach. This empirical approach covers both practices of public disclosure under open government legislation (e.g. the Dutch Open Government Act) and practices of administrative decision-making, where citizens confront public officials with government information disclosed under open government legislation.

This PhD position is part of the research project ‘Case-Inclusive Transparency for a Digital and Open Government’ (CITaDOG), which is funded by the Digital Sciences for Society program of Tilburg University, and of the NWO Vidi project ‘Administrative Decision-Making in Times of Open Government: from Rule to Case Transparency’ (2024-2028). CITaDOG consists of a multidisciplinary team of researchers (law, public administration, computer science, social psychology) and is supported by different collaborating partners representing both the government and the citizen perspective. You will be one of the four PhD candidates within the research team and will be supervised by inspiring scholars from different disciplines. For more information on CITaDOG, check https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/about/digital-sciences-society/projects/case-inclusive-transparency

Tilburg University is curious about how you can contribute to our research, education, impact, and to the team you will be part of. Therefore, we would like to get the best possible picture of your knowledge, insight, skills, and personality. Below you can find the qualifications we consider important for the position.

The candidate:

• has completed a (research) master’s degree in law, public administration or any related discipline (or will do so before September 2024);
• has a clear interest in issues of open government and/or administrative decision-making 
• has demonstrated good skills in conducting academic research
• has affinity with both the legal and the empirical dimension of administrative law
• is capable of combining desktop research with empirical research (e.g. interviews)
• is eager to reach out to other academic disciplines in order to strengthen research in public law or public administration
• is enthusiastic to perform research as part of a research team
• is equipped to contribute to the outreach activities of CITaDOG;
• has good writing and communication skills in both Dutch and English. 

To maintain a vibrant and active university community, it is important that we meet each other regularly and that the connection between us remains good. Therefore, the premise is that all staff members carry out their work in the Netherlands and that lecturing is done physically.

• You demonstrate personal leadership: you take responsibility for your work and career and possess a good level of self-knowledge.  
• You have team spirit: you feel part of a team and express this through collaboration, sharing knowledge and experiences, and contributing to an open and inclusive work environment.

Tilburg University offers excellent terms of employment with attention to flexibility and room for (personal) development. We recognize and reward our employees and encourage the use of talents and strengths.

Tilburg University is committed to an open and inclusive culture, embracing diversity, and encouraging the mutual integration of groups of staff and students. We create equal opportunities for all our staff and students so that everyone feels at home in our university community. 

We work in a vibrant and lively (work) environment on our beautiful campus, close to the forest and easily accessible by public transport. We are committed to a sustainable society and challenge you to make an active contribution to this. 

For this position, we offer:

• A position based on 0.8 - 1.0 FTE (32-40 hours per week);
• It is a vacancy for 4 years. You will initially be appointed for a fixed period of 16 months with a statutory probationary period of two months. After 12 months, an evaluation will take place. If the performance evaluation is positive, your employment agreement will be extended for the remaining period of 32 months;
• A salary of €2,770 gross per month for full time employment, based on UFO profile PhD Candidate and salary scale P of the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. Tilburg University uses a neutral remuneration system for salary scaling;
• Vacation allowance (8%) and a year-end bonus (8.3%);
• Vacation days (41 days for a 40-hour work week);
• Full reimbursement of commuting expenses for sustainable travel: walking, biking and public transportation;
• Moving allowance;
• Options Model for benefits and reimbursement of expenses;
• Employees from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a tax-free allowance of 30% of their taxable wages. We will apply for this reimbursement for you;
• You will be enrolled in the General Pension Fund for Public Employers (ABP) through us;
• Various training courses, for example in leadership skills, personal effectiveness, and career development;
• A wide range of amenities and facilities and various arrangements to create an optimal work-life balance.

Visit working at Tilburg University for more information on our terms of employment. 

Tilburg University

Tilburg University's motto is Understanding Society. Based on this vision, our almost 2,800 employees conduct research, inspire more than 19,000 students of 110 nationalities, and bring people from different disciplines and organizations together to learn from each other. In this way, we want to contribute to solving complex social issues. In doing so, we work from the fields of economics, business and entrepreneurship, social and behavioral sciences, law and public administration, humanities and digital sciences, and theology. We seek the connection between the various disciplines to find solutions to the major issues we face as a society. Our students are educated to become responsible and entrepreneurial thinkers, driven by solidarity, a sense of responsibility, and empathy, who are able to influence and give direction to a rapidly changing society in an innovative way. Tilburg University has a culture of collaboration and co-creation, at local, regional, national, and international level.

Since its founding in 1963, Tilburg Law School has become one of the leading law schools in Europe. Through top research and the provision of high-quality university education, the School contributes to society. Tilburg Law School is organized into five Departments: Public Law and Governance; Law, Technology, Markets and Society; Private, Business and Labour Law; the Fiscal Institute Tilburg; and Criminal Law. The mission of the School is to understand and improve the role of law and public administration in addressing the social problems of today and tomorrow. Through research and education, our scholars contribute to that mission. 

More than 4,000 students pursue a Bachelor's, pre-Master's or Master's degree at Tilburg Law School. Through this education, we train students in law, public administration, and data science. The Tilburg Educational Profile (TEP) is unique in the Netherlands. Central to it are three core concepts: knowledge, skill and character. A university education provides students with the latest substantive knowledge and trains them to be critical thinkers and resilient professionals. In addition, the School is committed to innovative educational concepts and, partly in response to the coronavirus crisis, has invested heavily in the quality of online education and in innovative didactic tools to make and keep students inquisitive. 

Tilburg Law School's research is highly regarded nationally and internationally. The Tilburg Law School Departments work closely together in their research in four signature research programs: 1) Global Law and Governance; 2) Law and Security; 3) Connecting Organizations; and 4) Regulating Socio-Technical Change.

Department of Public Law & Governance (PLG)

The Department of Public Law & Governance (PLG) is a unique collaboration of researchers in the fields of International Law, European law, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Public Administration, Legal Philosophy, Political Science, Legal History, and Jurisprudence. Collaboration within the Department is very much inspired by joint research interests.

We invite you to apply online for this position by June 7, 2024 (23:59 CEST). 
More information about the vacancy can be obtained from prof. mr. dr. C.J. (Johan) Wolswinkel c.j.wolswinkel@tilburguniversity.edu.