The Department of Sociology of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) and the AISSR are seeking PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers to work on the project ‘Critical Life Events and the Dynamics of Inequality: Risk, Vulnerability, and Cumulative Disadvantage’’ (2017-2020), for which a research consortium led by Thomas Leopold, Associate Professor of Sociology at the UvA, has been awarded € 1,5 million by the European Commission via an ERA-NET Cofund grant. The project will be carried out as a transnational research programme involving four institutions: University of Amsterdam, University of Oxford, Stockholm University, and University of Lausanne.

The project studies the impact of two critical life events – job loss and union dissolution – on the life trajectories of adults and their children. The project’s main objectives are to understand (1) how job loss and union dissolution contribute to the accumulation of (dis)advantage over the life course; (2) what mechanisms explain the (unequal) impact of these events; and (3) which work and family policies are effective in targeting these mechanisms in order to reduce inequality.

Work will be conducted within five research groups, all of which will apply comparable designs to the analysis of survey data and register data in five countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The groups will develop a common theoretical framework that specifies shared research goals and ensures a high level of integration between the countries throughout the project’s three-year duration. The cohesion of the project is fostered by a series of meetings and workshops in which all junior and senior members participate.

We offer two positions at the University of Amsterdam, one of which will focus on the analysis of German panel data (SOEP) and one of which will focus on the analysis of Dutch register data. Both positions involve project management tasks, in particular coordinating the comparative work across the research institutions. One of the positions will be filled by a PhD. The other is open to applicants at PhD and postdoctoral level. Successful applicants will work with the Amsterdam team consisting of Thomas Leopold, Thijs Bol, Matthijs Kalmijn, and Herman van de Werfhorst.

Successful applicants will have the following credentials:

• a completed Research Master (for PhD candidates) or PhD (for postdoctoral researcher) in sociology, demography, or another relevant social science discipline;
• statistical expertise and experience in analyses of large-scale data sets;
• good skills in Stata and/or R;
• good writing skills;
• a good research and publication record relative to career stage;
• experience with the analysis of complex survey data;
• experience with the analysis of register data is a plus;
• organisational and presentation skills (for postdoctoral position).

The appointments will be 1.0 fte (38 hours/week) for a period of 3 years, starting on 1 September 2017. The initial appointment will be for 12 months (PhD positions) or 24 months (postdoctoral position). After positive evaluation the appointment will be extended by 24 months (PhD positions) or 12 months (postdoctoral position). For PhD positions, the appointment may be extended by a fourth year.

Based on a full-time position of 38 hours per week, the gross monthly salary for PhD candidates will be €2,222 in the first year and €2,840 in the last year; for postdoctoral researchers it will range between €3,475 and €4,757 (scale 11) gross per month, depending on qualifications and experience. The salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year allowance of 8.3%, in conformity with the Collective Employment Agreement for Dutch Universities.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.   The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Department of Sociology

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) is the largest social-science educational and research institution in the Netherlands. The Faculty serves around 9,000 students in numerous Bachelor's and Master's programmes in Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Communication Science, Psychology, Social Geography, International Development Studies and Educational Sciences. The academic staff is employed in education as well as research. There are over 1,200 employees at the Faculty, located in a number of buildings in the centre of Amsterdam.

The Department of Sociology is one of the Departments in the FMG. Research and education are carried out by special institutes. The College of Social Sciences (CSS) and the Graduate School for the Social Sciences (GSSS) are responsible for the undergraduate and graduate teaching programmes in the social sciences. Research takes place under the aegis of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), a multidisciplinary research institute, the biggest one of its kind in the Netherlands and possibly in Europe. The broad scope and pluralism of our education and research programmes are inspired by and reflect a strong degree of internationalisation.

The Department of Sociology and the AISSR are seeking PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers to work on the project ‘Critical Life Events and the Dynamics of Inequality: Risk, Vulnerability, and Cumulative Disadvantage’’ (2017-2020), for which a research consortium led by Thomas Leopold, Associate Professor of Sociology at the UvA, has been awarded € 1,5 million by the European Commission via an ERA-NET Cofund grant. The project will be carried out as a transnational research programme involving four institutions: University of Amsterdam, University of Oxford, Stockholm University, and University of Lausanne.