As a postdoctoral researcher you will be responsible for one of the three subprojects of the NWO-funded Open Competition project 'Lifting the Burden of Disease. The Modernisation of Health in the Netherlands: Amsterdam 1854-1926'. This project aims to understand the substantial improvements in life expectancy prior to the 1930s as a result of the decline of infectious diseases, and the principal determinants driving this development, based on individual-level cause-of-death registers for the city of Amsterdam between 1854 and 1926. The project has a multidisciplinary perspective, situated at the interface between infectious disease dynamics and historical demography.

Three postdoctoral researchers will work on this project, each focusing on one of three arenas in which the effects of mortality determinants are played out:
1) the urban disease environment;
2) the life course and the family, and
3) the physical urban environment at neighbourhood and street levels.
The first subproject will be carried out at Leiden University Medical Centre, subprojects 2 and 3 will be carried out at Radboud University. For a full description of the project, please contact the project leader prof. A. Janssens.

You will work on subproject 3: Lifting the burden of disease: a spatial analysis of infectious diseases. Your postdoctoral research will assess the changing interaction between diseases and 19th-century urban space, and how these spatial patterns reveal the effects of determinants of mortality due to infectious diseases.

You will have three main tasks within the project:
1) To apply GIS techniques for different age groups and diseases to reveal clusters of high and low mortality areas, and to conduct spatial regression to assess the impact of environmental and socio-economic factors on spatial patterns in mortality.
2) To collect additional archival material and data from the Amsterdam city archive and other Dutch source material. 
3) To produce spatial tools for valorisation goals, such as an exhibition, in close cooperation with other members of the project team.

You will contribute research results to the project's database. You will present research results in at least three major articles in international scientific journals. Furthermore, you will cooperate closely with the project leaders and the other two postdoctoral researchers, and will participate in the project's programme as a speaker and organiser.

• A completed PhD degree in economic and social history, the social sciences such as economics, sociology, demography, or data science (at least a manuscript approved by the board of examiners).
• An excellent research and publication record in relation to your career stage.
• Demonstrable experience working with GIS techniques and spatial regression models.
• Excellent active command of spoken and written English.
• Commitment to work as part of a dynamic, international, productive and multidisciplinary team.
• For international applicants: a strong willingness to acquire a passive understanding of Dutch.

Fixed-term contract: You will be appointed for an initial period of 12 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2 years.

• Employment: 40 hours per week.
• A maximum gross monthly salary of € 4,274 based on a 38-hour working week (salary scale 10).
• In addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• Duration of the contract: you will be appointed for an initial period of 12 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2 years.
• The intended start date is 1 February 2020.
• You will be able to make use of our Dual Career Service: our Dual Career Officer will assist with family-related support, such as child care, and help your partner prepare for the local labour market and with finding an occupation.
• Are you interested in our excellent employment conditions?

Radboud University

We want to get the best out of science, others and ourselves. Why? Because this is what the world around us desperately needs. Leading research and education make an indispensable contribution to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. This is what unites the more than 22,000 students and 5,000 employees at Radboud University. And this requires even more talent and collaboration. You have a part to play!

Faculteit der Letteren

The Faculty of Arts employs over 500 academic and support staff in the fields of history and art, languages and cultures, linguistics and communication. Research is embedded in one of the two faculty research institutes: the Centre for Language Studies (CLS) or Historical, Literary and Cultural Studies (HLCS).
The faculty currently enrolls some 2,400 students, in three departments: the department of History, Art History and Classics, the department of Modern Languages and Cultures, and the department of Language and Communication. We want to be a diverse and inclusive organisation, which is why we endeavour to create a culturally diverse staff.