The Political Science Department is looking for a researcher on financial surveillance and the ethics of public-private information sharing. The position is part of the EU-funded research project CRAAFT 'Collaboration, Research and Analysis Against the Financing of Terrorism,' which is an EU-funded international research network with partners in Belgium, the UK and Slovakia. The main objective of CRAAFT is to understand, analyse and develop Counter-Terrorism Financing capacities in the European Union. Its research objectives include the assessment of current threats, capabilities, legitimacy and futures of Counter-Terrorism Financing in the European Union and beyond. The Researcher based in Amsterdam focuses on the ethics of public-private financial information sharing.

What are you going to do?

In the name of Counter-Terrorism Financing (CFT), we increasingly see innovative public-private data sharing initiatives. Information sharing platforms can take different legal forms, but generally entail the creation of technical infrastructures and trust relations between law enforcement and private industry, to enable the development of shared threat perceptions and the sharing of targeted personal information of possible terrorist suspects. These developments entail challenges concerning privacy, data protection and broader ethical concerns.

This researcher focuses on the ethics of public-private financial information sharing. The privacy and civil liberties concerns of public-private information sharing in CFT remain poorly understood. The successful candidate will map, analyse and address the legal and ethical challenges of public-private information sharing platforms in four selected case study countries (most likely Canada, the UK, The Netherlands and Australia). These challenges include privacy, political legitimacy and compatibility with democratic core values.

The researcher is expected to have a good knowledge of the literatures on financial surveillance and its ethical challenges. S/he will conduct fieldwork and interviews with participants in existing public-private information sharing platforms. S/he will build on and advance existing literatures in financial surveillance and security. S/he will produce six short reports that map the political discussions in the case study countries. S/he will map and analyse the ethical issues at stake in public-private financial information sharing, and will help develop a best-practice guide in this field. The results of the research will also be presented in two academic journal articles.

Tasks

The successful candidate will be expected to have a high level of competence and motivation to undertake the following tasks:

• analyse the ethics of public-private financial information sharing in counter-terrorism financing in a series of six (public) reports;
• present the findings of the project in two academic journal articles to be submitted;
• connect the ethics of public-private financial information sharing to literatures on (financial) surveillance and the ethics of technologies;
• undertake fieldwork and gather data relevant and available to the overall project;
• regularly present intermediate research results within the CRAAFT network and at international conferences;
• contribute to the CRAAFT network and the organisation of its research activities and events;
• participate in the Transnational Configurations, Conflict and Governance research group of the AISSR.

Ideal candidates:

• have obtained a (research) master’s degree in a field relevant to the theme of the research, in particular politics, International Relations, surveillance studies, criminology, law, anthropology, social sciences, or European Studies;
• have good knowledge of the academic literatures on (financial) surveillance and its ethical implications;
• have a proven interest in CFT, public-private information sharing, and/or financial surveillance;
• are persons with initiative, excellent communication skills, and to work independently as well as in a team;
• have well-developed analytical skills as well as creativity and perseverance;
• possess good academic writing, presentation and organisational skills;
• can demonstrate a strong interest in the topic of this project;
• have experience with qualitative research methodology, especially interviews;
• are able to communicate effectively in English both orally and in writing.

Knowledge of (written and spoken) Dutch is an asset.

Fixed-term contract: three years.

The appointment will be on a temporary basis for a period of 3 years for 31.5 hours/0.83fte per week. In the first instance, a contract will be given for 12 months; if positively evaluated, the contract will be extended.
On the basis of a full-time appointment, 38 hours a week, the gross monthly salary will be €2,261 to €3,052 (scale 7) depending on experience , excl. 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end of year bonus. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable. The successful candidate is expected to begin their project as early as possible in 2019.

Would you like to learn more about working at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG)? Visit our website.

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.

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences – Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) is the largest educational and research institution in the social sciences in the Netherlands. The Faculty serves 7,500 students in numerous Bachelor and Master programmes in Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Communication Science, Psychology, Social Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, and Educational Sciences. The academic staff are employed in education as well as research. The successful candidate will join the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR).