Researchers at Erasmus University Rotterdam perform research in the domains of health, wealth, governance and culture. They constantly make decisions when weighing the interests of those involved in their research and those who may or may not profit from the research while taking into account power relationships that may play a role and for instance their own safety. For this reason, a considerable part of the research gets checked by Research Ethics Review Committees (RERC) located at the different Schools.

As secretary of the Ethics Review you support several Research Ethics Review Committees. You perform secretarial, administrative and organisation-related work for the Committees, in such a way that the Committees are provided optimum support in decision-making and implementation. You are part of a team of RERC secretaries under coordination of Erasmus Research Services, and contribute to developments in ethics review at EUR.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Research Ethics Review Committees evaluate applications for ethical review submitted by members of the Schools and Institutes. The secretary functions as first point of contact for researchers, members of the Research Ethics Review Committees, the coordinating secretary and the policy officers of the Schools regarding content and process. You will act as secretary of some of the ethics review committees at Erasmus University Rotterdam and at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague.  

As secretary you:

• advise researchers and help them get ‘ethics-ready’;
• check that documentation submitted to the RERC is complete;
• divide submissions between members of the Committees;
• monitor the review process and arrange additional expertise, when required;
• communicate the RERC’s decision with researchers;
• monitor compliance with and make proposals for the modification of existing procedures and regulations, and advises Committee members accordingly;
• organize and support RERC meetings
• represent the RERC in (inter)national networks;
• organize training for researchers;
• participate in the EUR ethics community and RERC secretary meetings
• take care that RERC procedures align with EUR procedures in the domains of privacy and research data management

You will report to the Director of Erasmus Research Services.

You have affinity with research and challenges that researchers encounter in the setup of research projects. You act with integrity and are customer oriented. You have proven capability to plan, organise and prioritize.

In addition, you:

• Completed an academic or higher professional education, preferably in relation to social sciences or humanities
• Have the capacity to learn and reflect and to convince others based on knowledge about contents and procedures
• Employ good communication skills in a multi-cultural environment
• Are accurate, flexibile, a team-player and pro-active. Are experienced in Outlook, Word, Excel and Power Point. And are fluent in both Dutch and English (minimum level C1).

An internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with good working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU).

The start date of this position is as soon as possible and you will be based at Erasmus University Rotterdam in Rotterdam. For one day a week you will be seconded to Institute for Social Studies in The Hague. The position is for 0.6-0.8 FTE. The salary is dependent on your experience and knowledge and ranges from a minimum of €2.979 to a maximum of €4.093 gross per month on a fulltime basis, in accordance with scale 9 of the CAO-NU. In addition, we offer an 8% holiday allowance, an end-of-year payment of 8.3%, and a very generous paid leave scheme. Furthermore, EUR is affiliated with ABP for the pension provision, and we offer partially paid parental leave, fully paid extended birth leave for partners, a personal career budget, work-life balance coaches, discounted collective health insurance, and more. As an employee, you can also use EUR facilities such as the University library and receive a discount on subscriptions for the Erasmus sports center.

Erasmus University Rotterdam offers a Dual Career Programme (DCP) to assist the life partners of new academic staff (on payroll) in finding employment in The Netherlands. The programme is offered in close cooperation with the nearby universities of Delft and Leiden.

Erasmus University Rotterdam aspires to be an equitable and inclusive community. We nurture an open culture, where everyone is supported to fulfill their full potential. We see inclusivity of talent as the basis of our successes, and the diversity of perspectives and people as a highly valued outcome. EUR provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, functional impairment, citizenship, or any other aspect which makes them unique. We look forward to welcoming you to our community.

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 3.700 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Erasmus Research Services

Erasmus Research Services (ERS) advances excellent research and knowledge transfer to maximize positive societal impact. ERS creates conditions for transparent, inclusive, collaborative, and impactful research through strategic and operational expertise. 

We provide pathways for talents to reach their full potential and we advance fruitful collaborations, enabling Erasmus University to be a front runner in embedding excellent research in society. The following areas of support are embedded within ERS: Business Development, Grant Support, Legal Counsels, Open Science, Research Data Management, Ethics Review and Research Intelligence. ERS is a relatively young service department within Erasmus University Rotterdam and is steadily building and extending its service portfolio. ERS provides support to all faculties of Erasmus university Rotterdam (occasionally to Erasmus University Medical Center).