Postdoctoral research on Supply Network Collaboration in support of the Energy Transition

Realization of the energy transition requires intensive collaboration between various kinds of stakeholders (e.g., businesses, governments, universities, industry associations, and [end] consumers), that typically form a group of loosely coupled entities that strongly rely on each other for realizing individual and collective goals. 
As part of the newly created University Wide Academic Collaborative Center on Climate and Energy, we are looking for a talented and motivated postdoctoral researcher, who will conduct scientific research on issues in relation to supply network collaboration in support of the energy transition, with an emphasis on the question how to the network of stakeholders can jointly be incentivized to transition to a just and sustainable energy system, and who will help coordinate the research and activities of the Center on these issues.

Job description
As a postdoctoral researcher, you will be positioned within the University Wide Academic Collaborative Center on Climate and Energy (in Dutch: universiteitsbrede Academische Werkplaats Klimaat en Energie). Within this Center, researchers from various disciplines are working closely together with partners from practice on sustainability, climate change and energy transition related issues. You will combine conducting scientific research with connecting science and society. In coordination and collaboration with other researchers and partners from practice, you will contribute to the overall research agenda and strategy of the centre. In particular, you will help to plan and organize the research and activities of the centre on issues in relation to the governance of the energy transition. You will play a crucial role in setting up, carrying out, and leading scientific research together with our partners, developing your own research projects, writing research proposals for the acquisition of additional funds, and bringing fellow scientists as well as students together to participate in the research and activities of the centre. You will work closely together with two other postdoctoral researchers having similar roles within the University Wide Academic Collaborative Center on Climate and Energy, but conducting scientific research on, respectively, supply chain collaboration in support of the energy transition.

The candidate will conduct postdoctoral research on topics related to supply chain and network collaboration. In this context, the research of the candidate is to specifically focus on questions pertaining to collaboration in relation to the transition towards a sustainable energy system. Topics may include the specification and allocation of tasks to the actors involved, (dis)incentives at the dyadic and the system level, types of agreements (e.g., behavior- vs outcome-based) in dyads and the overall network, interplay between contractual and relational governance mechanisms to guide and monitor actor actions and to ensure accountability and progress in the transition.

The research to be conducted will include the design and execution of at least two studies, and reporting on those studies in academic papers publishable in a journal that has a rigorous peer review process. The execution of the research work itself typically involves the conceptualization of the research questions and ideas, data collection, qualitative and/or quantitative analysis of the data, and writing of the academic papers. In addition, experiments may be conducted in our excellent behavioral laboratory at Tilburg University. Since in many projects we interact with companies for getting access to data (such as those involved with the ACC on Climate and Energy), stakeholder management may be an important part of your tasks.

The candidate may -to a limited extent- be involved in teaching and/or assisting with teaching in our Master and Bachelor programs (including thesis supervision) on supply chain-related topics, required that there content-wise is a good fit. 

For this position, the candidate is in the driver’s seat, and expected to develop a research project aligned with the research interests of Professor Van der Valk. More particularly, the project should fit with the field of purchasing & supply chain management and pertain to questions related to supply chain and network collaboration in connection with the energy transition. 

Embedding
The postdoctoral researcher will be embedded in the productive, collegial, and engaged Information and Supply Chain Management (ISCM) research group at Tilburg University, a growing high-quality high-impact research group in Tilburg University’s School of Economics and Management. The group consists of faculty, lecturers, postdoctoral fellows, and PhD candidates, and covers a wide range of research topics and methods (see Faculty). Recently, we have grown substantially in size and in research output, with in particular an outstanding group of junior and mid-career faculty. Our leading faculty publish in premier outlets such as those in the FT50 journal list. In addition, a subset of our PhD projects are sponsored by industry and science council funding, and address directly impactful societal challenges. We have close collaboration with a number of research centres at our University, including the Tilburg Sustainability Center (TSC) and the Academic Collaborative Center on Climate and Energy (ACC Climate and Energy).

The group is part of the Department of Management at the Tilburg School of Economics and Management (TiSEM), the largest school of Tilburg University. It benefits from a strong research reputation, for instance exemplified by the recent top-10 ranking in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (“Shanghai Ranking”) for the field of business administration.

1. A doctoral/PhD degree in purchasing & supply management, supply chain management, operations management, industrial engineering, or similar degrees, with demonstrable evidence of having conducted case-based research aimed at theory building, elaboration and/ or testing. The degree should demonstrate an excellent background in analytical skills. The doctoral degree must be (ABD) completed by September 1, 2023.
2. Excellent English-language academic writing skills in accordance with the standards of the best journals in our field.
3. Demonstrable project management skills, and ideally also some project management experience.
4. Demonstrable teaching skills, exemplified by a UTQ, excellent teacher evaluations or teaching awards. 
   
   If you have any of the following additional skills or evidence of skills, please include them specifically in your application, as they can be of value in the selection process:
5. Experience with inter- and/or transdisciplinary research collaborations, exemplified e.g., by prior involvement in projects of that kind. 
6. Evidence of prior research work, exemplified by a doctoral dissertation or academic papers.
7. Working knowledge of Dutch is an asset (but not required to apply).

(‘Publishable in a journal’ means that if a manuscript would be submitted, it has a chance of being accepted or invited for a revision).

Throughout the contract, the postdoctoral researcher’s time will be dedicated to research conducted for the Academic Collaborative Center, and to organisational and entrepreneurial activities generally required for a centre and its activities to thrive. A travel budget for work visits and attending conferences is available.

Tilburg University is rated among the top Dutch employers and has excellent terms of employment. The appointment will be fulltime for the total of 24 months (with an option to extend with one more year depending on a positive evaluation and availability of funding). The probationary period according to the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CLA) is 2 months. 
The salary amounts to a minimum of €3974 and a maximum of €5439 gross per month for full-time employment, based on UFO profile Researcher 3 and salary scale 11 of the CLA. In addition, there is a holiday allowance (8% of the annual salary, in May), and end-of-year bonus (8.3% of the annual salary, in December). Tilburg University uses a neutral remuneration system for salary scaling that is based on work experience. All university employees are covered by the so-called civil servants pension fund (ABP). 

Researchers from outside the Netherlands may qualify for a tax-free allowance equal to 30% of their taxable salary. The university will apply for such an allowance on their behalf. The university offers very good fringe benefits (it is one of the best non-profit employers in the Netherlands), such as an options model for terms and conditions of employment and excellent reimbursement of moving expenses.

Tilburg University is one of Europe’s leading universities in the fields of business and economics, ranking #5 in Europe in the field of Business Research (UT Dallas World Ranking) and #20 in Economics & Business Worldwide (US News Ranking 2021). The School of Economics and Management has 7,000 students (26% international) and 400 academic staff (50% international).  The campus provides a green, academically centered environment with modern facilities and convenient local transportation.  Tilburg’s central position in the Benelux offers excellent regional and international access.  Major airports nearby include Amsterdam (Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium) and Düsseldorf (Germany). English is the working language of the university.

The Tilburg School of Economics and Management (TiSEM) is the university’s largest school.  TiSEM offers well-reputed academic research and education. Its research belongs to the European top. The education programs, of which the majority are offered completely in English, are on the international map with the AACSB accreditation awarded in 2022. Employees and students form an ambitious international community.