Job description: The BAM Project
The Sociology Department of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is seeking a PhD student to work on the international project BAM: Becoming A Minority. The BAM project (2018) is funded by an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) and is led by Prof. Dr. M.R.J. Maurice Crul.
 
The BAM project is a pioneering project that examines how people of native descent respond to becoming a minority in majority-minority city contexts. The project turns the integration question upside down and concentrates on how the former majority groups react to the changing demographics and dynamics in the urban contexts, where now the majority of the population has a migration background. With the present-day backlash against migrants in Europe, it becomes clear that integration processes of all groups involved cannot be fully understood if migration scholars do not also look at the acceptance or rejection of this increased ethnic diversity by the people of native descent, who formed the former majority. Hence, we are looking for critical scholars eager and able to contribute to the development of a new line of research and thinking in migration and ethnic studies. BAM is a comparative project and the study will be executed in 6 different cities across 4 countries; three harbour cities, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Malmö, and three service sector cities, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Vienna.
 
BAM consists of 5 subprojects where four PhD students and 2 post-doc researchers will work together with the PI, a senior researcher and a project coordinator:  (1) A meta-analysis of secondary data on people of native descent in the six research sites; (2) Developing a survey for the target group; (3) An analysis of critical circumstances of encounter that trigger either positive or rather negative responses to increased ethnic diversity (4) Experimental ‘diversity labs’ to test under which circumstances people will change their attitudes or their actions towards increased ethnic diversity; (5) The formulation of a new theory of integration that includes the changed position of the group of native descent, who formed the former majority as an important factor.
 
Working closely together with the PI and other team members, the PhD researcher will be responsible for the collection of survey data and the collection of qualitative interviews in one of the selected cities, hence conducting fieldwork periods abroad. The PhD researcher is also expected to organize the “experimental diversity labs” and develop her/his PhD project and write 4 single and/ or co-authored articles in peer reviewed journals on the project findings and contribute to the conceptual papers.

Tasks:
•Participate in the preparation and collection of qualitative interviews and conduct a multi-cited ethnography at the neighbourhood level in the participating cities;
•Participate in the collection of a large scale BAM survey;
•Participate in the execution and analysis of “experimental diversity labs”;
•Fully participate in BAM project activities and publications in collaboration with the other BAM team members;
•Develop own PhD project within the scope of the BAM project and write and complete the PhD dissertation within four years;
•Participate in international conferences, workshops, seminars and other scholarly activities.
 
Requirements:
Candidates should have the following credentials:
•Completed Research Master in Anthropology, Sociology, Social Demography or Social Geography or a related discipline;
•Previous experience with ethnographic research;
•Interest in qualitative research and ability and willingness to travel and conduct fieldwork abroad;
•Previous experience in experimental research is a plus;
•Previous experience with the collection of survey data is a plus;
•Good research and publication record considering the career stage;
•Be a team member: ability, willingness and commitment to work in a multi-disciplinary team is a condition;
•Excellent in spoken and written English;
•Proficiency in Dutch or Swedish is desirable.

The appointment will be initially for 12 months. After satisfactory evaluation of the initial appointment, it can be extended for a total duration of four years.
 
You can find more information about our excellent fringe benefits of employment at our website like:
•remuneration of  8,3% end-of-year bonus and  8% holiday allowance;
•solid pension scheme (ABP);
•a minimum of 29 holidays in case of full-time employment;
•discounts on collective insurances (healthcare- and car insurance).
 
Salary
The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel, and amounts € 2222,00 gross per month in the first year up to € 2840,00 in the fourth year (salary scale 85) based on a full-time employment.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) is a leading, innovative and growing university that is at the heart of society and actively contributes to new developments in teaching and research. Our university has ten faculties, and provides work for over 4,500 staff and scientific education for more than 23,000 students.

http://www.vu.nl/en/index.asp

The Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) is one of the larger faculties of the Vrije Universiteit. Over 2,500 students and more than 250 employees are engaged in teaching and research on social-science issues. The faculty has 5 bachelor- and 7 master programs. The faculty offers bachelor and master programs in anthropology, political science, public administration, sociology, communication science and organization science. The main focus of research is societal resilience.

http://www.fsw.vu.nl/en/research/institute-for-societal-resilience/