Project description
The PhD researcher will work in the project ‘Family ties that bind: A new view of internal migration, immobility and labour-market outcomes (FamilyTies)’, led by Principal Investigator Clara H. Mulder and funded by an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council. The research team further includes two more PhD researchers, two postdoc researchers and one staff member all based in Groningen, a postdoc and data analyst working in Belgium, and external international collaborators.
Project summary: Internal migration (long-distance moves within national borders) is generally assumed to be beneficial to individuals and households. The FamilyTies project has been designed to make a decisive contribution to a much more comprehensive explanation of internal migration and its labour-market outcomes than current, mainly economic, explanations have achieved thus far. It introduces a novel perspective on internal migration and immobility, which focuses on the role of family outside the household in deciding on whether and where to relocate, and which takes into account contemporary family complexity: the family ties perspective. The aim is to identify the role of family ties in internal migration, immobility and labour-market outcomes.

The objectives are:
1. Identifying the role of family ties as a deterrent of migration and key determinant of immobility.
2. Explaining migration towards family in relation to migration in other directions.
3. Determining to what extent and for whom family-related motives drive migration and immobility.
4. Unravelling how individual labour-market outcomes of migration versus immobility differ between (im)mobility related to family ties and (im)mobility due to other factors.

Geo-coded register and census data containing micro-links between family members are used for Sweden, Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands and Belgium, as well as survey data for Sweden, The Netherlands, the UK, the USA and New Zealand. These are analysed using advanced applications of hazard regression, logistic regression, linear regression and/or structural equation models, which take into account the multilevel and multi-actor structure of the data and issues of endogeneity and self-selection. The PhD researcher will mainly work on parts of subprojects 1 and 3 described in the project proposal, in collaboration and consultation with the other team members.

We are looking for candidates with:
• a Master degree in population studies, demography, human geography, economics, sociology or another relevant social science
• excellent study results and CV
• excellent quantitative research skills and proven experience in multivariate statistical analyses of large survey or register data sets
• good writing skills and fluency in written and spoken English; experience in academic writing in English
• a keen interest in the topics to be investigated in the FamilyTies project, preferably demonstrated by previous work on similar topics
• willingness to attend conferences abroad and to spend periods of several weeks working abroad with collaborating partners in the FamilyTies project
• insider knowledge on at least one country under study in the project, based on having studied, lived and/or worked in that country
• strong conceptual thinking
• strong motivation, good communicative skills, proactive and independent work attitude
• strong planning skills, ability to organise own work and related activities, ability to meet deadlines
• a great curiosity and enthusiasm for scientific research.

We warmly invite you to apply for these vacancies, if you are interested and will have completed your Master degree before September 2018.

Fixed-term contract: 48 months.

The University of Groningen offers a salary of € 2,222 gross per month in the first year of the appointment, rising to € 2,840 gross per month in the fourth year of a full time position. The conditions of employment comply with the Collective Labour Agreement for the University of Groningen. This full time appointment as PhD researcher is temporary for four years. You will first be appointed for a period of 12 months. After a positive evaluation, the contract will be extended for the remaining part of the project. The appointment of the PhD researcher is at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences at the University of Groningen. The PhD researcher will be a member of the Graduate School of Spatial Sciences. The PhD student will get the opportunity to participate in the Faculty’s training program for PhD students and will draw up a personal training and supervision plan.

Starting date: as soon as possible, and on 1 September 2018 the latest

Apply
You may apply for this position until 13 May 23.59h / before 14 May 2018 Dutch local time, by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

We ask you to submit:
- a motivation letter, including your ideas on the FamilyTies project (letter of motivation attachment)
- your CV, including a list of academic output (e.g. publications) (CV attachment)
- the study results of your Master programme (extra attachment)
- and the names and contact details of two referees (extra attachment 2).

Candidates who are shortlisted will be asked to submit written work (e.g. MA thesis or papers) at a later stage.

An overview of the project is provided at: www.rug.nl/familyties

The project proposal can be obtained from the secretaries of the Population Research Centre of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences: secr.demography@rug.nl

Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.

Faculty of Spatial Sciences

The Faculty of Spatial Sciences at the University of Groningen (RUG) consists of around 95 members of staff and 95 PhD researchers. The Faculty focuses on high quality teaching and research in the fields of spatial planning, economic and cultural geography and demography. The research theme of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences is 'Wellbeing, Innovation and Spatial Transformation'. Our mission is to produce research which is world-leading, distinctive, and policy-relevant. With two bachelor and eight master programs, the faculty offers a wide range of courses within the field to about 900 students.