Project Description
The research project is funded by Instituut Gak and aims to generate new knowledge about the psychological experiences of flexible work. Although flexible work arrangements are becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s labor market, limited knowledge is available as to how different types of flexible workers can be supported in building a sustainable career.
 
More specifically, this research project focusses on three related themes:
1) The experience of the psychological contract by different types of flexible workers (e.g. voluntary versus involuntary) and the extent to which those experiences differ from each other;
2) The role that psychological contracts play in building sustainable careers for different types of flexible workers, for example studying the effects on productivity, engagement, and employability;
3) The responsibilities of different stakeholders (flexible workers, organizations, mediators, trade unions, society) in building and promoting sustainable careers for different types of flexible workers.
 
The research project aims to contribute to theory and to practice. The research will be conducted in close collaboration with practice and the findings will be translated into input for practical interventions that will help flexible workers to build a more sustainable career.

Tasks and Activities
The PhD researcher will, among other things, be responsible for:
• Designing theoretically and practically relevant studies
• Setting up collaborations with external parties
• Collecting data
• Conducting quantitative and/or qualitative analysis
• Communicating research results to different stakeholders (i.e., researchers and practitioners) and in different outlets
  (e.g., scientific peer-reviewedjournals, professional journals)
• Writing and discussing progress reports with Instituut Gak 
• Participating in the academic community by presenting and discussing work internally and externally
• Contributing to educational tasks (0.1 fte) such as thesis supervision and tutorials 

We are looking for a highly motivated and talented candidate who is both passionate about academic research and application in practice. The candidate should have a (almost) finished (Research) Master degree in Business Administration, Work- and Organizational Psychology, or a related discipline. As you will be working with both academics and business professionals, strong communicative skills and the ability to connect with different target groups are important for this project. Moreover, considering the multidisciplinary nature of the project, you need to be curious and persistent in pursuing different fields of research. Finally, because of the nature of the target group, we prefer a candidate who speaks and writes, next to the English language, the Dutch language fluently.

The initial appointment will be for a period of 12 months. Upon a positive evaluation an extension of the appointment with three more years will follow. The project is carried out in the department of Management and Organization, research unit of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior.
You can find information about our excellent fringe benefits of employment at www.workingatvu.nl.
 
The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel, and amounts € 2222,00 gross per month during the first year and increases to € 2840,00 gross per month during the fourth year, based on a full-time employment.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 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 which span a wide range of disciplines, as well as several institutes, foundations, research centres, and support services. Its campus is located in the fastest-growing economic region in the Netherlands (the Zuidas district of Amsterdam), and provides work for over 4,500 staff and scientific education for more than 23,000 students.