The Faculty of Geosciences seeks a highly-motivated, high-potential applicant for a position as a Postdoctoral Researcher to work within the education research project ‘Evidence-based master selection within Geosciences’.

All Master’s degree programmes of the Graduate School of Geosciences are selective. The board of admissions assesses if candidates are able to complete the programme of interest within the allotted time period, based on admission criteria related to previous study results, relevant skills and competences, motivation, and resume. The Graduate School has the ambition to optimize the match between candidate and programme,  by selecting and and applying those admissions criteria that are most influential on study success within our Master’s programmes.

The postdoc will evaluate for all Master’s degree programmes within the Graduate School of Geosciences which set of admissions criteria are the most predictive for good performance of students. For this the postdoc will combine topic modelling techniques with multivariate regressions. The goal is to come to full evidence-based master selection within our Graduate School.

The results of the project will be directly implemented to improve the selection procedure of the Master’s degree programmes. Moreover, we expect to contribute to national and international debates about master selection, and the international scholar community about higher education research.

You will be based in the section Innovation Studies where the dynamics of sustainable emerging technologies and academic knowledge development are central topics. The section Innovation Studies is a large research group (30 fte) doing excellent research and enjoying high (inter)national visibility. Moreover, you will collaborate closely with the Education Policy and Student Affairs office of the Faculty of Geosciences to gain access to data, and to implement possible improvements. Your direct supervisors are Dr. Frank van Rijnsoever (Innovation Studies), Prof. Dr. Hans de Bresser (vice-dean of education), and Diederik Gussekloo L.L.M. (head of Education Policy and Student Affairs).  

The successful candidate:

• holds a doctoral degree (PhD) that is related to the field of (higher) education research, information sciences (big data), econometrics, statistics or to that of a related discipline;
• has affinity with the disciplines of the Master’s programmes of the Graduate School of Geosciences: Earth sciences, Human geography and planning, Environmental sciences, Energy science and Innovation Sciences;
• has a proven expertise in quantitative research especially with big data, topic models (latent Dirichlet allocation), and multivariate statistics;
• has experience with processing data in a private and secure way;
• has published in international scientific journals;
• has excellent communicational skills and is a team player.

The successful candidate will be offered a full-time position for 2 years. In line with the agreements, the gross monthly salary increases each year and ranges between €3,111 and €4,084 (scale 10 Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) gross per month for a full-time employment.

The salary is supplemented by a holiday allowance of 8% per year and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%. We offer a pension scheme, collective insurance schemes and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). Facilities for sports and childcare are available on our campus, which is only fifteen minutes away from the historical city centre of Utrecht. Here you'll find more information about working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, colleagues from various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major societal themes. Our focus is on Sustainability, Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, and Life Sciences.

Utrecht University has been ranked in the 2017 Academic Ranking of World Universities as the best university in the Netherlands, and as one of the leading research universities in Europe. Utrecht University’s sustainability research has the greatest citation impact worldwide according to a study conducted by Times Higher Education (2016). The city of Utrecht is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands, with a charming old centre and an internationally oriented culture that is strongly influenced by its century-old university. Utrecht has been consistently ranked as one of the most liveable cities in the Netherlands.

Utrecht University's Faculty of Geosciences offers education and research concerning the geosphere, biosphere, atmosphere and anthroposphere. With 3,400 students (BSc and MSc) and 720 staff, the Faculty is a strong and challenging organisation. The Faculty of Geosciences is organized in four Departments: Earth Sciences, Human Geography & Urban & Regional Planning, Physical Geography, and Innovation, Environmental & Energy Sciences (IEES). The research of the IEES Department is organized in the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development. The Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development has been evaluated in a 2014 international review as the highest ranked research institute in environmental sciences in the Netherlands. Since then, the institute has intensified its efforts in maintaining its leading position, among others by investing in several new international faculty appointments and by developing new, internationally oriented teaching programmes. Part of the Copernicus Institute is the section Innovation Studies.