The Departments of Child Development and Education of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) has a vacancy for a PhD candidate in the Research Area Yield. The overall aim of Yield’s signature project is to examine self-regulation in youth: understanding how it develops, how it is fostered through (interactions between) individual characteristics and family, peer, and school characteristics, and how it can be improved through interventions. In specific, the current project will focus on self-regulated learning.

Self-regulated learning is considered a key competence, influencing both students’ motivation and achievement in elementary school. It depends on characteristics of both the studehis PhD project focuses on self-regulated learning in the context of mathematics class and includes studies examining a) reliable and valid measurement of self-regulated learning; b) teachers’ perceptions of students’ self-regulation preferences in relation to teacher instruction and support during a math task, against the background of peer influences; c) the effect of in-class instruction aimed at promoting self-regulation in math on cognitive, affective, and motivational factors. We will pay special attention to student characteristics explaining differences in self-regulated learning.

You will be supervised by dr Maaike Zeguers (Developmental Psychology), and dr Jaap Schuitema (Educational Sciences). Dr Helma Koomen (Developmental Disorders and Special Education) and dr Brenda Jansen (Developmental Psychology) will act as promoters.

• Participation in the PhD-programme of the Graduate School of Child Development and Education and RPA Yield;
• independently carrying out research, writing scientific articles, and completing a PhD dissertation within four or five years;
• active participation in the programme group Education Sciences, and the Research Institute of Child Development and Education;
• participating in conferences, workshops, seminars, and other scholarly activities.

You should have the following credentials:

• master’s degree in Psychology, Pedagogics or Educational Sciences;
• experience in experimental research in psychology, pedagogics or educational sciences;
• advanced statistical knowledge is recommended;
• interested in primary education;
• communication and academic writing skills (Dutch and English);
• organization and project coordination skills.

• Internship in the field of child psychology, pedagogics or education;
• experience in writing scientific publications.

The starting date of the position is set for 3 September 2018. The position is initially for 1 year. Extension of this period after the first year to a total of 4 years is subject to satisfactory performance. In case of an appointment of 30,4 hours a week this period can be extended to a maximum total of 5 years.

The gross monthly salary will be in accordance with the salary scales for PhD candidates at Dutch universities, i.e. ranging from €2.222 in the first year to €2.840 in the final year (based on a full-time appointment/38 hours per week) plus 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% end-of- year allowance, in conformity with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Research Priority Area (RPA) Yield

Research Priority Area (RPA) Yield conducts multidisciplinary research on the bio-ecology of human development, from infancy to young adulthood, with perspectives from Medicine, Psychology, Pedagogics, Education, Communication, Economics, and Psychometrics. With its (NWO funded) Graduate Programme and its associated PhD training programmes, RPA Yield provides an attractive environment in which PhD students are trained in multidisciplinary research on human development.

You will join the programme group Education Sciences (Dept. of Child Development and Eduaction), led by prof. Monique Volman and will also be part of the department of Developmental Psychology. The Departments of Child Development and Education and Developmental Psychology are located in in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG).

http://cde.uva.nl/research/rpa-yield/about.html