Project description
As the global population is increasingly urbanizing, the notion of the experimental city has become part of popular discourse. Local policymakers, politicians, companies, (semi-)public service providers and citizens are engaging in urban experiments to find local solutions for global problems, such as health inequalities, environmental degradation and a lack of social cohesion. However, a well-known risk of experiments is that they tend to have a short and brutish life after the pilot phase. To deal with this problem and to better embed urban experiments in socio-material infrastructures, the Urban Lab is increasingly used as a site for experimentation in which knowledge production, learning and system change are key.
The PhD student will study urban labs that focus on health care issues. She/he will focus on two phenomena that are deemed important for the functioning of Urban health Labs:
1) the use of ‘big’ monitoring data, and
2) citizen engagement and co-production.
To describe the mundane practice and politics of Urban Labs from the inside out, ethnographic research methods will be used.

Description of the position
The PhD candidate will be employed at Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management (ESHPM) under the joint supervision of senior staff members of both ESHPM and The Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB). Besides work related to the PhD project described above, the PhD candidate will take part in teaching activities. In addition, the PhD candidate will participate in a graduate school to improve his/her knowledge and skills.

We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate with a Master’s degree in (urban) anthropology, sociology, health care policy and management, science and technology studies, public administration, political science or a comparable program. The candidate should have demonstrable familiarity with qualitative ethnographic research methods: previous experience in qualitative interviewing and conducting observations is required. In addition, the candidate should possess strong communicative skills in English and in Dutch. We are looking for a candidate who is able to work independently, take initiative and stick to deadlines.

We offer a position as PhD student at Erasmus University Rotterdam, starting as soon as possible but no later than January 1, 2018. PhD students are appointed for a period of 4 years, starting with a temporary contract for 1.5 years and followed by a second temporary contract for 2.5 years. Remuneration will be in accordance with the PhD scale set by the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU). Fulltime work will pay € 2.222 before taxes in the first year, increasing to € 2.840 in the fourth year. EUR offers a set end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, 8% holiday allowance and offers generous opportunities for further education.

Erasmus University Rotterdam is a modern, highly ranked, international research university, based in the dynamic and diverse city of Rotterdam. We were founded in 1913 and nowadays host 25.000 students. Our faculties and institutions work on global, national and local social challenges in the areas of: healthy development, wealth, governance, culture. The quality of research at Erasmus University, named after Rotterdam-born humanist and theologian Erasmus, is reflected in its consistent top-100 position in most major universities rankings. On the lively, modern campus, students and scholars of more than 100 nationalities are constantly encouraged to develop their talents and meet their ambition. https://www.eur.nl/english/

Departments
The Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM) of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is leading in the Netherlands with its educational and research activities targeted at policy and management issues in health care. The ESHPM offers a bachelor programme, two master programmes and post-academic educational programmes and courses. At ESHPM, research and educational activities are closely intertwined. Knowledge and experiences of various scientific disciplines such as economics, law, social-medical sciences, organisational science and public administration are brought together and applied to the health care sector. This multidisciplinary approach to education and research is unique. ESHPM is located in the Bayle Building (J) at campus Woudestein of Erasmus University Rotterdam and has strong ties to Erasmus MC. Currently, approximately 950 students are engaged in one of our programmes and 150 people are employed at ESHPM. Internationalisation is highly valued at ESHPM. The number of students, teachers and researchers from abroad has risen significantly over the past years and have enriched our programmes.

Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB)
The Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences is home to a vast diversity of scientific disciplines: public administration, pedagogical sciences, psychology and sociology. In addition, the Erasmus University College, IHS, and two research institutes RISBO and DRIFT are linked to the faculty. This also reflects in the content of the (international) bachelor's and master's programmes and in research.  Our activities are always focused on people and society. At the ESSB fundamental, internationally oriented research is of paramount importance. In addition, social research for professionals, policy makers, and the society is part of our research activities. ESSB offers a stimulating research environment where major national and international research grants are received. Appealing guest researchers and ambitious PhD candidates come along to conduct their research. Our education is small-scale and works with innovative forms of education such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Both the Dutch and English programmes are highly ranked by students and alumni. ESSB is home to over 2500 students and 300 staff-members.