The postdoc 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 Advanced Grant no. 740113 from the European Research Council. The research team will further include another postdoc researcher, three PhD researchers and one staff member all based in Groningen, a postdoc and data analyst working in Brussels, and external international collaborators. In this team, the researcher will perform her or his own research task in close collaboration with the other team members and with external collaborators, and help supervise the PhD researchers.

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 will be 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 will be analysed using advanced applications of hazard regression, logistic regression, linear regression and structural equation models, which take into account the multilevel and multi-actor structure of the data and issues of endogeneity and self-selection. The project will provide major new insights into migration, immobility and labour-market outcomes, and input for better predictions and policies concerning migration, population growth and decline, ethnic segregation, labour-market flexibility and family support.

We are looking for candidates with:
- a PhD in Human Geography, Economics, Demography, or Sociology – finished or to be completed soon
- publications in international peer-reviewed academic journals in the field of quantitative research on themes related to the FamilyTies project
- excellent skills in quantitative research using register data or large survey databases
- proven ability to collaborate in a research team and to take the lead in organizing collaborative work
- preferably experience in supervising junior researchers, (PhD) students or assistants
- fluency in English; preferably mastering some Dutch or willing to learn Dutch
- willingness to attend conferences abroad and to spend periods of several weeks working abroad with collaborating partners in the FamilyTies project
- preferably insider knowledge on at least one country under study in the project (other than the UK or the Netherlands), 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 organize own work and related activities, ability to meet deadlines
- a great curiosity and enthusiasm for scientific research.

Competences of a Postdoctoral Researcher:
- conceptual capacity
- environment orientation
- presenting
- result orientation.

Fixed-term contract: 12 months.

The University of Groningen offers a salary that will be between € 2,588 (scale 10 Dutch Universities) up to a maximum of € 4,757 (scale 11) gross per month for a full-time employment based on the experience of the candidate. The salary will be based on the salary scale for Researcher at Dutch Universities and in accordance with the collective agreement regulating employment conditions at Dutch Universities. The full-time appointment is temporary for a specified period of 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 time.

Starting date: preferably between November 2017 and May 2018.

Interviews with the selection committee will take place on 28 November 2017.

Application
You may apply for this position until 12 November 23.59 h / before 13 November 2017 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
- your CV, including a list of academic output (among with publications) and the names and contact details of two referees
- a short note on which parts of the project you would be particularly interested in working on, and how this work would relate to previous work you have done.

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 programmes, the faculty offers a wide range of courses within the field to about 900 students.