- recruiting participants
- developing measurements
- data collection of behavioral tasks and (functional) MRI in children
- analyzing MRI data and quantitative data
- writing scientific papers, resulting in a PhD thesis
- teaching in bachelor or master program, including supervising thesis students.

- MSc or MA degree in social sciences (e.g. sociology, neuropsychology, developmental psychology). A strong preference for candidates with a Research Master, but candidates with a degree in related disciplines who meet the qualifications are welcome to apply
- affinity with youth and social development
- experience with high-level statistical techniques
- demonstrable affinity with the collection and analysis of fMRI data
- proactive, hands-on mentality, flexible and independent
- socially skilled, persuasive, and a team player
- excellent organizational skills
- excellent language and communication skills in English as well as at least basic communication skills in Dutch.

Fixed-term contract: 48 months.

The University of Groningen offers a salary of € 2,222 (salary scale PhD students Dutch Universities) gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 2,840 gross per month in the final year, based on a fulltime position, excluding an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end of the year bonus. The project must result in a PhD thesis within the 4-year contract period.

The successful candidate will be offered a temporary position of four years with an evaluation moment at the end of the first year. The prolongation of the contract after this first year is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the next three years is to be expected.

The preferred starting date is January 1st, 2018.

The interviews are planned in week 50, on Friday December 15th in Groningen.

Application
You may apply for this position until 7 December 23:59 h / before 8 December 2017 Dutch local time by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

Applications must include
• a letter of motivation
• a curriculum vitae, including a list of publications (if any)
• transcript of master and bachelor degrees
•a list of grades obtained in master and bachelor
• the contact information of three academic referees.

Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.

Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences

The project is financed by an OCW-Startimpuls grant and is part of the new NWA program NeurolabNL: Optimal conditions for learning and safety of youth. The goal of this program is to utilize knowledge on behavior and neurology to understand how youth obtain knowledge, learn skills, deal with challenges in society, and how they can develop optimally. In total, 8 post doc positions and 3 PhD students will be recruited for this program. The program is based on a collaboration between 10 universities and scientific partners, to create optimal conditions to answer these questions.

In this multidisciplinary and multi-site project, we aim to examine what factors contribute to the continuation of victimization over time, and whether those factors are addressed in current anti-bullying efforts. Specifically, we aim to examine whether a combination of individual (e.g. social perception tendencies and social skills), environmental (e.g. positive and negative peer-relations), and biological characteristics (e.g. neural sensitivity, measured with fMRI) may explain chronic victimization.

The project is based on a collaboration between the Leiden University (Berna Güroğlu) and the University of Groningen (René Veenstra and Gerine Lodder).
The PhD candidate will develop and empirically test theories on the mechanisms that play a role in the maintenance of victimization, with specific attention to social perception processes. The PhD candidate will work both in Groningen and Leiden, depending on the phase of the PhD project. The first phase of the project will take place in Groningen (with frequent work visits to Leiden for fMRI training), the second phase of the project will take place in Leiden.