The Assistant Professor will be asked to conduct multidisciplinary research on 1) the psychosocial development and well-being of accompanied and unaccompanied migrant and refugee children, 2) parenting in migrant and refugee families and 3) the best interests of the child in assessment and decision making in migration procedures. We expect that the Assistant Professor will embed her/his work in the current research lines of our research group, build up an international network of research contacts in the field of refugee and migration law studies, and successfully disseminate results to different stakeholders.

The Assistant Professor will also be asked to teach. Teaching in the bachelor and master programme will be on judicial and ethical issues in the field of special needs education and youth care and on assessment and interventions in youth care. Part of the teaching will go to the supervision of bachelor and master theses.

We are looking for candidates who meet the following requirements:
- a PhD degree in a relevant field of behavioural and social sciences (youth care, child welfare, social and cultural anthropology, family psychology, social work) and for law a master degree (LL.M.)
- knowledge about and several years of experience with research on (forced) migration and psychosocial and legal issues concerning refugees
- experience regarding assessment and interventions for refugee children and families, including unaccompanied minors
- affinity with ethical and legal issues including children's rights in the field of special needs education and youth care or willingness to develop an affinity with these issues
- a relevant publication record demonstrating the candidate's ability or potential to publish international academic publications, preferably in top tier peer-reviewed journals
- skills in qualitative and/or quantitative research methods
- the ability to develop a relevant international network
- the ability to do research in a multidisciplinary team
- the ability to attract funding for research projects
- the ability to communicate orally and in written form in Dutch and English (command of Dutch is B1 level, English is C1 level)
- capacities in developing courses and in teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels
- willingness to obtain the University Teaching Qualification within the first years of your contract.

Fixed-term contract: 72 months.

The University of Groningen offers a salary depending on qualifications and work experience. For candidates at the assistant level, salary ranges from a minimum of € 3,475 (salary scale 11 Dutch Universities) gross per month to a maximum of € 5,405 (salary scale 12) gross per month for a full-time position, excluding 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus and participation in a pension scheme for employees. Favourable tax agreements may apply to non-Dutch applicants.

You will be appointed for a period of six years, on the condition of a positive mid-term evaluation in the third year of employment. After a positive final evaluation in the sixth year of employment, you will be granted tenure to Associate Professor. We refer the applicants to consult the criteria of the Tenure Track system (for a complete description, see www.rug.nl/gmw/research/tenure-track-notitie-gmw-2015-door-cvb-goedgekeurd-uk-0508.pdf.

Apply
You may apply for this position until 21 December 23:59 h / before 22 December 2017 Dutch local time, by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

Applications are requested to submit:
1. a cover letter including your view on how your research and/or teaching may fit into the department
2. an up-to-date curriculum vitae
3. a short statement of your research accomplishments and future research goals
4. sample copies of your research (published papers or papers under review)
5. the names and contact details of two references.

The interviews are planned on Monday 15 January 2018.

We expect candidates to start in spring 2018.

Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.

Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences

Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has enjoyed an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Balanced study and career paths in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 30,000 students and researchers to develop their own individual talents. Belonging to the best research universities in Europe and joining forces with prestigious partner universities and networks, the University of Groningen is truly an international place of knowledge.

The Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences is a centre of knowledge focusing on individuals and society. The faculty studies issues relating to human behaviour, the relationships between people, and society as a whole. This includes the study of how people function under normal circumstances, but also of the problems encountered by individuals or groups, and how these can be resolved or prevented.

This Assistant Professor position is situated at the Study Centre for Children, Migration & Law within the Special Needs Education and Youth Care unit, which is part of the department of Pedagogy and Educational Sciences. This unit is responsible for teaching at a bachelor and master level with an explicit focus on learning and educational problems, on disabilities, and on emotional, behavioural problems. Our research programme ‘Developmental and behavioural disorders in education and care: Assessment and Intervention’ aims to (1) study risk factors and mechanisms explaining problems in children and families related to learning, development and parenting, and protective factors reducing these problems, (2) develop and evaluate instruments/procedures to assess these problems, and (3) develop and evaluate interventions in the abovementioned areas.