The Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is looking for a PhD candidate in Political Representation and Diversity.

This PhD position is part of the project 'Misrepresenting Diversity? How personal identities clash with ethnic pigeonholing in politics' funded with a NWO Vidi grant coordinated by dr. Liza Mügge.

Ideally, democracies should accommodate the citizenry’s full diversity. This especially matters for structurally underrepresented persons, such as ethnic minorities with a migration background. Misrepresenting Diversity? provides a bottom-up analysis of the mechanisms that drive representation in ethnically diverse societies.

The PhD candidate will focus on individual minority citizens’ experience and expectations of representation in the Dutch, French and German parliaments. The aim is to reveal citizens’ personal experience of representation and how this is mediated by their personal characteristics and identity. The findings will show whether, and if so how, citizens believe that direct representation by politicians who are “like them” matters. The central question is: How do minority backgrounds shape the experience and expectations of representation among individual citizens? This project primarily relies on original large-n nationwide surveys with embedded experiments in the Netherlands, Germany and France.

Tasks:

The successful candidate will be expected to have a high level of competence and motivation to undertake the following tasks:

• complete and defend a PhD thesis within the official appointment duration (four years);
• develop and coordinate a cross-national survey with embedded experiments;
• contribute (both as sole author and as co-author) to the writing up of research papers to be submitted to academic journals;

• regularly present intermediate research results at the UvA and at international workshops and conferences;
• contribute to the organisation of research activities and events of the project, such as conferences, workshops and joint publications;
• teach in the field of political sciences (in consultation);
• participate in the AISSR PhD programme, including attendance of courses.

Ideal candidates:

• have obtained a (research) master’s degree in a field relevant to the theme of the research;
• are persons with initiative, excellent communication skills, the ability to work independently as well as in a team and move easily between international contexts;
• have well-developed analytical skills as well as creativity and perseverance;
• possess good academic writing, presentation and organisational skills;
• can demonstrate a strong interest in the topic of this PhD project;
• are familiar with (some of the) academic literatures relevant to the project;
• have excellent quantitative methodological skills, with a particular focus on surveys and experiments, or are willing and able to acquire these skills, and are open to mixed methods;
• are able to communicate effectively in English both orally and in writing;
• have a strong interest in pursuing an academic career.

The appointment will be on a temporary basis for a period of 4 years for 38 hours per week. In the first instance, a contract will be given for 12 months; if positively evaluated, the contract will be extended for another 36 months. Salary will be €2,222 during the first year, rising to €2,840 on the basis of a full-time appointment during an eventual fourth year. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable.

The successful candidate will begin their project on or around 1 January 2018.

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

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) is the largest educational and research institution in the social sciences in the Netherlands. The Faculty serves 7,500 students in numerous Bachelor and Master programmes in Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Communication Science, Psychology, Social Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, and Educational Sciences. The academic staff are employed in education as well as research. There are over 1,100 employees in the Faculty, which resides in a number of buildings in the centre of Amsterdam.

http://www.uva.nl/en/faculties/faculteit-der-maatschappij-en-gedragswetenschappen/faculty-of-social-and-behavioural-sciences.html