Description of research project
In the past five years, Jordan has received a large number of Syrian refugees, many of them children and youth. Development and humanitarian organizations consider early marriages (under 18) one of the main problems affecting the health situation of Syrian girls and young women and their children. While there are many studies available on the causes and consequences of early marriages among Syrian refugees in Jordan, little is known about the strategies that married and unmarried girls and boys use themselves to improve their livelihoods, and their thoughts and practices regarding marriages, child bearing and family planning. This project intends to address the sexual and reproductive health of Syrian refugee youth in more general terms and in doing so put early marriages in a broader perspective. The project will employ a qualitative approach and use ethnography and Participatory Action Research (PAR) methods to study the perceptions, experiences and strategies of Syrian refugee youth in Jordan with regard to their SRHR, and the role and impact of marriages on SRHR in particular, and the interventions of two development organizations working with refugee youth, namely Caritas, a large international NGO working in eight centers across the country and Ahel Al-Jabal, a Jordanian NGO working in Mafraq. The project aims to give insight in the agency, resilience and coping strategies of Syrian refugee youth in Jordan with regard to their SRHR and contribute to more effective policies and practices. 
   
The most important task of the post-doctoral research is to carry out qualitative research as part of the research project, which includes a literature review, carrying out fieldwork in Jordan for at least two periods of three months (or a similar period of time distributed over two years), analyzing the data and writing a final report and a number of academic publications. He/she will also be involved in many aspects of the project, including the development of the research proposal, the organization of the kick-off, mid-term and end workshops, the training and supervision of junior researchers (including participatory actions research) in Jordan and the dissemination of research results.

• You are a social scientist who has completed a PhD degree with a research specialization in a relevant discipline (anthropology, development studies, sociology, gender studies, social work and other relevant social sciences) awarded within the last 5 years or recently submitted to the committee.
• You have knowledge and experience in qualitative research, preferably with ethnographic methods and participatory research methodologies.
• You have research or working experience with refugees, migrants or other vulnerable groups.
• You have demonstrable research interest in sexual and reproductive health and/ or sexuality.
• Familiarity with research in the Middle East is an important asset.
• Strong analytical and writing skills in English.
• Strong presentation skills.
• Arabic language skills are an added value.
• You are able to travel and live abroad for at least two periods of three months (or a similar period of time over a two years period). 
 

The post-doc will be based at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and supervised by Dr. Marina de Regt, the project leader. He/she will work closely together with the senior researchers in Jordan and the project staff of the two NGOs. The appointment will be for a total of 2 years (24 months). The starting date is as soon as possible, preferably October 1, 2017.
 
You can find information about our excellent fringe benefits of employment at www.workingatvu.nl like:
• remuneration of  8,3% end-of-year bonus and  8% holiday allowance
• a minimum of 29 holidays in case of full-time employment;
• generous contribution (65%) commuting allowance based on public transport;
• discounts on collective insurances (healthcare- and car insurance); 
 
The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel, and depending on experience, range from a minimum of € 2,588 gross per month up to a maximum of € 4,084 gross per month (salary scale 10) based on a fulltime employment.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) is a leading, innovative and growing university that is at the heart of society and actively contributes to new developments in teaching and research. Our university has ten faculties, and provides work for over 4,500 staff and scientific education for more than 23,000 students.

The Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) is one of the larger faculties of the Vrije Universiteit. Over 2,500 students and more than 250 employees are engaged in teaching and research on social-science issues. The faculty has 5 bachelor- and 7 master programs. The faculty offers bachelor and master programs in sociology, anthropology, political science, public administration, communication science and organization science. The main focus of research is societal resilience
(see http://www.fsw.vu.nl/en/research/institute-for-societal-resilience/).
 
The Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is one of the five anthropological departments in the Netherlands with a research staff of about 13. Presently the department has four ordinary chairs, of which two are fulltime: Cultural Anthropology with a focus on religion, and Social Anthropology and Development, with a focus on the anthropology of infrastructure. Two part time chairs cover the fields of Popular Religiosity, and of Global History from an Anthropological Perspective. Additionally, the department has three endowed extraordinary chairs (Processes of Ethnicity and Identity Formation in Africa, and Popular Ritual in the Netherlands). Finally, there are five associate professors; three assistant professors; and three postgraduate students with research and/or teaching contracts. The department has no regional focus. The members of the department conduct research in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe.