The Chair group of Public Administration at the Nijmegen School of Management invites applications for a PhD position. The position is part of the research project ‘The Creative Public Servant’ (led by Prof. Dr Sandra van Thiel and Dr Peter Kruyen) and funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

The research project investigates under which conditions public servants (i.e. employees of executive agencies) can be creative in their task of policy implementation or service delivery, and to which effects. Creativity is the production of new and useful ideas, which, when adopted and implemented, will become innovations. However, the conditions under which the process of creativity takes place in the public sector and produces the expected positive results is not well-known. The public sector is considered inhospitable to innovation as there is no competition, and regulations and budgetary constraints are tight. Employees of executive agencies are considered risk-averse and rule-conforming. The project consists of a literature study, a diary study (using a mobile phone app), a survey and a field experiment (including creativity training) in two agencies.

Your task will be to collect data, conduct research, predominately through applying qualitative and quantitative research procedures, to write scientific articles, and to complete a PhD thesis in time. You will also participate in conferences, workshops and other scholarly and valorisation activities, and contribute to teaching at the Nijmegen School of Management.

• A Master’s degree in Public Administration, Psychology or in a related field in the social sciences.
• Academic excellence, as demonstrated by grade transcripts and CV.
• A solid understanding of both quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Excellent command of written and spoken Dutch and English.
• The ability to work both independently and as a team player.
• The ability to finish your PhD thesis in time, which requires strong skills in project management, creativity, proactive behaviour, resilience, and excellent academic writing skills.

Fixed-term contract: You will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4 year contract).

• Employment: 40 hours per week.
• The gross starting salary amounts to €2,325 per month, and will increase to €2,972 in the fourth year (salary scale P).
• In addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• Duration of the contract: You will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4 year contract).
• The intended start date is 1 November 2019.
• You will be able to make use of our Dual Career Service: our Dual Career Officer will assist with family-related support, such as child care, and help your partner prepare for the local labour market and with finding an occupation.
• Are you interested in our excellent employment conditions?

Radboud University has seven faculties, which together cover the full range of academic disciplines. Its teaching and research staff hail from more than fifty countries. With several brand new buildings and state-of-the-art facilities, the leafy modern campus in Nijmegen provides an open and welcoming environment with a personal touch, encouraging the sharing of knowledge among academics, across disciplines, and within and between research institutes. Radboud University firmly believes that a broad perspective is essential for generating new insights and solutions in both science and society.

Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen

The Nijmegen School of Management (NSM) is an academic centre of research and higher education at Radboud University, focusing on institutional and managerial issues concerning complex organisations in both the public and private domains. It covers seven disciplines: Business Administration, Public Administration, Political Science, Economics and Business Economics, Social and Political Sciences of the Environment, Human Geography, and Spatial Planning. The NSM strives for a multidisciplinary approach whenever possible. The NSM employs 265 FTEs, 75% of whom are academics. The NSM currently has approximately 4,500 students.

The Chair of Public Administration covers the broad field of public administration with an emphasis on governance, public management, accountability and control in the setting of interorganisational and intergovernmental relations and networks. There is a strong focus on theory-driven research using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods. Specific research themes of the Chair include comparative public administration, encompassing Europeanisation, public management reforms and practices, and good governance at local, regional and national levels.

The educational programme is characterised by small-scale teaching and provides a stimulating learning environment with an emphasis on the development of academic skills. Research activities fall under the responsibility of the interdisciplinary Institute for Management Research (IMR). Under the motto ‘Creating knowledge for society’, IMR focuses on academic research into the development, design and effectiveness of the public and private structures that regulate, govern or manage human interactions and organisations.