Are you interested in cultural sociology, and specifically in the rise of global economic elites and their impact on cultural fields? Is it your ambition to become a top-tier researcher?

We are seeking two PhD candidates for the project 'The Return of the Medici? The Global Rise of Private Museums for Contemporary Art', which is funded by the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO) and led by Professor Olav Velthuis. The PhD track is part of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), in particular the programme group Cultural Sociology. The project studies the global rise of private art museums. This rise is highly controversial: according to some they are neo-aristocratic institutions which translate economic into cultural inequality, while others argue that they democratize and support art, especially when government support is absent or declining. The project addresses three interrelated questions: (1) What motivates art collectors to found a private museum and how are these motivations activated, refracted or muted by pre-existing local and global field structures? (2) How do private museums position themselves in local and global cultural fields through their acquisitions and exhibition programs? (3) What is the impact of private museums on visitors, art markets and public museums; are these museums the contemporary art world’s new taste makers, or are they predominantly following other institutions? Using both qualitative and quantitative data, the project focuses on the rise of private museums in The Netherlands, United States, Brazil, Russia, India and China. 

What will you be doing?

• Conducting empirical research, writing a dissertation and other publications;
• teaching in the field of social sciences for at least 10% of the time;
• participating in the PhD programme of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), including following courses;
• participating in conferences and seminars.

You have:

• a Master’s degree or equivalent with a relevant specialization within the social sciences or humanities. The degree must have been obtained by the time of application;
• excellent command of English;
• affinity with empirical research using relevant qualitative and/or quantitative methods.

Relevant language skills pertaining to the project countries will be considered as an advantage.

Fixed-term contract: four years.

The position concerns a temporary appointment of 38 hours per week for a maximum term of four years. The initial appointment is for one year, preferably starting on 1 February 2020. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of 36 months, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate. We will put together a curriculum which will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events.

Your salary will be €2,325 gross per month in the first year and will increase to €2,972 in the final year, based on full-time employment (38 hours per week) and in keeping with the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities. We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.

What else can we offer you?

A challenging work environment with a variety of duties and ample scope for individual initiative and development within an inspiring organisation. The social and behavioural sciences play a leading role in addressing the major societal challenges faced by the world, the Netherlands and Amsterdam, now and in the future.

To work at the University of Amsterdam is to work in a discerning, independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

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.

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences – Department of Sociology

The Department of Sociology is one of the departments in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences.

Sociology deals with human society in its entirety both at the micro level (behavior of individuals in relation to his or her social environment) as at the meso and macro level (institutions and larger social systems).

Sociology at the UvA focuses on the spatial and socio-economic mobility of the urban population, the rise and fall of urban lifestyles and cultures, social relations between individuals and groups, old and new forms of discrimination, inequality, and citizenship, as well as the policy dimensions.