The Department Educational Research and Development of the School of Business and Economics (Maastricht University, the Netherlands) has an opening for a PhD-student with a strong interest, and preferably experience, in team research and more specifically the role of stress in crisis teams.

The Stress in Crisis Teams project focusses on the role of the team leader and how stress influences his leader behavior and in turn team learning in coordinating crisis teams.. The PhD student will experiment with the use of physiological markers of stress via wearable sensors. This allows questioning the effect of dynamics of stress on leader behaviors in coordinating crisis teams.

In this project, we will (continue to) collaborate with regional organisations such as Netwerk Acute Zorg Limburg and more specifically Opleiden, Trainen, Oefenen Limburg who is responsible for the training of crisis teams. Also, we will work together with research groups at the University of Antwerp and the University of Helsinki to further develop and critically test the use of physiological markers of stress via wearable sensors. The first scientific challenge within this project is to understand how stress of team leaders influence team learning in the very dynamic and high stake environment of coordinating crisis teams. The second challenge is to test the value of physiological markers of stress via wearable sensors and to handle the complex databases resulting from these measurements.

• A (Research) Master’s degree in psychology, organization sciences, education sciences, data sciences or related degrees. Students in the last year of their degree can also apply;
• Ambition to work with psychophysiological measures;
• Academic interest in team research and leadership;  
• Substantial knowledge of research methodology and statistical methods;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Excellent writing and presentation skills (English);
• You are enthusiast, cooperative, creative, and conscientious.

We offer

• A Fixed-term appointment: 4 years;
• A full-time position;
• Remuneration according to standard levels for PhD students: A yearly growth from €2.325,00 to €2.972,00 gross per month (based on a full-time appointment);
• Supplemental holiday allowance of 8% of your yearly gross income;
• Supplemental end-of-year allowance of 8.3% of your yearly gross income;

Attractive fringe benefits, such as a pension scheme and a corporate fitness plan.  Upon a positive assessment, your contract will be extended for a three-year period.

You have to be willing to move to (the vicinity of) Maastricht. If you do not already live in Maastricht (or its direct surroundings), you will be eligible for an allowance for moving costs. If you do not already live in Maastricht (or its direct surroundings), you might be eligible for an allowance for alternative housing.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website: http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees.

Maastricht University

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 18,000 students and 4,400 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts six faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience. For more information, see http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/

The Department of Educational Research and Development, part of the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, is renowned for offering a highly reputed MSc program “ Learning and Development in Organizations “and has close educational and research collaborations with organizations. The themes of the master program and business collaborations reflect the core research theme of the Department: How to support professional learning and development on the individual and team level?