Project: Global data justice in the era of big data: toward an inclusive framing of informational rights and freedoms (DATAJUSTICE).

The ‘data revolution’ has created new visibilities, particularly in lower-income regions of the world. These visibilities are not neutral: they offer the possibility of promoting human development, and simultaneously have the potential to amplify socioeconomic and geographical power asymmetries and open up new markets for platforms and services. These new sources and possibilities also involve linkages between the public and private sectors worldwide that have implications for citizenship, representation and the public domain. 

The Global Data Justice project, funded by the European Research Council and led by Linnet Taylor, starts from the assumption that a global framework for data governance is emerging through both normative frameworks and market relations. The project has the objective of informing and shaping this evolution towards principles of social justice. It aims to do so by conceptualising and developing an empirically informed framework for data governance, seeking common principles based on the needs of the people who produce and are affected by new data technologies worldwide. The research has two main objectives:

1. To provide a critical assessment of the case for, and the obstacles to, data justice as an overall framework for data technologies’ design and governance; 
2. To present a conceptual framework for a social-justice-informed approach to global data governance, and refine it through a series of discussions and debates worldwide.

Tilburg University believes that academic excellence is achieved through the combination of outstanding research and education, in which social impact is made by sharing knowledge. In doing so, we recognize that excellence is not only achieved through individual performance, but mostly through team effort in which each team member acts as a leader connecting people.

The successful candidate is comfortable working across disciplines and has a strong interest in social justice issues. You have experience with ethnographic research, and the ability and inclination to work across cultures and normative perspectives. You also have the flexibility and communication abilities to work as a senior member within a small interdisciplinary team and with a wide range of project collaborators, and the ability to communicate research to diverse audiences. You have completed a PhD in Development Studies or a related discipline. Related disciplines may include media studies, legal philosophy, science & technology studies, human geography, international relations and political science. You have a demonstrated research interest in digital technologies and human development, and posess good writing skills and an excellent command of written and spoken English. Knowledge of another language is considered a plus. Candidates from non-European countries are especially welcome to apply.

Tilburg University offers excellent terms of employment. We believe flexibility, development, and good employee benefits are very important. We make clear agreements on career paths and offer all kinds of facilities and schemes to maintain an optimum balance between work and private life. Tilburg University fosters diversity and inclusion; that is why we pursue an active policy for inclusive teams where diverse talents can flourish.

The starting gross salary varies between €3,637 and €4,978 per month (full time) based on scale 11 of the Collective Labor Agreement Dutch Universities. Tilburg University actively promotes equal and transparent salary between men and women by strictly applying predetermined parameters based on the candidate’s experience. Employees recruited from abroad may be eligible for the 30% tax facility- this means that 30% of your salary will be paid as a tax-free reimbursement.

Tilburg University offers you an employment agreement for a fixed period of 2.5 years (30 months) and 0.8 – 1.0 fte (32 – 40 hours per week). 

You are entitled to a holiday allowance amounting to 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3% of your gross yearly income. If you work 40 hours per week, you receive 41 days of paid recreational leave per year.

Please visit Working at Tilburg University for more information on our employment conditions. 

Tilburg University

Under the motto of ‘Understanding society’, Tilburg University’s more than 1,500 employees develop knowledge, transfer it to others, and bring people from various disciplines and organizations together. In this way, we want to contribute to solving complex social issues. Our focus areas are economics, business and entrepreneurship, social and behavioral sciences, law and public administration, the humanities and digital sciences, and theology. Tilburg University is internationally known for its high standards in education and scientific research, as well as its good support facilities. The Tilburg University campus offers both quietness and connectivity as it is located in a wooded park, ten minutes away from the city center, main highways, and railways. A mid-sized city of 200,000 inhabitants in the South of the Netherlands, and in proximity to cities like Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and London, Tilburg is situated at the very heart of Western Europe. 

Tilburg Law School

Tilburg Law School offers highly ranked national and international education and research in law and public administration. Currently, almost 4,000 students are enrolled at Tilburg Law School. Students in Tilburg can choose from five Bachelor's programs, one of which is taught in English (Bachelor Global Law) and ten Master's programs, eight of which are taught in English. The international orientation of Tilburg Law School is reflected in these Bachelor's and Master's programs. The research conducted within Tilburg Law School is aimed at social relevance and provides students with the tools and skills to study and deal with current issues at an academic level. The research within Tilburg Law School is organized into five cross-departmental research programs: 1) Global Law and Governance; 2) New Modes of Lawmaking and Governance in a Multilayered Order; 3) Law and Security; 4) Sustainable Business Law and Taxation; and 5) Law and Technology. 

The research will be carried out within the department Law, Technology, Management & Society (LTMS). LTMS is home of Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT) and Tilburg Law & Economics Center (TILEC). By joining forces, the two centers foster a richer understanding on the effects of socio-technical change on the regulation and governance of economic activity in an age where information technology is a key driver for innovation. 
TILT is one of the leading research groups in Europe at the intersection of law, technology, and society. It is premised on the multidisciplinary study of socio-technical change, aiming at understanding the interaction of technology and social and normative practices, in order to clarify how regulatory challenges of socio-technical change can be addressed.
TILEC is an internationally renowned center of the Tilburg Law School and the Tilburg School of Economics and Management. It carries out interdisciplinary research on the governance of economic activity in the digital age.