Are you exceptionally interested in persuasive communication, social media communities, sustainability, and empowerment? Is it your ambition to become a top-tier researcher?

We are looking for a PhD candidate for the project ‘Changing the public debate for the greener; How social media bubbles can be identified, understood, and put to use to stimulate environmental sustainability’. The PhD track is part of the Persuasive Communication programme group.

Social media technology is increasingly used to stimulate awareness of environmental problems like climate change and to promote pro-environmental behaviors. At the same time, however, social media are used to raise doubts on the existence, causes of and potential solutions to environmental problems. Although there is scientific and societal interest in social media usage in general and (filter) bubbles specifically, there is not much knowledge concerning these issues in the environmental context. This 3-year PhD project aims to identify social media communities related to sustainability (‘green bubbles’) in terms of content and audience, to 1.) study motivations for online green behaviors within the different bubbles; to 2.)identify how this relates to people’s offline green behaviors; and to 3.) test how social media can be used as a persuasive tool to ‘green the different bubbles’ and investigate how the effectiveness of these persuasive strategies is related to characteristics of the community and the network. With the results of different subprojects, this project will provide new, much-needed information on the existence and the characteristics of ‘green bubbles’, the relation between online and offline green behavior, and on how social media can be used to green people’s behavior for a more sustainable future.

What are you going to do

You will

• conduct research as outlined above, adopting mixed-methods including (automated) content analysis, network analysis, experimentation, and survey research;
• writing up findings for publications in academic publications in leading international journals and accumulating in a PhD thesis;
• present your work at (inter)national conferences;
• contribute to the vibrant academic life in Amsterdam by attending workshops, meetings, and lectures;
• engage in valorisation activities;
• spend 10% of your time on teaching-related tasks.

You have:

• a (Research) Master’s degree in communication science or a related field such as social psychology, health sciences, behavioural science, computer science or information science;
• affinity with research on social media networks and sustainability, environmental behaviour, or planetary health;
• a firm basis in research methods and data analysis (especially (automated) content analysis, network analysis, experimentation and survey research are a pre);
• an excellent written and spoken command of English;
• excellent organizational skills.

You are:

• eager to contribute to the field of digital technologies in persuasive communication and environmental communication;
• excited to contribute through your research to a more sustainable and healthy planet;
• motivated to share your knowledge with academic and non-academic audiences;
• willing to learn and think across disciplines and integrate knowledge from different academic disciplines (e.g., social or health psychology and computer science) in your research;
• strongly committed to methodological rigor and scientific integrity;
• intellectual curious and eager to learn.

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

The UvA is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We value a spirit of enquiry and endurance, provide the space to keep asking questions and cherish a diverse atmosphere of curiosity and creativity.

The position concerns a temporary employment contract of 38 hours per week for a maximum term of three years and two months. The initial term of employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of 26 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. You will also be tasked with teaching Bachelor's students.

Your salary will be €2395  gross per month in the first year and will increase to €3061 in the final year, based on full-time employment (38 hours a week) and in keeping with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.

University of Amsterdam

With over 6,000 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 – Amsterdam School of Communication Research

The Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) is the research institute for the Communication Science department at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences.

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 (UvA) 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