The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS, Leiden University) has a job opening for a postdoctoral researcher with a background in social studies of science and an interest in applied research. The researcher will work on the Tools to Advance Research Assessment (TARA) project, and an initative of DORA and funded by Arcadia – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. TARA is a collaboration with Sarah de Rijcke, Professor in Science and Evaluation Studies and director of the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University, and Ruth Schmidt, Associate Professor at the Institute of Design of the Illinois Institute of Technology.

TARA aims to accelerate research assessment reform through:

1. systematic review of new or innovative research assessment policies and practices at academic institutions, primarily in the United States and Europe;
2. analysis & assessment of new or innovative research assessment policies and practices in the form of an interactive online dashboard to track criteria and standards for academic advancement;
3. development and testing of tools and resources to help institutions move forward with new policies and practices to improve research assessment in the United States and Europe.

The main tasks for the postdoctoral candidate are to a) help develop the interactive online dashboard, including identifying source materials; b) develop, run and analyse results of a survey of academic institutions in the US to gain a broad understanding of institutional change for research assessment reform in the American context; c) identify strategies to populate the dashboard from the survey data; and d) publish the results of the survey analysis in an open access academic journal.

The TARA team further consists of Dr. Anna Hatch, DORA Program Director; Dr. Ruth Schmidt, Associate Professor at the Institute of Design of the Illinois Institute of Technology; Stephen Curry, Professor of Structural Biology at Imperial College London and DORA Chair; and Sarah de Rijcke, Professor in Science and Evaluation Studies at Leiden University. The postdoctoral researcher will also become member of the Science and Evaluation Studies (SES) research group at CWTS, Leiden University.

• We are looking for a researcher with:

• A PhD degree in Science and Technology Studies or related field;
• Knowledge of scholarly publishing, assessment of research;
• Strong skills in document analysis and in designing, organizing and executing survey research;
• Fluency in spoken English and excellent writing skills in English;
• Strong analytical capacity;
• Communication proficiency;
• Willingness and proven ability to work independently and as part of an international team.

We offer a fixed-term position for 38 hours per week until 31 May 2024. Salary range from € 3.746,- to € 5.127,- gross per month on a full-time basis (pay scale 11, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities). The preferred starting date is 1 October 2021.

Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses (8.3 %), training and career development. Our individual choices model gives you some freedom to assemble your own set of terms and conditions. For international spouses we have set up a dual career programme. Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break. For more information, see the website.

 

Leiden University

The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) recognizes the need to improve the ways in which the outputs of scholarly research are evaluated. The declaration was developed in 2012 during the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) in San Francisco. It has become a worldwide initiative to advance practical and robust approaches to research assessment covering all scholarly disciplines and all key stakeholders including funders, publishers, professional societies, institutions, and researchers.

The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) studies scientific research and its connections to technology, innovation, and society. As a leading research, consulting, and training center, CWTS is dedicated to increasing our understanding of scientific quality, societal impact, and other related concepts. CWTS studies the conditions and consequences of research evaluation for the generation of new knowledge, and the role of research in innovation processes. Special attention is paid to the value of bibliometric and scientometric tools to support the evaluation and management of scientific research. On the basis of its research, CWTS wishes to contribute to the debates about the role of science in society. Studies at CWTS range across the broad field of science, technology and innovation studies.

The Science and Evaluation Studies (SES) research group analyses the politics and practices of research evaluation in connection with contemporary forms of governance of research and scholarship. We use the concept of "governance" because it allows us to take into account the changing relationships between knowledge production processes and formal and informal steering efforts at multiple levels in the science system:

• (inter)national level - e.g. EU funding schemes, responsible metrics initiatives;
• organisational level - e.g. institutional evaluation practices;
• shop-floor level - e.g. the practical handling and possible epistemic implications of indicators in different fields.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences conducts high-quality research and offers a broad and disciplinary educational programme, focused on increasing our understanding of current developments in society. The faculty consists of five institutes: Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Cultural Anthropology and Developmental Sociology, Education and Child Studies, Political Science and Psychology. The faculty has approximately 7,000 students and 850 staff members. For more information, see the website.

Diversity and inclusion are cherished as core values at Leiden University. Also at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences we strive to create a diverse and inclusive learning and working environment, in which everyone – no matter who they are or what they do – can feel at home and develop their talents.