The Department of Psychology has a job opening for an Assistant Professor. The position is embedded within the Section of Developmental Psychology at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (Utrecht University) and involves teaching (60%) and research (40%).

The Developmental Psychology Section is a thriving and international group of academics committed to understanding the psychological processes that help youth reach their potential, and educating new generations of academic professionals and youth experts. Our core values are collegiality, curiosity, and ambition in order to create and disseminate knowledge that matters.

You are committed to delivering high quality education to our Bachelor's programme (Psychology) or our international Master's programmes (Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology; Development and Socialisation in Childhood and Adolescence). Teaching activities will depend on your expertise and will be determined in consultation with our Teaching Coordinator. Teaching responsibilities will typically involve course coordination, teaching lectures or workgroups, and individual student supervision (e.g., research theses, internships). Teaching the Bachelor's courses is in Dutch, the Master's in English.

You will establish and expand on an independent line of research, aligning with and complementing the section’s research programme. You will also foster research collaboration within the section and broader UU community (e.g., by advising junior colleagues and contributing to joint research). Our section prioritizes theory-driven research that fosters a basic understanding of social/personal growth and maladjustment, and interventions to promote the former and prevent the latter. Much of our research addresses societal challenges relevant to youth, in line with Utrecht University’s Dynamics of Youth strategic theme. You will be supported to publish and disseminate high quality research with societal impact, and to seek external research funding. The Section also strongly supports open science initiatives and practices, such as sharing data and pre-registering hypotheses.

We believe that individual and collective achievements should be in balance. For this reason, we aim for and assess both individual and team performance. We stimulate good academic leadership at all levels. We also encourage the dissemination of research findings to society.

We are looking for a colleague who subscribes to the values above and meets the requirements below:

Teaching

• strong commitment to quality of teaching and student supervision;
• proven effectiveness of teaching and student supervision, as evident from student learning outcomes;
• Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO), or willingness to acquire one soon;
• experience with course coordination or educational innovation is not necessary, but would be a plus.

Research

• potential for high quality research, as demonstrated by publications of rigorous studies that have innovated the field;
• potential to develop an independent research programme, in line with and complementing the Section’s expertise;
• experience with ensuring the societal impact of your research or obtaining external research funding is not necessary, but would be a plus.

Personal attributes and background

• team orientation: positive, interdependent attitude and proven examples of academic citizenship;
• candidates with a PhD in developmental psychology or a related discipline are invited to apply. We welcome applications from both Dutch and international candidates. International candidates will be requested to learn Dutch. This would enable you to teach in the Bachelor's programme and may also help you connect with colleagues. We offer free Dutch language courses.

We offer an opportunity to work in a collegial, friendly, and ambitious team. We will support you in your research and teaching responsibilities, which will help to further develop your academic career.

• Your gross monthly salary ranges - depending on previous qualifications and experience - between €3,807 and €5,922, based on a full-time employment (scale 11/12 according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities);
• The salary is supplemented with an annual holiday pay of 8%, and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% per year;
• Pension scheme.

We encourage you to grow professionally, and we support a healthy work-life balance. That’s why we offer employment benefits such as professional development, leave arrangements, partially paid parental leave and sports. We also give you the opportunity to expand your terms of employment via the Employment Conditions Selection Model.

You will be given a warm welcome and we will host a nice introduction for our new colleagues, helping you get acquainted with our Faculty and University. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major societal themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Sustainability.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is one of the leading faculties in Europe providing research and academic teaching in cultural anthropology, educational sciences, interdisciplinary social science, pedagogical sciences, psychology, and sociology. Almost 6,000 students are enrolled in a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programmes. The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences has some 850 faculty and staff members, all providing their individual contribution to the training and education of young talent and to the research into and finding solutions for scientific and societal issues.