The energy transition requires (future) installation workers to adapt to new ways of working and to proactively develop new practices. In this project, Learning Communities composed of (future) installation workersand experts from various educational programs. These Learning Communities shouldaccelerate learning and innovation, but evidence of how and why Learning Communities contribute to sustained learning anddevelopment is still anecdotical and often exclusively focused on short-term outcomes.This post doc project uses a routine dynamics perspective to determine in what way employees participation in a Learning Community results into sustainable (lasting) changes in their everyday practice.

This part-time Post-doc project (0,4-0,5 fte, expansion possible) forms an excellent opportunity to conduct scientific research to gain insight into how organizational changes, such as those around the energy transition, can be fostered through Learning Communities. In addition, this project will include strong collaboration with the field and therefore will directly contribute to pressing questions on how to prepare the future workforce on the energy transition.

As a Post-doc researcher in this project, your job is to

• Design and conduct longitudinal qualitative case studies to determine how and in what way participants of the Learning Communities change their everyday work practice.
• Design and conduct longitudinal quantitative studies to detect patterns across participants work-related change trajectories.
• Work in close collaboration with researchers in the project team (including a PhD-student, a senior researcher and a junior researcher), as well as stakeholders and practitioners in the technical (educational and corporate) field.
• Report and present your findings for both scientific and non-scientific audiences.

The Post-doc project is funded by NWO and is part of the project Hit the gas! Learning communities to accelerate learning and innovation in the installation sector. The project started in summer 2020 and is a collaboration between the University of Twente, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, and Windesheim University of Applied Sciences. Besides the post-doc, a PhD-student and two junior researchers work on this project.

The PhD-project and post-doc project are positioned at the University of Twente. The consortium, consisting of eight installation companies and three educational institutes already participated in a pilot study and are committed to continue their involvement during the main project.

You hold your PhD in Organizational Psychology, Organizational Sociology, Business Administration, Human Resource Management, Educational Science or a related field. In addition, you:

• have expertise or demonstrable interest in organizational change and its relation with professional development, preferably from a multidisciplinary perspective;
• have strong methodological (quantitative and qualitative) knowledge;
• have experience with field research, and preferably with longitudinal designs;
• have an interest in the challenges related to the energy transition, and the human capital in the technical sector;
• have good social and communication skills in academic as well as non-academic contexts;
• are fluent in English and Dutch (minimum C1-level) and have excellent writing skills;
• are willing and have proven ability to work independently, but also to collaborate with the team and stakeholders.

A 2-year part-time post-doc position (0,4-0,5 fte), starting January/February 2022. There are options to extend the contract with a post-doc position on related research projects. The gross salary is in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU) € 2.836,- to € 5.211,- per month for a fulltime position, depending on experience. On top of this, you receive a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus.

We offer excellent auxiliary terms of employment, such as professional and personal development programs; a secondary remuneration package; a dynamic environment with enthusiastic colleagues; an organization focusing on internationalization and a high degree of responsibility and independence.

The department of Educational Sciences is specialised in research on professional learning in organisations. Researchers at our department study formal and informal learning of (future) employees, including the use of technology to measure and support professional learning. Our studies often take place in the high-tech, health, and educational sector with the intention to understand, evaluate and optimize professional learning in these various contexts. We aim to understand the interactions between learning processes on the individual, team, and organizational level and design (technology based) interventions to optimize these processes. In our research group, we combine expertise from a range of disciplines (e.g., educational sciences, psychology, business administration). Staff members participate in the ICO research school (the Interuniversity Centre of Educational Sciences) and the Twente Graduate School.Our department is responsible for the courses of the Human Resource Development track of the Master Educational Science and Technology, and the corresponding pre-Master program.