Are you looking for a challenging job in a dynamic setting on one of the hottest topics globally – leaving fossil fuels underground? Are you interested in writing a PhD thesis that combines environmental issues with development challenges? The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Governance and Inclusive Development team is looking for five PhD researchers for the ERC Advanced Grant research project ‘Climate Change and Fossil Fuels (2021-2026).

The Governance and Inclusive Development (GID) team at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) scrutinizes development dynamics at various geographical, jurisdictional and temporal scales, realizing that these are situated in different but interconnected multi-level processes. GID analyses and rethinks dominant development paradigms, and engages with international, national and local development practices, policies and debates to identify viable and socially just alternatives. The team focuses on the strategic issues of multi-level (glocal) governance and inclusive development. The reason for doing this is that the drivers of change and development processes emerge and interact at all scale levels in unpredictable ways.

What are you going to do

You will be working as a PhD researcher for four years in a large five year project on Climate Change and Fossil Fuels. In this project, we argue that to halt climate change, the 2015 Paris Agreement implicitly requires leaving fossil fuels (FF) underground (LFFU) and coherent financial flows. This implies stranding huge amounts of FF resources and assets (worth $16-300 trillion), affecting big investors: FF firms, shareholders (pension funds/philanthropies), debt financers (aid agencies/development banks) and governments. Research is scarce on big investors, the implications for developing countries with FF resources, and how LFFU can be equitably mobilized. Hence, CLIFF addresses the question:

What is the role of big investors in leaving fossil fuels underground (LFFU), what are the North-South implications of LFFU and what measures can be taken by whom to equitably allocate and accelerate shareholder and stakeholder responsibility in energy transformation for inclusive development?

CLIFF combines institutional analysis and a theory of change for inclusive development (ICID) using a transdisciplinary, comparative case study approach. CLIFF will prepare an Interactive Atlas, and a Stranded Asset Index, co-create equitable policy instruments; and assess strategies of agents of change to make such climate policy instruments politically feasible and effective. Rather than ‘Building Back Better’ from the COVID-19 pandemic, CLIFF strives for Catalysing Climate-resilient Change. The project team consists of a Principal Investigator, a Post doc, five PhD's and fifty MSc students. They all work as a team on comparative and integrative research to ensure that the sum of the projects is significantly more than the sum of the individual work of each researcher. In other words, the willingness to work as part of a team and to develop a joint theoretical and methodological framework is critical to this process. 

The five PhDs will focus on the following topics:

• fossil fuel firms (e.g. Shell Exxon Mobil);
• pension funds; 
• philanthropic organizations;
• debt financiers (development banks, private banks);
• lower and middle income countries that have just discovered oil/gas.

Your tasks will include:
Being part of the CLIFF project team and contributing to the:

• • overall theory, method and output;
  • the join data management system;
  • planning your own research in the context of the deliverables of the CLIFF project;
  • participating in project meetings to be able to ensure the coherence of the project;
  • the organization of team workshops and conferences;
  • the mentoring of MSc students;
  • completing your PhD thesis;
  • the team publications;
  • implementation of the theory of change (write joint policy briefs etc.);
  • to undertake any other duties relevant to the programme of research.
• The tasks will evolve from year to year. In the first year, a literature review, theoretical framework, method, and an inventory of the global situation on your topic needs to be prepared. Generally, the second year will be devoted to case studies. The third year will focus on preparing the manuscript and identifying gaps in the research work, which will need to be filled. The last year is focused on writing and finalizing the thesis;
• Publish articles and monographs, in cooperation with colleagues, in appropriate high-level journals.

What do we require of you

We are looking for someone who is committed to addressing the climate change problem, intelligent enough to be able to understand its multiple complexities, creative in trying to find solutions to the problem, hardworking and disciplined since the knowledge on climate change increases rapidly and action is urgently needed, stress-resistant, and someone who is team player, as the project is part of an integrated programme.

We are looking for scholars with high grades in a recent Master’s degree in social sciences, economic, law, or even the natural sciences who wants to be part of an interdisciplinary project. We seek scholars with an aptitude for qualitative and quantitative analysis. A related Master’s thesis is an asset.

Desirable skills include solid research skills. Other skills include familiarity with word, excel, GIS, SPSS, referencing programmes, ability to make or update the project website, ability to make creative infographics, good language skills, experience with conducting online and offline interviews and workshops, and some organizational and networking skills. 

The position concerns temporary employment of 38 hours per week for a maximum term of four years. The initial employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of three years, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate degree. 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.

For this position the University Job Classification profile ‘Promovendus’ applies.

Your salary will be €2,434 gross per month in the first year and will increase to €3,111 in the final year, based on full-time employment and in keeping with the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities. We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.

The UvA offers excellent possibilities for further professional development and education.

What else do we offer

• A position in which initiative and input are highly valued.
• An enthusiastic and warm team that is open to new colleagues.
• An inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam.

University of Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest spectrum of degree programmes. It is an intellectual hub with 39,000 students, 6,000 employees and 3,000 doctoral students who are all committed to a culture of inquiring minds.

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 organization. The social and behavioral sciences play a leading role in addressing the major societal challenges faced by the world, the Netherlands and Amsterdam, now and in the future.

Want to know more about our organization? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.