The project involves two PhD projects in the areas of regulatory governance and IT governance, as well as two postdoc projects in the areas of regulatory governance and inter-organizational governance. The two PhDs will focus specifically on digitalisation in the SoS context. 

The regulatory governance PhD will be positioned at TILT. The project will focus on how a broad welfare approach to infrastructure management impacts infrastructure operators and their interpretation and application of public values and governance principles, thereby uncovering the theoretical foundations of a broad welfare and SoS approach in the infrastructure sectors. This project will be supervised by Prof.dr. Saskia Lavrijssen and Prof.dr.ir. Wendy Van der Valk. 

Successful candidates are generally expected to: 

1. be highly motivated to make an impact with your research; have the ambition to perform top-level research with the ability to work autonomously and within a team, and have an interest in interacting and delivering within a group in a multidisciplinary, international environment; 
2. have strong analytical skills and knowledge of empirical research methods, e.g., demonstrated in a master or bachelor thesis. Experience with empirical research methods (e.g., empirical research and dataset design in a master thesis or a project) would be an asset; otherwise, willingness to acquire such knowledge rapidly;
3. regularly present intermediate research results at the VIA AUGUSTA partners, brown bag seminars at the hosting schools, as well as international workshops and conferences;
4. be an active member of VIA AUGUSTA, TiSEM and TILT, especially by organizing and participating in high-level academic events and activities, and presenting and discussing research output regularly with the research group;
5. contribute to the educational programs and organization of high-level academic events in which the school is involved;
6. have excellent command of English and Dutch, both written and spoken.

The successful candidate for the PhD position at the law school is expected to:

1. have a master’s degree in the area of law and economics, law and technology, European public law, or a related area; 
2. perform legal-empirical research leading to a doctoral dissertation in the area of economic regulation and the protection of public interests in the infrastructure sectors in the digital age;
3. assist in implementing the VIA AUGUSTA research program in terms of data discovery, dataset design and maintenance and theory building; 
4. be in charge of the design and operation of VIA AUGUSTAs qualitative case studies relating to the legal hurdles and possibilities for the implementation of data driven innovations in the infrastructure sectors;
5. undertake empirical research, including interviews and surveys, alone or with the supervisors and the infrastructure partners;
6. contribute to policy discussions and the implementation of policy recommendations into the regulations and practices of infrastructure managers.

PhD candidates will be employed by Tilburg University, the Netherlands, which is one of the best non-profit employers in the Netherlands and has an excellent policy concerning terms of employment. The appointment is intended to lead to the completion of a PhD dissertation. 

During the first year, you will receive extensive training in theory and methods by taking several PhD-level courses, with no teaching responsibilities.  For the remaining three years, 80% of the position’s time will be dedicated to the completion of your PhD research, and 20% to the acquisition of academic skills through teaching courses and supervising master/bachelor theses within the department.

Appointed PhD candidates are employees of Tilburg University.  The salary for the PhD position amounts € 2.443 per month gross in the first year, rising to € 3.122 per month in the fourth year.  You are entitled to a holiday allowance amounting to 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3% of your gross yearly income.  Employees recruited from abroad may be eligible for the 30% tax facility, which means that 30% of your salary will be paid as a tax-free reimbursement.  The university will apply for such tax facility on their behalf.  All university employees are covered by the so-called civil servants pension fund (ABP).  The university offers very good fringe benefits, such as an options model for terms and conditions of employment and reimbursement of moving expenses.

Tilburg University

Under the motto of ‘Understanding society’, Tilburg University’s more than 1,500 employees develop knowledge, transfer it to others, and bring people from various disciplines and organizations together. In this way, we want to contribute to solving complex social issues. Our focus areas are economics, business and entrepreneurship, social and behavioral sciences, law and public administration, the humanities and digital sciences, and theology. Tilburg University is internationally known for its high standards in education and scientific research, as well as its good support facilities. The Tilburg University campus offers both quietness and connectivity as it is located in a wooded park, ten minutes away from the city center, main highways, and railways. A mid-sized city of 200,000 inhabitants in the South of the Netherlands, and in proximity to cities like Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and London, Tilburg is situated at the very heart of Western Europe. 

Tilburg Law School offers highly ranked national and international education and research in law and public administration. Currently, almost 4,000 students are enrolled at Tilburg Law School. Students in Tilburg can choose from five Bachelor's programs, one of which is taught in English (Bachelor Global Law) and ten Master's programs, eight of which are taught in English. The international orientation of Tilburg Law School is reflected in these Bachelor's and Master's programs. The research conducted within Tilburg Law School is aimed at social relevance and provides students with the tools and skills to study and deal with current issues at an academic level. The research within Tilburg Law School is organized into five cross-departmental research programs: 1) Global Law and Governance; 2) New Modes of Lawmaking and Governance in a Multilayered Order; 3) Law and Security; 4) Connecting Organizations: Private, Fiscal and Technology-Driven Legal Relations in a Sustainable Society; and 5) Law and Technology.

Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT)
TILT is one of the leading research groups in Europe at the intersection of law, technology, and society. It is premised on the multidisciplinary study of socio-technical change, aiming at understanding the interaction of technology and social and normative practices, in order to clarify how regulatory challenges of socio-technical change can be addressed. TILEC, a Center of Excellence at Tilburg University and a global leader in the study of economic governance, consists of some 40 committed members working on economic law and regulation as well as institutional, behavioural and experimental economics. In addition, Tilburg University is a social science specialized institution, hosting various research groups on topics covering multiple aspects of transnational, comparative and global law from a theoretical and empirical viewpoint.