The Department of Methodology and Statistics (https://www.uu.nl/en/organisation/methodology-and-statistics) has a job opening for a full-time Assistant Professor (tenured), requiring you to contribute to our educational and research programme. The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences aspires to have a diverse body of staff and students and strives to create and sustain a safe and inclusive environment for everyone, in line with Utrecht University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.

The candidate will be employed at the Department of Methodology and Statistics of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Utrecht University. We provide teaching in methods and statistics within all Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and University College Utrecht. We offer the only two-year Master’s degree programme exclusively focused on methodology and statistics in the social, biomedical, and behavioural sciences in the Netherlands (in cooperation with Twente University and the Biostatistics group of Utrecht University Medical Centre).

In collaboration with Statistics Netherlands we offer a track within this Master labelled European Master's of Official Statistics, granted by Eurostat. In addition, we participate in the one-year interdisciplinary Master's Applied Data Science (ADS), in the interdisciplinary minor on ADS, and in the ADS minor for Economists. Finally, we also teach courses for researchers and other professionals as part of the Summer School Utrecht, and we give advice to staff and students with respect to their research activities.

The research of the Department of Methodology and Statistics focuses on methods and techniques for the social and behavioural sciences and comprises topics like: research synthesis techniques, longitudinal studies, SEM and multilevel analyses, survey research, Bayesian statistics, ADS, and qualitative research. Additionally, our department plays an active role in the Utrecht University focus area Applied Data Science and collaborates with the strategic themes Dynamics of Youth and Institutions for Open Societies.

The position involves 60% teaching activities and 40% research time. Core tasks will include:

• contributing to the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes within the curriculum of Methodology and Statistics;
• carrying out and supervising research within the scope of the research executed by the department of Methodology and Statistics;
• contributing to acquiring substantial external research funding for the benefit of the research programme of the department of Methodology and Statistics.

Teaching:

• The candidate has experience with developing and coordinating academic courses in a team setting. Experience with teaching courses on qualitative research, psychometrics, or applied data science is an asset.
• The candidate provides inspiring lectures and has an eye for the improvement of teaching methods, as evidenced by positive teaching assessments.
• The candidate holds a Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO) or is willing to acquire this qualification in the near future.

Research:

• The candidate holds a PhD degree in the field of research methods, statistics, data science, computational social sciences, or an adjacent field.
• The candidate has experience in conducting scientific research in the field of quantitative and/or qualitative research methods, and/or research into applied data science.
• The candidate has ideas about their own research line and how this fits in with the Department of Methodology and Statistics.
• The candidate contributes to collectively acquiring external research funding for the benefit of the research programme of the department of Methodology and Statistics.

General

• The candidate has good communication skills, a proactive work attitude, and works well within a team.
• The candidate is willing to learn Dutch. We expect a relevant level of competence within two years of taking up the appointment.
• The candidate has experience with and an interest in advising students and staff doing substantive social science with respect to methods and techniques of data analysis.

We offer a full-time permanent (i.e., tenured) position (1.0 FTE). The gross salary - depending on previous qualifications and experience  - ranges between €3,821 and €5,943 (scale 11/12 according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) per month for a full-time employment. Salaries are supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3% per year. In addition, Utrecht University offers excellent secondary conditions, including an attractive retirement scheme, (partly paid) parental leave and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). For more information: 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. The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is one of the leading faculties in Europe, which provides 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.