Positions and work environment
We are looking for three new colleagues to join our expanding academic staff in the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science (ISW) of the faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University. We are an enthusiastic, and inclusive team, and offer a supportive working environment. As part of Utrecht University, we want to contribute to an inclusive university community, a just society and equal rights and opportunities for all. We strongly believe that everyone deserves to feel at home at our university, and we welcome colleagues from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Job description and embedding
All three positions combine teaching and research and social impact. The positions have a strong emphasis on teaching and teaching management (60%) and come with a substantial research and social impact component (40%). Interdisciplinarity plays a central role in our teaching and research, and we especially encourage you to apply if you already have experience or a particular interest in working in an interdisciplinary team of (under)graduate students, researchers, and societal partners. 

The teaching and research of ISW is organized in three programmes: Migration, Cultural Diversity, and Ethnic Relations, Social Policy and Public Health, and Youth in Changing Cultural Contexts. Of the three positions, one is in Migration, Cultural Diversity, and Ethnic Relations (position A), one is in Social Policy and Public Health (position B), and one is an appointment across these programs (position C). Depending on the position, the teaching related to the appointment will focus on Migration, Cultural Diversity, and Ethnic Relations, or Social Policy and Public Health, or encompass both. Similarly, depending on the appointment, your research should relate to Migration, Cultural Diversity, and Ethnic Relations, or Social Policy and Public Health, or both.

The programme Migration, Cultural Diversity, and Ethnic Relations is concerned with inclusion and exclusion of immigrants, both from the immigrant perspective as well as from the origin and destination country perspective. This includes a range of topics, such as group identities, intergroup attitudes, nationalism and right-wing radicalism, discrimination, immigrants’ structural, social and political integration, dynamics in the first years after migration, religiosity and transnationalism. We examine these questions in the general population but also in specific settings, such as in schools, neighbourhoods and organizations, drawing mostly on quantitative methods. 

The programme Social Policy and Public Health is concerned with three broad domains: work, care and participation; health behaviors, outcomes and services; and sustainability behaviours and transitions. Across these domains, the programme addresses issues of social determinants and inequity (e.g., in work-life balance, health, uptake of sustainable technologies), design and impact of social policies and interventions (e.g., to promote participation), global health and wellbeing (e.g., access and impact of health services in low and middle income countries), and ethics, justice and engagement in research and social policy. We use qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches.

Tasks and expectations of the position
Combining teaching/teaching management (60%) and research/social impact (40%), the core tasks of the positions include:

• independently teaching Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses in the curriculum of Interdisciplinary Social Science;
• educational management, including the coordination of courses at Bachelor’s and Master’s degree level, coordinating educational (innovation) projects;
• development of courses on Migration, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Relations, or Social Policy and Public Health, or both, and actively participating in the innovation and improvement of the curriculum;
• carrying out and supervising research within the scope of the programme on Migration, Cultural Diversity, and Ethnic Relations, or Social Policy and Public Health, or both;
• conducting high-quality research in and publishing (inter)nationally in a domain aligned with one or both programmes;
• generating additional and external funding to extend the research in a domain aligned with one or both programmes;
• translating and communicating research findings and scientific insights to different types of audiences, including scientific, professional and community audiences.

At Utrecht University we believe individual and collective achievements should be in balance. That is why we assess both individual and team performance and stimulate good academic leadership at all levels. We also encourage researchers to share the outcomes of scientific research with society more broadly, so we can achieve more collectively and increase the university’s contribution to society.

We are looking for an enthusiastic colleague who subscribes to these values and meets the following requirements:

• You hold a PhD in a social or behavioral science and have expertise in research broadly related to Migration, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Relations, or Social Policy and Public Health, or both, as shown in academic publications.
• You have experience in delivering, designing and coordinating academic courses (both individually and in a team) in the field of the social sciences.
• You are able to provide inspiring lectures and have an eye for the improvement of teaching methods as evidenced by positive teaching assessments.
• You have experience in team/community building and have the social competencies to build a research line for which sharing, contributing, and collaborating within and beyond academia are required.
• You hold a Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO) or are willing to obtain this qualification at Utrecht University in the near future. You can find more information about BKO here: (Senior) University Teaching Qualification - Centre for Academic Teaching and Learning - Utrecht University (uu.nl).
• You have good command of written and spoken Dutch and English.

Employment conditions
We offer an exciting opportunity to work in a collaborative, social and dedicated team. We will guide you in your research and teaching tasks, which will help you develop your academic career.

We initially offer an appointment for a period of 1 year (1.0 FTE). After a positive evaluation, the appointment will become permanent.

• Salary will range from a minimum of €3,821 to a maximum of €5,943 gross per month, depending on previous qualifications and experience and based on full-time employment (scale 11/12 of 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.
• We also offer an employer-paid pension scheme.

We encourage professional development, and we support a healthy work-life balance. That’s why we offer employment benefits, including a wide range of professional training and support opportunities, generous leave arrangements and partially paid parental leave.

For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates academic and support staff at Utrecht University in undertaking their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate closely around major societal themes. The focus at Utrecht University is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability.

 

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is one of the leading faculties in Europe for research and teaching in cultural anthropology, educational sciences, interdisciplinary social science, pedagogical sciences, psychology and sociology. We are a faculty at the heart of society and one which cooperates closely with others. Our almost 6,000 students are enrolled in a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programmes. We have approximately 900 academic and support staff, who work closely together to educate and train young talent and to research and find solutions to scientific and societal issues.

 

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.