The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of the University of Amsterdam will use national government's funds from the sectoral plan for the social sciences and humanities to make additional investments in the interdisciplinary themes 'The human factor in new technologies' and 'Social inequality and diversity'. Accordingly, the Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) invites applications for two postdoc positions.
The department combines research across human geography, planning and international development studies, with a shared emphasis on the spatiality of social, economic, and environmental processes. Our research tradition is characterised by its critical and publicly engaged approach to urgent socio-spatial issues. Our collective mission is to develop empirically grounded, conceptually innovative contributions to intellectual and societal debates, always informed by a sensitivity to the spatial dimension of social phenomena and processes. We focus on the intersections of social, built and natural environments, and emphasise the importance of deploying spatial concepts such as scale, place, territoriality, flows, networks, mobility and landscape to investigate the how and why of social issues. We are committed to mobilising our research expertise to address collective action problems and real-world challenges associated with pursuing equality, sustainability and economic development. Considering the current composition of our staff, and our commitment to diversity, we prioritize hiring people from groups presently underrepresented within our department.
Given our emphasis on both theoretical development and societal relevance, our research ranges from more conceptual endeavours aimed at shifting academic debates, to more concrete, empirical policy-oriented projects. Many of these projects are developed together with local - such as the municipality of Amsterdam -, national and international- such as the UN - stakeholders, and actors in the Global North and the Global South. Across the department, our scholarship benefits from a commitment to methodological pluralism, and our research draws on a wide range of qualitative, quantitative and spatial methods, from ethnography and statistical analysis to action research and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
The department's diverse, internationally-oriented staff plays active and influential roles in both academic and societal debates. Our strong international reputation, and impact is evidenced, in our consistently high scores in the widely-used QS global subject rankings (Development Studies ranked 17th and Geography 18th in 2020).
Who are we looking for?We are interested in attracting early career academics in the fields of geography, planning and/or international development studies or other related cognate disciplines. The department is looking for colleagues with an innovative research agenda and teaching interests across several thematic, methodological and disciplinary fields. Candidates whose training and/or experience covers one or more of the following (sub-)themes are encouraged to apply:
- 'The human factor in new technologies'. This theme is concerned with different sub-themes. First, the unintended consequences of digital technology, in particular in generating or exacerbating social inequalities. Second, the datafication of societies and the implications of this process for how social problems and solutions are constructed." Third, artificial intelligence, in particular with regard to algorithms taking over human decision-making. Candidates should be able to develop these subjects through the urban, geographic, planning and/or international development studies lens(es).
- 'Social inequality and diversity', the second theme, also includes different sub-themes, of which the relationship between the urban environment and (in)equality of opportunity is the most important for the department GPIO. Within this sub-theme, suggested foci are: the role of intersectionality, the contribution of co-creation on the neighbourhood level and unequal opportunities for migrants.
What are you going to do
- You will develop a departmental wide research program, which will contribute to the acquisition of research grants;
- You will conduct your own research within one or more of the sub-themes mentioned above;
- You will present and publish your research to an international scientific audience;
- You seek (knowledge) exchange and (research) cooperation with societal stakeholders connected to your research topic;
- You contribute to the teaching in geography, planning and/or international development studies.
- You make a positive contribution to the organization and cooperation within the program group and the department.