The Faculty of Spatial Sciences is looking to hire an assistant professor in Economic Geography to strengthen its team. In this position, you will contribute to teaching, research and coordination tasks in the faculty and our group of Economic Geography in particular. Specifically, we envision you to contribute to our Master’s programmes in Economic Geography in one of our courses on regional entrepreneurship, regional economic policies, international real estate markets or economic geography theories, depending on your research profile, interests and experience. In addition, you will contribute to the scientific methods course in our Bachelor’s programme in Human geography and planning or the Research Master’s programme in Regional Studies. This programme has recently been expanded with an Erasmus Mundus programme on Islands and Sustainability. As a rule, assistant professors spend 60% of their time on educational and organizational tasks.

With regard to research (40% of your time), we strive to strengthen our research profile in one or more of the following themes: Addressing regional socio-economic inequalities, well-being and happiness, entrepreneurship and firm behaviour, sustainability and regional economic development, real estate, the value of the built-up environment and nature. Your research profile should fit within the faculty’s research agenda “towards Well-being, Innovation and Spatial Transformation”.

As part of the job, we offer ample opportunities for personal development. This includes the possibility to obtain a university teaching qualification.

Organisation
The Faculty of Spatial Sciences is a mid-sized faculty with approximately 110 members of staff, 115 PhD researchers and around 1000 students. We focus on high quality teaching and research in the fields of human and economic geography, demography, and spatial planning. With our collective research theme 'towards Wellbeing, Innovation and Spatial Transformation' (tWIST), it is our mission to produce research that is world-leading, distinctive, and policy-relevant. With two bachelor and six master’s programmes, we provide a wide range of courses in the fields of geography and spatial sciences.

The Department of Economic Geography, in which the position will be based, is one of the four departments in the faculty and it offers an open and friendly academic environment with an international staff. The department has about 20 members of staff and 25 PhD researchers. The University of Groningen has a very strong reputation as one of the main centres in regional science globally. In terms of teaching, the department of Economic Geography contributes to the bachelor Human Geography and Planning and it is responsible for the master’s programme in Economic Geography, which includes the track 'Regional Competitiveness and Trade', and the master of Real Estate Studies. Our research focusses on issues related to regional labour markets, migration, entrepreneurship, happiness, socio-spatial inequalities and real estate applying quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods.

Our ideal candidate should have:

- a PhD degree (or nearly completed) in the field of economic geography, human geography, rural geography, transport geography or regional science. Alternatively, a PhD degree in another social science with a specialization in one of the research themes in the department
- proven experience in applying quantitative and/or qualitative research methods
- publications in international peer-reviewed academic journals in the field of geography, regional science, or related fields
- experience in various teaching approaches and awareness of and willingness to use the latest innovations in teaching techniques
- a university teaching qualification or the willingness to acquire this qualification
- a relevant network of connections and a willingness to participate in external projects, events, and presentations for various audiences
- the ambition to work together with both students and colleagues towards our research goals
- the willingness to participate in appropriate faculty committees and/or other management tasks
- the motivation to work in an interdisciplinary team that uses qualitative as well as quantitative methods
- fluency in English.

Fixed-term contract: 12 months.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

- a salary, depending on qualifications and work experience, with a minimum of € 3,974 to a maximum of € 5,439 gross per month (salary scale 11) for a full-time position
- on top of that income, you will receive an 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%
- you will be appointed initially on a temporary basis for one year with an outlook to a permanent position when you meet the criteria, for 1.0 FTE, but 0.8 FTE is also possible.

For more detailed information about working conditions and working for the University of Groningen, please check: https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/

Starting date: September 1st 2023