Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.) is looking for a PhD candidate with a strong interest in creative work processes and interrelational group dynamics in organisations more broadly. In this fully funded four-year position, you will develop research skills and gain teaching experience, enabling you to jump-start your future (academic) career.

Your job
Creative tasks—those where the generation of new ideas and products traditionally relies heavily on the individual and group-related competencies of human workers—are widespread in many jobs, and for these tasks the adoption of Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) may be considered both a blessing and a curse. The project focuses on GAI purposefully as we want to contribute to the debate on how human capacity for creation/creativity is affected by the technological paradigm shift.

Over a period of four years, you will conduct doctoral research on this topic. The focus of your research is to explore how the future of creative work is evolving in light of technological disruptions. There is room for shaping the research objectives within the PhD trajectory.

Research questions could be:

1. being that GAI is simultaneously making certain human competencies redundant while having a productivity-augmenting effect on (lower-skilled) employees, how does the paradigm shift towards GAI affect the demand for competencies of human workers?
2. how are human workers compelled to new forms of interaction in creative activities when they are confronted with GAI?

The research will draw on data collection from and together with leading organisations in the field of business and creation. You will actively collaborate with experts in creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, governance, human resources and strategy.

You will spend 90% of your time on your research and 10% on teaching tasks.

We are looking for a talented researcher with a keen interest for academic and professional development, who meets multiple of the following requirements:

• a (Research) Master’s degree in economics, business or management, governance, organisational psychology or a related discipline of the social sciences with relevant specialisations in the aforementioned fields;
• a talent for qualitative or quantitative research in social sciences (e.g., econometrics, surveys, experiments, web-scraping);
• being good at team work and being a proactive organiser;
• comfortable in doing multidisciplinary research and interacting with important stakeholders;
• having a preference for business-level and sector-level research questions;
• excellent writing skills and excellent English language skills;
• eager to conduct innovative and thorough research, resulting in a PhD degree within four years.

We offer:

• a position for four years;
• a working week of 36 hours and a gross monthly salary between €2,770 and €3,539 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities, as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

Universiteit Utrecht

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 strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

The Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance is a faculty at the heart of society, with a strong focus on social issues. Our subjects of Law, Economics and Governance give us a strong mix of academic disciplines that complement and enhance each other. This is a unique combination and a mark of our faculty's strength.

The Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E) is part of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance at Utrecht University. U.S.E. aims to contribute to an economy where people flourish by taking a broad view on welfare and its causes. We aspire to be an internationally renowned school of economics with scientifically rigorous and socially relevant research and education. We enrich economics with other disciplines to better solve problems and identify opportunities, from a business as well as government perspective.