Would you like to be trained to become part of a new generation of cultural heritage managers and to work, with a prestigious European fellowship, in an international and multidisciplinary team of researchers, professionals and entrepreneurs in the field of cultural heritage? Please apply for this position at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Location: AMSTERDAM
FTE: 1,0

Job description
Cultural heritage in the daily living environment and in public space, is to a large degree socio-politically grounded. Heritage boards are traditionally key actors in the definition, use and management of cultural heritage, especially where cultural landscapes are concerned. However, in most cases management strategies lack theoretical and methodological reflection. Your aim will be to develop a critical, comparative analysis of the ways in which heritage landscapes are protected, appropriated and used throughout Europe. You will identify and compare different models of use of heritage landscapes, and investigate their socio-political and spatial entanglement. You will focus on (differentiation between) official management policies, charters and discourses of heritage boards at local, regional and (inter-)national levels, their explicit or implicit social and political motivations, spatial concerns, methods and tools employed, desired effects and degree of accordance or conflict with use models of other sectors and of diverse stakeholder groups.
You will develop a cross-European, comparative study on heritage management strategies and their socio-political drivers and analyse three case studies at heritage agencies in the Netherlands, Italy and England during secondments or research stays.

Your duties

• carry out research and training as scheduled in a Personal Career Development Plan 
• complete secondments in the Netherlands, Italy and England
• actively contribute to the activities of the HERILAND training network, including network-wide workshops, surveys and Living Labs, the HERILAND Handbook for Heritage Planning, project reports, a traveling exhibition and a final conference
• deliver oral and poster presentations at academic conferences
• write at least 2 peer reviewed papers together with your supervisors and write a PhD dissertation

• an (R)MA/MSc or MPhil degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. Heritage Studies, (Art-/Architectural) History, Archaeology, European Studies, Cultural Studies, Cultural or Human Geography)
• excellent research skills; research experience by means of scientific publications will be favoured (e.g. conference papers, journal articles, book chapters)
• excellent written and spoken English, knowledge of Dutch and Italian will be favoured
• strong cooperative attitude, strong organizational skills, willingness to engage in international, interdisciplinary collaborative research and a willingness to travel for research, workshops, conferences and secondments
• following the EU Marie Curie eligibility criteria, the researcher to be appointed must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to his/her recruitment. Moreover, he/she shall at the date of recruitment be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of the research career and have not been awarded a doctoral degree

A challenging position in a socially involved organization. The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel and amounts €2,325 per month during the first year and increases to €2,835 per month during the third year, based on a full-time employment. The job profile (promovendus) is based on the university job ranking system.

The appointment will initially be for 1 year. After a satisfactory evaluation of the initial appointment, the contract will be extended for a duration of 2 years.

Additionally, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam offers excellent fringe benefits and various schemes and regulations to promote a good work/life balance, such as:

• a maximum of 41 days of annual leave based on full-time employment
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• contribution to commuting allowance based on public transport
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package
• a wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge

The ambition of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is clear: to contribute to a better world through outstanding education and ground-breaking research. And to be a university where personal education and societal involvement play a leading role. Where people from different disciplines and backgrounds work together on innovations and on generating new knowledge. Our teaching and research embrace the whole spectrum of science – from the humanities, the social sciences and the pure sciences through to the life sciences and the medical sciences.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is home to more than 23,000 students. We employ more than 4,500 individuals. The VU campus is easily accessible, located in the heart of Amsterdam’s Zuidas district, a truly inspiring environment for teaching and research.

Diversity
Diversity is one of our university’s core values. We are an inclusive community, and we believe that diversity and international activities enhance the quality of education and research. We are always looking for people who can enhance diversity on our campus thanks to their background and experience.

Faculty of Humanities
The Faculty of Humanities links a number of fields of study: Language, Literature and Communication, Art & Culture, History, Antiquities and Philosophy. Our teaching and research focus on current societal and scientific themes: from artificial intelligence to visual culture, from urbanization to the history of slavery, from ‘fake news’ in journalism to communication in organizations. We strive to ensure small group sizes. Innovative education and interdisciplinary research are our hallmarks.

Working at the Faculty of Humanities means making a real contribution to the quality of leading education and research in an inspiring and personal work and study climate. We employ more than 250 staff members, and we are home to around 1,300 students.

The HERILAND project at CLUE+ research institute
As a PhD student, you will be based at CLUE+ (http://www.clue.vu.nl), the interdisciplinary VU-research Institute for Culture, Cognition, History and Heritage, and be part of the project HERILAND, coordinated by CLUE+. HERILAND is a European network that trains 15 young researchers in the dynamic field of spatial heritage. It is a consortium of 7 key academic and  non-academic organizations, with 21 partners in civil society and business, from the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Poland, Israel and Italy.
The project aims to empower a new generation of academics, policy makers, practitioners, professionals and entrepreneurs. In the 15 PhD positions, we address five key challenges to the heritage management of the 21st century:

1. The Spatial Turn (the present PhD vacancy is part of this challenge);
2. Democratisation;
3. Digital Transformations;
4. Shifting Demographies and Contested Identities;
5. Changing Environments.

As one of these 15 young researchers, you will be provided with advanced training, combining theoretical and instrumental knowledge in a series of research seminars, living labs and secondments with our public and private partners. By doing this, you will profit from and contribute to a new pan-European, trans-national, interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral research and training standard.
 
The HERILAND project is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 813883. For further information on Heriland, partners and other vacancies, see http://www.heriland.eu. Applications for more than one position are allowed.

http://www.heriland.eu