Postdoc on Child and Adolescent Public health Research and Innovation

Your challenge is to develop and evaluate a Realist-informed, Ripple Effects Mapping protocol that is not only accessible, meaningful and inclusive for adolescents but also contributing to methodological innovation in participatory and evaluation research.

This protocol will be used in severel EC-funded projects, including SmartCHANGE (SmartCHANGE) and YoPA (Yopa – Youth-centred Participatory Action). SmartCHANGE aims to develop trustworthy AI-based digital health technologies to help health professionals and citizens reduce health risks. In the Netherlands and Finland, adolescents are involved in the co-design of a digital health application combined with a wearable device focusing on improving their health behaviors. This application will be evaluated in a proof-of-principle study planned in the 3rd quartile of 2025. YoPA aims to optimally tailor, implement and evaluate social and physical environmental interventions using an evidence-informed co-creation approach, for structural improvement in the lifestyle of adolescents (aged 12–18 years) in urban vulnerable life situations in two European and two African cities.

You task is to develop an accessible, meaningful, and inclusive participatory method to engage adolescents in the evaluation of co-designed interventions, building on the Ripple Effects Mapping and Realist Evaluation approaches. Combining these two approaches - Realist-informed Ripple Effects Mapping – is novel and has the potential to elucidate not only the impact of interventions, but also the underlying causal mechanisms.

Your specific responsibilities will be to:

• Write a step-by-step protocol for the realist-informed, ripple effects mapping protocol;
• Secure approval from Medical Ethical Committee;
• Collaborate with and coach the PhD researchers from the SmartCHANGE and YoPA projects to implement the developed evaluation protocol;
• Recruit adolescents for a “co-design challenge team” from the schools participating in SmartCHANGE in the Netherlands;
• Co-design participatory methods and activities for each step together with the co-design challenge team;
• Evaluate the co-designed Realist-informed, Ripple Effects Mapping protocol regarding accessibility, meaningfulness and inclusivity in the proof-of-principle study in SmartCHANGE;
• Publish a ready to use, youth-friendly Realist-informed Ripple Effects Mapping protocol Open Access;
• Contribute to education of BSc, MSC and PhD students.

You have:

• A Master’s degree in for example health sciences, sociology, system dynamics or related;
• A completed PhD;
• Experience with mixed method research designs;
• Experience with participatory research, Ripple Effects Mappping and Realist Evaluation;
• Passion for research contributing to health equity with real-life impact;
• Preference to work in an interdisciplinary, collaborative, inclusive environment;
• Very good communication and presentation skills and fluent in Dutch and English.

• A flying start to your career in scientific research.
• Plenty of room for your drive to shape tomorrow's healthcare.
• Working on large-scale and in-house research, with motivated colleagues from all over the world.
• You will be employed by Amsterdam UMC Research BV.
• A contract for 10 months.
• Salary scale 10: € 3.493 to € 5.504 gross based on full-time employment (depending on education and experience) and a year-end bonus of 8.3%. Calculate your net salary here.
• Holiday hours: 190,4 per year for fulltime and a possibility to save additional hours.
• Pension accrual with BeFrank, a modern, comprehensible and fairly priced pension.
• For >7 km each way, 100% reimbursement for public transport travel costs and, for private transport, €0.18 per km up to a maximum of 40 km each way.
• Do you prefer walking or cycling? Take advantage of our good bike scheme. Moreover, you will receive a reimbursement of €0.18 per km.

Watch this video with more information about joining Amsterdam UMC Research BV.

You will work at the Medical Faculty (location VUmc) at the Child and Adolescent Public health Research and Innovation (CAPRI) section, which falls under the Department of Public and Occupational health. You will collaborate with prof. dr. Mai Chin A Paw, Teatske Altenburg and other CAPRI researchers.

Amsterdam UMC Research BV supports non-profit scientific research. In doing so, we provide researchers with everything they need to excel. Our principal investigators (PIs) and project leaders offer support in the field of project management, finance and human resources. In medical scientific research projects, legal support is also provided.

During the publication period, applications will be handled continuously. If the vacancy is filled, it will be closed prematurely. First interviews will be held on the 31th of March.

If you have any questions about this position, please feel free to contact prof. dr. Mai Chin A Paw, via +31(0)639758208 or m.chinapaw@amsterdamumc.nl.

For more information about the application procedure, please contact Kim Hooijmans, Recruitment advisor, via k.i.m.hooijmans@amsterdamumc.nl.

A reference check, screening and hiring test may be part of the procedure. Read here whether that applies to you. If you join us, we ask you for a VOG (Certificate of Good Conduct).

Internal candidates will be given priority over external candidates in case of equal suitability.

Acquisition in response to this vacancy is not appreciated.