Junior Data Steward (0.8 - 1.0 FTE)

Would you like to enable excellent research by supporting researchers in the fields of social sciences and humanities? Do you believe in the importance of FAIR data and software to reach the goals of open and responsible science? Then don’t hesitate to read on and apply!

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is looking for a Junior Data Steward to strengthen RDM services for researchers. You will join the Open and Responsible Science (ORS) unit within the Engagement & Research Services (ERS) department, and collaborate with a team of open science experts, data stewards, and ethics professionals to achieve the ambitious goal of making open scholarship the default way of working at EUR.

You will also work in close collaboration with the faculty research support team of the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC), to provide direct support on research data management to its researchers.

Finally, you will be part of the EUR Digital Competence Centre (EUR DCC), an inter-departmental initiative to help researchers make research data FAIR, improve research software, and apply computing practices to increase the efficiency of the research process.

Job description
Your main tasks and responsibilities will be the following:

Research Support

• Support researchers with data management requests, including providing feedback on data management plans, advising on tooling and software, and providing access to storage solutions.
• Contribute to informing, advising, and supporting researchers throughout the research data life cycle (collection, management, storage and publication), in accordance with institutional policies and (inter)national standards of research data management (RDM).

Teaching/training

• Help with developing and providing RDM training sessions, which may include, among others, short RDM online presentations, RDM workshops for research master's students, and representing the ORS unit in onboarding workshops to PhD students.
• Support the coordination of short RDM presentations organized by data stewards.

Collaboration

• Contribute to faculty and EUR-wide RDM projects, such as assisting with the development and improvement of RDM procedures, services, and policies, web portal content, and data management plan templates and protocols. Tasks may include, among others, supporting data archiving efforts, assisting in managing the main data steward inbox, providing access to storage workspaces, and assisting with the updating of RDM web content on EUR sites.
• Developing faculty-specific resources to support RDM best practices.

You recognize yourself in the following description:

• You have an academic background and are either a recent PhD graduate or hold an MSc/MA with 1-3 years of work experience.
• You have experience with research methodologies and the way research data are managed in social sciences, behavioural sciences, or humanities, and a broad understanding of how data and software underpin high-quality research.
• You effectively communicate with people coming from different academic and professional backgrounds.
• Your networking skills allow you to build bridges and reduce conflict in order to achieve a common goal.
• You can work independently as well as in a team.
• You can consistently meet deadlines.
• You speak English very well (minimum CEFR-level C1).

Recommended (experience in the following would be a bonus):

• Your academic background is in social sciences, behavioural sciences, or humanities.
• You are knowledgeable about the research cycle and contributed in (or assisted) a research group or project.
• You are familiar with FAIR and open science principles.
• You are interested in coding within a research context and have some relevant experience.
• You can read Dutch well (minimum CEFR-level B1). You are willing to take Dutch courses to improve your proficiency.

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is October 1st, 2025 (or as early as possible) and you will be based at Campus Woudenstein in Engagement & Research Services (ERS). This position is for 0.8 fte - 1 fte. The salary is dependent on your experience and knowledge and ranges from a minimum of € 3.378 to a maximum of € 5.331 gross per month (Scale 10) on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is offered for a period of 1 year and can be converted into an employment contract for an indefinite period if suitability is proven and if continued in the same position, if (financial and/or organizational) circumstances remain the same.

Everything else we offer you, you can find below!

• Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!
• Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME or QuEUR.
• Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.
• Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.
• Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).
• Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the 30%-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Faculty / Institute / Central service
Engagement & Research Services (ERS) advances excellent research and engagement to maximize positive societal impact. ERS creates conditions for transparent, inclusive, collaborative, and impactful research through strategic and operational expertise.

We provide pathways for talents to reach their full potential and we advance fruitful collaborations, enabling Erasmus University to be a front runner in embedding excellent research in society. The following areas of support are embedded within ERS: Business Development, Grant Support, Legal Counsels, Open Science, Research Data Management, Ethics Review and Research Intelligence. ERS is a relatively young service department within Erasmus University Rotterdam and is steadily building and extending its service portfolio. ERS provides support to all faculties of Erasmus university Rotterdam (occasionally to Erasmus University Medical Center).

Within ERS, the Open & Responsible Science team provides professional advice and support to enable the adoption of ORS principles and innovative research practices within EUR.