PhD Project "Addressing Craving in the City"

Do you want to contribute to research that aims to address craving in the city? Are you interested in how personalized help at the right time and place can help to combat nicotine use among young people in Amsterdam? Then apply for this PhD position focused on using system insights for personalized context-driven interventions to combat smoking and vaping.

Help fight nicotine dependence
The Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) is looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate for the project “Addressing craving in the city: Using system insights for personalized context-driven interventions to combat nicotine use”. This four-year PhD project is embedded within the Persuasive Communication program group, in close collaboration with the Amsterdam UMC’s Department of Public & Occupational Health and the UvA’s Department of Geography and Planning. It will be supervised by Dr. Eline Smit, Dr. Mirte Kuipers and Prof. Bas van den Putte.

This project’s main aim is to combat nicotine dependence from smoking and vaping, and ultimately improve health, by applying state of the art systems methods to develop an innovative personalized just-in-time context-triggered digital intervention that addresses craving for nicotine in urban environments. Specifically, we will develop and evaluate Quit Sense Amsterdam, a just-in-time context-triggered intervention aimed to support people who want to quit using nicotine through smoking and/or vaping in the city of Amsterdam.

Given the alarming rate at which vaping becomes a common behavior in the Netherlands, and the fact that smoking prevalence is no longer declining, this project is highly relevant and urgent. Vaping often transitions into tobacco smoking at some point and the two behaviors often co-occur. It is therefore not surprising that doctors and other professionals in the field have recently sounded the alarm: the objective of a Smokefree Generation in 2040 – as outlined in the National Prevention Agreement – appears further out of sight than ever.

What are you going to do
The PhD project takes a mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative research. You will work towards answering the overarching question, which is “How can personalized help at the right time and place help break the nicotine habit and help people to stop smoking and/or vaping?”. You will do so by completing a total of five interconnected studies: you will develop a systems map in which we will identify urban spaces that present most risk through ecological momentary assessment, qualitative interviews and group model building workshops (Studies 1-3); you will systematically develop and pilot test Quit Sense Amsterdam (Study 4); and you will carry out a mixed-methods study on the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the program (Study 5).

You will:

• Manage the project, including scheduling meetings with the supervisory team, preparing agendas, and documenting meetings and research activities;
• Design and prepare the studies (e.g., gathering and synthesizing relevant academic literature, developing surveys, interview guides and workshop materials);
• Collect and analyze data for the studies (e.g., recruit participants for the studies, and analyze data from surveys, interviews, workshops and (pilot) evaluation studies);
• Write academic articles for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and present findings at (inter)national conferences;
• Contribute to the ASCoR research community by participating in workshops, meetings and lectures;
• Support teaching activities at the Bachelor’s level (up to approximately 10% of your time).

What do you have to offer
You have:

• A (research) master’s degree in Communication Science, Psychology, or a related field or expect to obtain this degree soon;
• Extensive experience with advanced quantitative (e.g., ecological momentary assessment) and/or qualitative research methods (e.g., in-depth interviewing, systems mapping) and data analyses;
• Good analytical, writing, and presenting skills;
• Good project and time management skills enabling you to meet the projects’ deadlines for finishing analyses, reports and other deliverables;
• Proven proficiency in the English language. For more information on what is considered evidence of English language proficiency, please consult this link (section ‘4. English language proficiency (non-Dutch degree students only)’);
• Proficiency in Dutch, as intervention materials will be developed in Dutch and this project will comprise keeping in touch with Dutch-speaking stakeholders.

You are able to:

• Explore insights from various disciplines;
• Show readiness to learn new skills and methods as the project evolves, adapting to challenges with resilience and creativity;
• Demonstrate interest in health communication research in general, and in research related to smoking and vaping specifically;
• Maintain a proactive attitude, be open to feedback, and pay attention to detail;
• Manage your time effectively and work independently, while collaborating well within a team too;
• A strong commitment to methodological rigor and scientific integrity, including open science;
• Motivation to share knowledge with academic and non-academic audiences.

What else do we offer you
The planned starting date for this project is January 5th, 2026. The position concerns temporary employment for a maximum term of four years. The initial employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of 36 months, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate. We will put together a curriculum that will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events. You will also be tasked with teaching (Bachelor’s) students for up to approximately 10% of the contract.

What else do we offer

• A project in which you will do research in close collaboration with the target group and stakeholders from practice;
• A position with ample opportunity for contributing your own initiative and input;
• A position centered on your growth, with ample opportunities for scholarly and professional development, including the opportunity to take Dutch language courses;
• A supervision team with the goal to supervise and advise the PhD candidate in their work and professional development through regular team meetings;
• A daily supervisor who is available for the PhD candidate for regular contact on all matters relevant to the candidate;
• An enthusiastic and warm department that is open to new colleagues;
• A large, welcoming community of PhD candidates working on various projects within Communication Science;
• While frequent presence at the office is valued in terms of cohesion and team building, we offer the opportunity to work hybrid (e.g., to work from home for 1 day a week).

You will work here
The project is embedded in the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (department of Communication Science) at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. The Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) is the research institute for the Communication Science Department in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. For more information: https://ascor.uva.nl/.

ASCoR welcomes many international visitors, organizes lectures and workshops, hands out awards to junior academics, and is involved in faculty- and university-wide interdisciplinary Research Priority Areas on topics related to the project (e.g., Youth Digitality and Urban Mental Health). The PhD student will be embedded in the program group of Persuasive Communication, and within this group will be linked to the health communication chair group. The PhD student will get a workspace, a laptop, and has access to the many facilities the University of Amsterdam offers.

The supervision team consists of supervisors from the program group of Persuasive Communication (Dr. Eline Smit – daily supervisor – and Prof. Bas van den Putte) – where the PhD student will be embedded – and the Amsterdam UMC’s department of Public & Occupational Health (Dr. Mirte Kuipers). In addition, there will be close collaboration with scholars from Geography, with societal partners (e.g., GGD Amsterdam, Trimbos Institute) and international collaborators (e.g., Prof. Felix Naughton, University of East Anglia, UK).

Do you recognize yourself in this job profile? Then we look forward to receiving your application by 5 October 2025.

Please submit your application as a single .pdf file under ‘Upload CV’, including:

• Curriculum vitae, with grade transcripts from your Bachelor’s and (research) Master’s studies;
• Letter of motivation: Outline your interest in this topic, your readiness for the PhD project, how you meet the selection criteria, and – if applicable – your experience with (parts of) the specific tasks you will be asked to perform. If any criteria are not yet fully met, explain how you plan to develop to necessary skills. Optionally, include contact details of two academic referees familiar with your work;
• Writing sample in English, such as a Master’s thesis or a recent essay.

Interviews for this position are scheduled for the first week of November.

Questions? Feel free to contact Eline Smit, E.S.Smit@uva.nl.