Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Researcher in Legal History and/or Social and Behavioural Studies

Tilburg University is hiring a postdoctoral researcher (1.0 FTE) in law, history, the social and behavioural sciences for the project ECHO: Emotions and Terrorism in the Eastern Question (1870–1930). The project investigates how fear shaped international law, challenging its rationalist, Eurocentric, and state-centric biases. You will analyse diplomatic, legal, and literary sources to investigate how legal labels, public emotions, and shifting notions of sovereignty influenced protection, trust, and international security. The work invites engagement with wider questions on law, emotion, and justice in moments of political upheaval, and you will join a multidisciplinary team working across multiple historical contexts.

 

Your position

 

Tilburg University is hiring a full-time postdoctoral researcher (1.0 FTE, 17 months) in law, history, or social and behavioural sciences with an expertise in the study of emotions for the project ECHO: Emotions and Terrorism in the Eastern Question (1870–1930). The project is led by Dr. Zülâl Muslu (Tilburg Law School). ECHO examines how fear shaped international law, especially in the late Ottoman Empire, critically reassessing its rationalist and Eurocentric biases through the lens of the history of emotions. By studying legal, diplomatic, and literary sources, the project investigates how emotional discourses influenced legal protection, public trust, and ideas of international security. In the longer term, it aims to build knowledge and networks that contribute not only to academic scholarship but also to deeper public and institutional understandings of the historical and emotional dimensions of law.

 

As postdoctoral researcher, you will focus on methodological approaches to the study of law and emotions, drawing on archival sources, textual analysis, and relevant literature. Your work will involve mapping and critically assessing methodological approaches in the study of law and emotions, and applying them to the project’s historical material, while possibly engaging with perspectives from psychology and the social and behavioural sciences, with scope to contribute to further methodological development. You will prepare academic publications and play a key role in shaping and delivering an international scholarly event that brings together leading researchers in the field. There will be room to bring your own thematic and methodological interests into the project’s scope.

 

You will join the legal history group within the Department of Public Law & Governance (PLG), integrating into a vibrant, international, and interdisciplinary research environment. The PLG department brings together scholars from law, history, political science, and related fields, fostering collaboration across disciplines. Within this setting, the legal history team offers an open, collegial atmosphere where sharing work-in-progress, providing constructive feedback, and methodological reflection are central to our way of working.

 

The position is primarily research-focused, with participation in administrative tasks, including dissemination activities through academic and public channels. Depending on your interests, there may be opportunities to contribute to teaching in the field of legal history and related areas. The role offers a supportive environment for further developing your professional network and academic profile in emotion research, legal history, and critical approaches to law.

 

Your profile

Tilburg University is curious about how you can contribute to our research, education, societal impact, and to the team you will be joining. Therefore, we would like to get the best possible picture of your knowledge, skills, and personality. Below are the qualifications and qualities considered important for this position. We welcome applications from candidates who may not meet all of the listed requirements, as we recognise that the profile outlined below involved broad interdisciplinary expertise:

 

Required Qualifications

• You hold a Ph.D. in law, history, psychology, or a closely related discipline, with a dissertation that engages with the study of emotions and/or relevant historical, legal, or socio-legal contexts.
• You have demonstrable experience in independently conducting archival research with handwritten sources from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, or equivalent expertise in working with complex datasets.
• Experience in interdisciplinary research involving the study of emotions is highly desirable.
• You have a strong interest in the institutional, political, economic, and legal history of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, preferably with a focus on international law, genocide studies and/or transitional justice processes.
• You possess excellent oral and written communication skills, as evidenced by relevant academic publications, conference presentations, or other scholarly output.
• You have excellent proficiency in English both spoken and written. Ability to work with one or more languages spoken in the late Ottoman Empire is preferred; knowledge of Dutch is appreciated.

 

Desirable competencies

• You demonstrate scientific integrity and work independently while taking responsibility for your contributions and career development.
• You have strong analytical skills and an eye for methodological reflection.
• You are a team player who actively contributes to a collegial, open, and inclusive work environment, sharing knowledge and engaging in constructive collaboration also beyond your immediate field.
• You are adaptable, well-organised, and able to balance research, organisational, and dissemination tasks effectively.

 

What do we offer?

Tilburg University offers excellent benefits in a pleasant working environment:

• A position based on 0.8 - 1.0 FTE (40 hours per week).
• A salary of minimum of €4.728 and maximum €6.433 gross per month for full-time employment, based on UFO profile Researcher 3 and salary scale 11. Tilburg University uses a neutral remuneration system based on relevant education and work experience.
• This is a vacancy for a temporary position in accordance with Article 2.3 paragraph 5 under b of the CLA DU. You will be given a temporary contract for the duration of 17 months.  
• Vacation pay of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• Over 8 weeks of vacation leave.
• The opportunity to work partly on campus and partly from home with a home office allowance of €2 per day.
• Reimbursement for sustainable commuting: walking, cycling, and public transportation.
• A monthly internet fee of €25.
• An Options Model in which you exchange benefits for things such as additional leave, more pension, a bicycle or personal training at our Sports Center.
• Employees from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for the 30/20/10% tax facility.
• A pension with ABP; the most sustainable Dutch pension fund.

Training in personal development, career development, leadership, education, and research or a language course at our Language Center.

• A work culture in which we embrace differences, where everyone is welcome and given equal opportunities.
• A vibrant campus in green surroundings that is easily accessible by public transport.

 

For more information, see our website and the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities

Tilburg University is an academic, inclusive, and engaged community. Together with nearly 3,000 employees, we are committed to broad prosperity, sustainably, and inclusion. For current and future generations. We develop and share knowledge for the requirements of people and our society. This is how we contribute to solving complex social issues and help society move forward.

 

We educate our 19,500 students of 110 nationalities to become responsible leaders with knowledge, skills, and character. With our education and research for broad prosperity, we exceedingly focus on themes such as mental and preventive care, an inclusive labor market, the energy transition, and digitalization.

Tilburg Law School was founded in 1963 and has since grown into a leading faculty for law and public administration. Our education and research are distinctly innovative and interdisciplinary. We are driven by our mission to actively engage with pressing societal challenges such as new technologies, sustainability, and the position of vulnerable groups in the rule of law, from the perspective of legal and administrative sciences. We operate in response to local, regional, national, and international developments, and collaborate closely with other disciplines such as economics, behavioral and social sciences, philosophy, history, and digital sciences. The faculty is organized into five departments: Public Law & Governance, Private, Business and Labour Law, Criminal Law, the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology & Society, and Tax Law.

 

Our education
Tilburg Law School offers bachelor's programs in Dutch Law, Tax Law, Business Law, and the English-taught Global Law program. Of the nine legal master's programs, five are offered in hybrid formats and six are taught in English. The faculty also offers both a bachelor's and a master's program in Public Administration. Our education places particular emphasis on vulnerability and on those who are vulnerable in society. Through this, we aim to contribute to a just and sustainable society. Tilburg Law School is a frontrunner in educational innovation and values inclusive, accessible, and flexible education. We train our students to become knowledgeable, skilled, and critical academics who are equipped to navigate the complex challenges of the evolving digital society.

 

Our research
The five departments of Tilburg Law School collaborate closely in four distinctive research programs focusing on globalization and law, regulation of technology, vulnerability in criminal law, and sustainable private law relations. These research programs include both legal and public administration scholarship, as well as interdisciplinary approaches.
We strongly emphasize team science, encouraging researchers to work together, share knowledge, and strengthen one another in content and methodology.

 

Global Law and Governance
This research program addresses major societal challenges such as climate change, globalization, growing inequality, the increasing influence of social media, and migration. These developments call for a re-examination of issues such as the role of human rights, democratic principles and structures, and the regulation of non-state actors.

 

The Department of Public Law & Governance (PLG) is a unique collaboration of researchers in the fields of International Law, European law, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Public Administration, Legal Philosophy, Political Science, Legal History, and Jurisprudence. Collaboration within the Department is very much inspired by joint research interests.