Postdoc “Reclaiming EdTech Design” (NWO Vidi)

Are you interested in reimagining the future of digital education beyond the dominance of Big Tech and AI? With this Postdoctoral position, you will join the research team of the NWO Vidi project Reclaiming the Digital Classroom (RECLaiM-EDU, 2026–2031). RECLaiM-EDU investigates a pressing question for contemporary education: How can European primary and secondary schools (re)claim control over public education in an era increasingly shaped by Big Tech and AI?

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The project addresses this question through an empirical investigation of Digital Autonomy Innovators (DAIs)—pioneering yet often fragmented initiatives across Europe that seek to safeguard public values in digital education. These initiatives experiment with alternative approaches to educational technologies and infrastructures, ranging from new forms of collective imagination and design practices to the development of public digital infrastructures. Within the project, these efforts are studied across three interrelated domains: imaginaries (PhD), design (Postdoc), and infrastructures (PI, Dr. Niels Kerssens).

Building on these empirical insights, RECLaiM-EDU aims to advance a new conceptual understanding of digital autonomy as a distinctly European strategy for securing public value in education amid rapid digitalization and deepening technological dependencies. This theoretical and empirical work will feed into the co-creation of the Digital Autonomy Framework for European Public Education (DAF-EU): a strategic roadmap and call to action designed to stimulate bottom-up, public-interest innovation across Europe and to support schools in reclaiming agency over their digital classrooms.

As a Postdoctoral Researcher within the RECLaiM-EDU project, you will lead the project’s design pillar. Your research will investigate how practices of co-design, public governance, and public–private collaboration can contribute to more democratic forms of educational technology in European primary and secondary education. Therefore, you will conduct in-depth empirical research on pioneering initiatives across Europe that experiment with alternative approaches to the design and governance of digital education technologies.

As a senior member of the research team, you will have considerable intellectual freedom to shape the project’s design pathway and play a key role in advancing its theoretical development and practice-oriented outputs. You will collaborate closely with the PI and the PhD candidate and engage with academic and societal partners across Europe, helping to position RECLaiM-EDU at the forefront of scholarly and public debates on digital autonomy and democratic innovation in education.

Your main duties and responsibilities include:

• developing and refining a coherent postdoctoral research line within the broader empirical, theoretical, and practical objectives of the RECLaiM-EDU project;
• conducting high-quality empirical research (e.g., case studies, participatory research, qualitative fieldwork, document analysis) in close collaboration with the PI and the PhD;
• contributing to the development of the Digital Autonomy Framework for European Public Education (DAF-EU);
• publishing research findings in leading international peer-reviewed journals and contributing to high-impact collective publications;
• actively presenting research at major international conferences and contributing to the international visibility of the project;
• coordinating a Special Issue in a leading international journal on Digital Autonomy, including developing the call for papers, managing peer review processes in collaboration with guest editors and journal editors, and ensuring intellectual coherence of the collection;
• contributing to the organization of international symposia, workshops, and a major international conference connected to the project;
• supporting the supervision and intellectual development of the PhD candidate and, where relevant, research assistants or interns;
• engaging with societal stakeholders (e.g., schools, teacher educators, policymakers, sectoral organizations) and contributing to knowledge exchange and societal impact activities;
• contributing to dissemination beyond academia (e.g., policy briefs, professional publications, public events);
• contributing to future grant applications and the strategic development of follow-up research initiatives;
• participating actively in the intellectual life of the research group, including seminars, reading groups, and collaborative writing processes.

We are looking for an intellectually ambitious and collegial postdoctoral researcher with a strong academic track record and demonstrated expertise in critical research on digital technologies in public education. The ideal candidate combines theoretical depth with empirical rigor and is able to take a leading role in shaping and executing research within a collaborative project environment.

Must-have qualifications:

• a completed PhD in Media Studies, Communication and Information Studies, Education, Science and Technology Studies (STS), or a closely related field;
• a strong publication record relative to career stage, including peer-reviewed journal articles in relevant international venues;
• demonstrated expertise in critical EdTech studies, platform studies (particularly in education), digital governance, public infrastructure studies, and/or related fields;
• extensive experience with qualitative research methods (e.g., interviews, ethnography, participatory or co-design research, policy analysis, discourse analysis), and the ability to design and independently execute complex empirical research projects;
• excellent analytical and theoretical skills, including the ability to further develop conceptual frameworks and contribute to theoretical innovation;
• demonstrated ability to publish at a high international level and to actively contribute to academic debates;
• proven experience presenting research at international conferences;
• strong organizational and coordination skills, with the ability to co-supervise junior researchers (e.g., PhD candidate or research assistants);
• ability to work both independently and collaboratively in an interdisciplinary research team;
• excellent command of English (written and spoken).

Nice-to-have qualifications:

• experience in leading or coordinating research work packages within larger collaborative projects;
• experience with practice-oriented research, co-design methodologies, or engaged scholarship involving schools, teachers, policymakers, or public-sector actors;
• affinity with questions of public value, democratic governance, and digital autonomy in educational contexts;
• experience in grant writing and contributing to funding applications;
• experience with organizing academic events (workshops, symposia, conferences) and contributing to network building at national or European level;
• experience in public scholarship, policy engagement, or non-academic dissemination (e.g., policy briefs, advisory reports, media contributions);
• proficiency in Dutch, or willingness to acquire reading competence to engage with Dutch educational and policy contexts.

• a job for 24 months, for 0.8 FTE;
• a working week of 30.4 - 32 hours and a gross monthly salary between € 3,546 and € 5,538 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale 10 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University also offers a range of its own schemes for employees. This includes arrangements for professional development, various types of leave, and options for sports and cultural activities. You can also tailor your employment conditions through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage you to keep investing in your personal and professional development. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

The Faculty of Humanities has around 7,000 students and 1,100 staff members. It comprises four knowledge domains: Philosophy and Religious Studies, History and Art History, Media and Culture Studies, and Languages, Literature and Communication. With its research and education in these fields, the Faculty aims to contribute to a better understanding of the Netherlands and Europe in a rapidly changing social and cultural context. The enthusiastic and committed colleagues and the excellent amenities in the historical city centre of Utrecht, where the faculty is located, contribute to an inspiring working environment.

The faculty strives for diversity among its employees and students and is committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for everyone, as can be read in Utrecht University's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy.

The core values of the faculty for Humanities are professionalism, transparency, responsibility, connectedness and safety. These values apply to everyone and we uphold these values in our work and in our communication with each other and with others.

Our department of Media and Culture Studies has a staff with a variety of backgrounds, skills, and views. As a department, we are committed to support our staff and their development and we foster various forms of interdisciplinary collaboration and team-based teaching and research. In our department, we study a wide range of media as well as cultural and artistic expressions, also in their intermedial relations. We interpret culture as a dynamic combination of artistic, creative, and everyday activities that people use to shape their identities, and within which social processes, structures and institutions are shaped. We welcome colleagues who can further strengthen the diversity of perspectives and backgrounds in our department.

As Postdoc you will be member of the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON) – one of the four research institutes of the Faculty of Humanities – and the interdisciplinary focus area Governing the Digital Society (GDS), which fosters the collaboration between the Departments of Media and Culture, Law, Governance, and Information Science.

For more information about this position, please contact Dr. Niels Kerssens at N.Kerssens@uu.nl

Candidates for this vacancy will be recruited by Utrecht University.