Are you interested in platformization, digitization and the global sex industry? Is it your ambition to become an interdisciplinary researcher at the intersection of social science and media studies?

We are seeking two PhD candidates for the project 'The platformization of the global sex industry: Markets, morals, and mass intimacy', which is funded by the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO) and led by Prof. Olav Velthuis (Department of Sociology) and Dr Thomas Poell (Department of Media Studies). With their low entry barriers, their live and interactive character, webcam platforms are among the sex industry’s fastest growing segments. But despite its multi-billion-dollar turnover and their highly disputed social and economic impact, empirical knowledge of the industry is limited. The main aim of this project is to analyse competition, working conditions and regulation within the industry. In doing so, the project will focus on the webcam industry in the United States, Romania and The Netherlands. PhD candidate 1 will focus on the way inter-platform and intra-platform competition are organized in the global webcamming industry. PhD candidate 2 will focus on working conditions of performers on platforms, and the opportunities and risks which they face. 

What will you be doing?

The tasks will include:

• conducting empirical research, writing a dissertation and other publications;
• teaching in the field of social sciences and media studies for at least 10% of the time;
• participating in the PhD programme of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), as well as following courses at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA);
• participating in conferences and seminars.

You have:

• a Master’s degree or equivalent with a relevant specialization within the social sciences or humanities. The degree must have been obtained by the time the position starts;
• excellent command of English;
• affinity with empirical research using relevant qualitative and/or quantitative methods;
• relevant language skills pertaining to the project countries will be considered as an advantage.

Our offer

The position concerns a temporary appointment of 38 hours per week for a maximum term of four years. The initial appointment is for one year, preferably starting on 1 September  2020. 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 which will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events.

Your salary will be €2,325 gross per month in the first year and will increase to €2,972 in the final year, based on full-time employment (38 hours per week) and in keeping with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8,3%.

What else can we offer you?

A challenging work environment with a variety of duties and ample scope for individual initiative and development within an inspiring organisation. The social and behavioural sciences play a leading role in addressing the major societal challenges faced by the world, the Netherlands and Amsterdam, now and in the future.

To work at the University of Amsterdam is to work in a discerning, independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences – Department of Sociology

The PhD positions will be embedded in the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), in particular the programme group Cultural Sociology, as well as in the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA).