We are looking for a highly motivated candidate for a 3-year PhD position on the social psychology of aesthetics, which is part of the ARTIS project (Art and Research on Transformation of Individuals and Societies) funded by a Horizon 2020 consortium grant. ARTIS will address the need to capture, assess, and harness the societal impact of the arts by providing novel methodological tools, and building bridges among scientists, artists, and policy-makers. Within the project, you will have the opportunity to work closely together with other consortium members, including the University of Vienna, Humboldt University of Berlin, Royal Holloway University of London, University of Oxford, and Aarhus University.

The current project is about the ways in which artists deploy art to explore their role as social actors or agents of social change. Some of the questions we are asking are: What motives drive artists to make art? Through what phycological mechanisms can art induce social and cultural change? What contextual factors may contribute or act as barriers to art’s transformative potential? The PhD candidate is expected to build on their own strengths and methodological expertise to investigate the societal impact of the arts.

The PhD candidate will work under the daily supervision of Dr Eftychia Stamkou and Prof. Gerben Van Kleef, who are both based at the Department of Psychology of the University of Amsterdam (UvA), which is ranked 16th in the QS World University Rankings. The University of Amsterdam has access to state-of-the-art research facilities to implement and coordinate the proposed research. The PhD candidate will report the research results at project meetings, conferences, and in international journals, ultimately leading to a PhD dissertation.

• Master’s degree (preferably obtained in a research master program) in social psychology, cultural psychology, neuroscience, or equivalent program;
• passion for research and a demonstrable interest in the topic of the project;
• strong writing skills;
• excellent English proficiency,

Experience with empirical aesthetics will be considered a benefit.

Our offer

The PhD position is for three years (initial employment is 12 months and after a positive evaluation, the contract will be extended with 24 months). The project should lead to a dissertation. Based on a full-time employment contract the gross monthly salary will be €2,325 in the first year, increasing to €2,972 in the third year according to the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities. The PhD position may be extended by a maximum of 12 months in case funding becomes available due to, for instance, teaching assignments. We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary employee benefits, including a generous holiday scheme and year-end bonus.

What else can we offer you?

A motivating work environment with a variety of duties and sufficient scope for individual initiative and development within an inspiring organization. We cherish inquisitive minds and persevering spirits, and allow you the opportunity to dig deeper with your questions. Diverse, unique, dynamic, internationally oriented and ambitious: these are all characteristics which typify UvA staff. Strongly committed to the city of Amsterdam and the international society of which it is part, the UvA stands for independence, creativity, innovation, an international perspective and a critical yet open mindset.

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 Psychology

The PhD project will be conducted within the Social Psychology program group at the University of Amsterdam. Within the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, the discipline of Psychology offers a range of Bachelor's and Master’s degree programmes, while its research is carried out at the Psychology Research Institute (Psyres). The successful candidate will be part of the Social Psychology program group.