Our faculty is investing in new academic staff in line with the quality agreement openings for 13 Assistant Professorships. You will contribute to the quality agreements to make the necessary investments in our various programmes. As an Assistant Professor you will be employed in the Department Clinical Child and Family Studies, chair Forensic Child and Youth Care Sciences at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University.

Teaching will involve various programmes at Bachelor's, Master's and Research Master's level, such as the Bachelor's Pedagogical Sciences, the Master's programmes CCFES and YES as well as the Research Master's programme DASCA. Your teaching will contribute in particular to the minor juvenile delinquency and youth protection services, the CCFES Master's programme and related courses in our Bachelor's.

Your research will be embedded in the department Clinical child and families studies, and will focus on forensic child and youth care sciences, i.e. children and families with severe problems who face (threat of) judicial interference.

Our department conducts fundamental and clinical research into child and adolescent development and child rearing contexts. The chair Forensic Child and Youth Care finds its scientific basis in various scientific disciplines (e.g., Orthopedagogics, Criminology, Law, Developmental Psychology). The target group of Forensic Child and Youth Care Sciences are children and their families of which the development of the child is threatened to such an extent that judicial intervention is necessary or threatened. Research in Forensic Child and Youth Care Sciences focuses on the development and maintenance of complex and serious family and child problems. The more applied side of research in Forensic Child and Youth Care Sciences focuses on developing (and investigating the effectiveness of) interventions that attempt to break the 'vicious circle of dysfunction' which is often found in children and families dealing with judicial intervention. The research focuses on explaining the development of child and family dysfunction by aiming to disentangle processes that explain various manifestations of delinquent behaviour and family dysfunction in order to find out which factors may be predictive. In addition, the research focuses on differences in the predictive value of risk factors in different groups of youth offenders.

The department's research is positioned in the UU research programme on Clinical child and family problems and is embedded in the central Utrecht University strategic theme of Dynamics of Youth.

The position involves 70% teaching activities and 30% research time. Core tasks will include:

• teaching the Bachelor's and Master’s programmes of Pedagogical Sciences, with special focus on the minor juvenile delinquency and youth protection;
• developing an independent research line embedded within the research programme’s longitudinal studies that attracts young Researchers via external funding;
• disseminating research results and its applications to the research community as well as the general public;
• participation in administrative and organizational tasks.

We are looking for someone who:

• holds a PhD degree in the field of Pedagogical Sciences, preferably in Forensic Child and youth care sciences, or a related field that covers the domain of forensic youth care as described above;
• has excellent and proven skills in teaching, co-developing and co-coordinating academic courses;
• holds a Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO) from Utrecht University or another university, or is willing to acquire this qualification in the near future;
• has experience in or affinity with forensic child and youth care sciences (juvenile delinquency/youth protection) and/or in the clinical field (a basic diagnostics registration (Basisaantekening Psychodiagnostiek) is a plus)
• is able to initiate, develop, carry out, and publish high quality research independently;
• has strong statistical and methodological skills (particularly in longitudinal analyses);
• is able to acquire external research funding;
• is able to develop research that has social relevance and is active in the valorization of research;
• writes and speaks both Dutch and English fluently;
• contributes to a positive work environment and open science and is able to work independently as well as within a team.

We offer a temporary position (0.8 FTE), initially for 2 years (June 1, 2021* to May 31, 2023). After a positive evaluation of the initial appointment, the position becomes permanent. The gross salary - depending on previous qualifications and experience  - ranges between €3,746 and €5,826 (scale 11/12 according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) per month for a full-time employment. Salaries are supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3% per year. In addition, Utrecht University offers excellent secondary conditions, including an attractive retirement scheme, (partly paid) parental leave and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). More information about working at Utrecht University can be found here.

*regarding the start date: a later start date is also negotiable.

Utrecht University has great ambitions for its teaching quality and study success rates. This also applies to its clear research profiles that are centred around four themes: Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Utrecht University plays a prominent role in our society and contributes to finding the answers to topical and future societal issues.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is one of the leading faculties in Europe providing research and academic teaching in cultural anthropology, educational sciences, interdisciplinary social science, methods and statistics, pedagogical sciences, psychology, and sociology. Research and teaching activities are concentrated in five areas: Behaviour in Social Contexts, Child and Adolescent Studies, Cognitive and Clinical Psychology, Education and Learning, and Methodology and Statistics.

More than 5,600 students are enrolled in a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programmes. The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences has some 850 faculty and staff members, all providing their individual contribution to the training and education of young talent and to the research into and finding solutions for scientific and societal issues.