The project entails the development and testing of an e-health intervention program focused on the biological clock and sleep, which will be implemented in several Dutch Universities. The PhD student will be involved in the development of the online intervention, in piloting it, and subsequently conducting a randomized-controlled trial to test the effectiveness of this intervention. The ultimate goal of this intervention is to improve students’ sleep quality, mental health, and quality of life.

The project is embedded within the Caring Universities platform (which is a consortium of several Dutch Universities). The PhD student will be located in Leiden University and supervised by Dr. Niki Antypa and Prof. Philip Spinhoven. Furthermore, due to the collaborative nature of this project, he/she will be co-supervised by Dr. Sascha Struijs and Prof. Annemieke van Straten (VU University).

This PhD position is one of in total 25 positions at the core of the N.W.O. funded BioClock research project, which is part of the Dutch Research Agenda. BioClock is a unique consortium in which academic institutes, societal partners, and industry join forces to address a broad spectrum of fundamental and applied research questions on the circadian clock in modern society. As a PhD student in the BioClock consortium, the candidate will get the opportunity to actively participate in this multidisciplinary team effort.    

• Master degree (or Research Master’s) in clinical psychology or closely related field;
• Strong interest in insomnia, sleep (treatment) and / or biological clock research;
• Excellent research skills, eye for detail;
• Excellent writing skills in both English and Dutch;
• Strong communication skills, excited to work in a team;
• Willingness to be actively involved in the BioClock and Caring Universities consortia;
• Independent, ‘making things work’ mentality;
• Interested in participating in teaching activities.

Desirable:

• Prior experience with sleep research;
• Prior experience e-health programmes;
• Hands on experience with conducting a randomized controlled trial.

Starting date will be June/July 2021. The appointment is for four years (one year plus a further three years after a positive evaluation) and should lead to a doctoral degree. The gross income is € 2.395,- per month in the first year, increasing to € 3.061,- per month in the fourth year, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (scale p).

Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses (8.3 %), training and career development. Our individual choices model gives you some freedom to assemble your own set of terms and conditions. For international spouses we have set up a dual career programme. Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break. For more information, see the website.

Diversity
Leiden University is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from members of underrepresented groups.

Leiden University

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences comprises five institutes: Education and Child Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology and the Centre for Science and Technology Studies. The Faculty is home to 7,000 students and 850 members of staff. Our teaching and research programmes cover diverse topics varying from adoption to political behaviour. For more information, see the website.