Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has enjoyed an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Balanced study and career paths in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 36,000 students and researchers to develop their own individual talents. Belonging to the best research universities in Europe and joining forces with prestigious partner universities and networks, the University of Groningen is truly an international place of knowledge.

The Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Groningen is a vibrant, international community of excellent researchers and teachers. It consistently receives the highest evaluations both for research and for teaching among philosophy departments in The Netherlands. The Faculty has three departments: History of Philosophy, Theoretical Philosophy, and Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy.

The Faculty of Philosophy is looking for an assistant professor with expertise in the history of philosophy (18th-21st century, from Kant onwards).

The position is in the Department of the History of Philosophy and includes research (40%) as well as teaching (60%). The position will become permanent (tenured) after a period of 12 to 18 months conditional on a positive performance review. In accordance with the faculty’s promotion policy, the candidate may later be promoted to associate professor.

The historical research of the successful candidate is expected to complement the existing research profile of the Department and contribute to the intellectual life of the faculty as a whole. For teaching purposes, the ability to connect history to current issues (in philosophy and societal concerns) would be a bonus.

The job opening is part of a wider nation-wide initiative to strengthen Dutch academia on specific themes, the sector plan Social Science and Humanities, and relates in particular to the theme of “Cultural Heritage and Identity: Creative industries, Media and Popular Culture”. Our self-perception and cultural identity are determined for a large part by widely available expressions of popular culture in social media. Suitable candidates are invested in using insights from nineteenth- and twenthieth-century philosophy to put these processes of cultural identity formation in historical context. They are expected to work in contiguity with colleagues from other disciplines that are appointed within the same sector plan theme.

The candidate will be expected to teach in the philosophy programme on both BA and MA level as well as other associated programmes that the faculty is involved in. It is crucially important that the candidate can offer courses that will appeal to a broad range of philosophy students, as well as students from a variety of other academic backgrounds.

• PhD in philosophy
• experience and proven success in teaching, preferably on philosophy from the 18th to the 21st century
• a strong publication record, appropriate to career stage
• concrete plans for a future grant proposal (ERC or NWO)
• an excellent command of English, both in writing and in speaking; working knowledge of Dutch (level B2 or higher) within three years after appointment is required; ability to teach in Dutch (level C1) as soon as possible thereafter is highly desirable and necessary for promotion to associate professor, but not immediately required
• intellectual drive, enthusiasm and open-mindedness
• international network or record of international collaboration
• to enhance the community of the faculty, a willingness to take up residence in or near the city of Groningen is important: we standardly require that full-time staff spend on average three working days a week at the faculty
• the University of Groningen requires teaching staff to attain the University Teaching Qualification; a successful applicant lacking this qualification (or equivalent) is expected to obtain it within two years, by attending courses at the University.

Fixed-term contract: 12-18 months.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

• a salary depending on qualifications and work experience starting from a minimum of € 3,974 (salary scale 11) to a maximum of € 6,181 gross (salary scale 12) for a full-time position, job profile assistant professor (universitair docent, UD)
• a holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income
• an 8.3% year-end bonus
• participation in a pension scheme for employees and other benefits.

Starting date: September 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter