Do you want to conduct research on the role of religion for the integration of immigrants belonging to religious minority groups? Are you experienced with working with hard-to-reach populations and do you have a passion for cross-cultural comparative research?

At the Department of Sociology we are looking for a postdoctoral researcher who will join the research team of Fenella Fleischmann as part of the NWO-funded research project 'The role of religious cognition for immigrant integration (RECOGNITION)'. The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to the development of cross-culturally comparable measures of religious cognition and religiosity among two religious minority groups other than Sunni Muslims. The groups to be studied will be jointly determined in function of the researcher's previous experience and with a view to cover as many different religious traditions as possible in the project as a whole. The project team will further include a PhD researcher working on Sunni Muslims. The postdoctoral researcher will engage with members of two selected religious minority communities to develop preliminary measurement instruments for the use in the selected religious traditions, and collect data among a larger sample of community members to implement the instruments as well as measuring individual differences in integration in the structural, social and cultural domains.

Together with other members of the project team, the researcher will write research articles on the development of cross-culturally comparable measures of religious cognition and religiosity, as well as the relation between religious cognition, religiosity and immigrant integration. The researcher will also work with the religious communities under study to design and implement a communication strategy to inform community members about the research and its results, as well as contribute to communicating research findings beyond academic audiences. Candidates with previous research expertise among religious minorities in Europe, and/or with extensive experience in quantitative cross-cultural comparative analysis are particularly encouraged to apply.

The postdoctoral researcher will become a member of the AISSR programme group Institutions, Inequalities and Life Courses, and the Interuniversity Centre on Social Science Theory and Methodology, and will as such be able to participate in activities of these research schools (e.g. research presentations, conferences, trainings/workshops).

What are you going to do

As postdoctoral researcher you will:

• write research papers to be submitted to international peer-reviewed journals;
• contribute to the NWO-funded project by collecting data among two smaller religious minority communities, applying both small-N and large-N designs (expert and cognitive interviews, online survey);
• analyse these data to examine the role of religious cognition for the integration of the selected religious minorities, and report the findings to scientific audiences, the religious communities under study and the general public;
• conduct literature review to identify existing measures of interest;
• conduct expert interviews and cognitive interviews to develop new measurement instruments of religious cognition and religiosity among two religious minority groups;
• collect data among community samples of two religious minorities containing the new instruments as well as measures of immigrant integration in multiple domains;
• report about findings from the research at relevant (inter-)national conferences, in research articles, to the members of the religious communities under study and to society at large.

You have:

• a recent PhD in sociology, (cross-cultural) psychology, or a related field. Candidates whose manuscript has been approved by the committee at the start of the project can also apply;
• demonstrable research experience with religious minorities in the context of migration, as evidenced by publications in English;
• good writing skills.

You are:

• experienced in conducting research among religious minority groups in the context of migration;
• experienced with interviewing and/or with methods for quantitative cross-cultural research, specifically the examination of measurement equivalence in latent variable frameworks;
• a fluent English speaker;
• good in team work;
• an independent researcher.

The position concerns temporary employment of 30,4 hours per week (0,8 fte). Additional teaching time (up to a maximum of 0.2 fte) may, depending on availability and in mutual consultation, be included in the contract. The initial employment term will be for one year, with a probationary period of two months. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of 24 months (for a total duration of three years).

The starting salary will be based on qualifications, expertise and relevant work experience, ranging from a minimum of €3974 to a maximum of €5439 gross per month based on full-time employment of 38 hours per week, in keeping with salary scale 11, as per the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities. The job profile 'onderzoeker' is applicable.

We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.

The UvA offers excellent possibilities for further professional development and education.

What else do we offer

• a position in which initiative and input are highly valued;
• an enthusiastic and warm team that is open to new colleagues;
• an inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam.

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

The University of Amsterdam is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest spectrum of degree programmes. It is an intellectual hub with 39,000 students, 6,000 employees and 3,000 doctoral students who are all committed to a culture of inquiring minds.

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

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.