Are you wholeheartedly interested in the psychology of stress resilience, student mental health and exercise-based interventions? Are you a future researcher by heart, do you enjoy (learning about) statistical analyses of complex datasets, and is it your ambition to become a top-tier researcher? Then you might be the perfect candidate that we need for the project ‘Stress Tolerance and Resilience by Integrating Digital and Exercise training-based interventions for Mental Health of Dutch students’ (STRIDE)!

What are you going to do?
Every year, thousands of young adults in the Netherlands enrol at a university or university of applied sciences and often move to an urban environment. Exposure to multiple potential stressors during this new life phase is inevitable, including moving away from the parental home and environment, financial and academic challenges, and the challenge of forming a new social network. Chronic exposure to stress is a potent risk factor for the development of stress-related mood disorders, and many students are indeed at risk for developing anxiety and depression. Therefore, the central aim of the STRIDE project is to promote stress resilience in students. To this end, we will develop exercise interventions, as regular exercise is a low-cost behavioural strategy that is widely acknowledged to benefit mental health.

In the first part of the project, you will adopt a complex systems approach to shed light on the complex interplay between physical activity/exercise training, depression, anxiety,
stress, substance use, urbanicity, socioeconomic status, and relevant (personality/environmental/lifestyle) factors. To this end, you will analyse a large-scale data set for physical activity patterns in Dutch student populations to determine the relation with mental health. Furthermore, you will collaborate with local student sports centres to determine if active membership of a university sports centre is associated with better academic performance or mental health.

Sequentially, you will develop a personalised, habit-based exercise training intervention for engendering long-lasting behaviour change and enduring beneficial effects on stress resilience and mental health. This exercise training intervention will initially be offered via the online Caring Universities platform to students at Amsterdam-based teaching institutes in collaboration with two Amsterdam-based student sports centres. Upon successful implementation, the exercise training intervention will be rolled out nationally to other Dutch student sports centres to help students with mental health problems on a national level.

To achieve these ambitious aims, you will work together with the Caring Universities consortium and two Amsterdam-based student sports centres. You will be appointed within the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) of the Faculty of Science, where dr. Joram Mul will be your daily supervisor, and you will collaborate closely with the other members of the STRIDE team (dr. Sanne de Wit, dr. Sascha Struijs and prof. Paul Lucassen). You will also become a member of the Centre for Urban Mental Health (UMH). UMH is the largest Research Priority Area of the University of Amsterdam, bringing together unique multidisciplinary research teams. UMH is embedded within three faculties of the University of Amsterdam and is unified by the emerging knowledge and skills available from the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Faculty of Science, together with the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS, UvA). This collaboration brings together unique multidisciplinary research teams and stakeholders from the Amsterdam region.

You will take an active role in departmental activities, including attending and presenting at regular seminars. You will also spend one day per week (Wednesdays) at the Institute for Advanced Study and take part in discussions and presentations together with other interdisciplinary teams that are working on UMH projects that aim to promote urban mental health.

Tasks and responsibilities
You are expected to:

• to complete a PhD thesis within the official appointment duration of four years;
• design and conduct research studies;
• perform (quantitative) data analyses;
• communicate about your research in presentations, at scientific conferences, and via academic publications in

peer-reviewed international journals;

• do a small amount (0.1fte) of research-related teaching (e.g., supervision of bachelor/master theses);
• actively take part in activities and seminars at SILS and IAS;
• present your results at seminars and (inter)national conferences.

Your experience and profile
You are an aspiring researcher with a strong interest in the psychology of behaviour change, exercise and (student) mental health. You are excited about the challenge of developing exercise interventions to promote mental health in students and investigating their effectiveness as well as identifying mechanisms of action. You enjoy presenting your work to colleagues, writing scientific papers, and do not shy away from complex statistical analyses. Finally, you view yourself as someone thriving in a research team, and you like to work in interdisciplinary contexts.

You have:

• a MSc degree in psychology or a related discipline;
• outstanding organisational skills, high conscientiousness, flexibility, communication skills, and a proactive and collaborative attitude;
• experience with R (statistical analysis) and willingness (to learn) to conduct network analysis;
• good social and communication skills and know how to motivate potential research participants;
• excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• readiness to participate in interdisciplinary cooperation.

Speaking Dutch is not a requirement, but this ability would benefit the project substantially.

Our offer
A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). The preferred starting date is 1 November 2024. This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.

Based on a full-time appointment (38 hours per week) the gross monthly salary will range from €2.770 in the first year to €3.539 (scale P) in the last year. This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

• 232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime);
• multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;
• a complete educational program for PhD students;
• a pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution;
• the possibility to follow courses to learn Dutch;
• help with housing for a studio or small apartment when you’re moving from abroad.

Are you curious to read more about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits, take a look here.

About us
The University of Amsterdam is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 30,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 8,000, as well as 1,800 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences is one of the Faculty of Science’s largest institutes. Its approximately 240 scientists and staff members work in 19 research groups that perform excellent research centered on four themes: Neurosciences, Cell & Systems Biology, Microbiology and Green Life Sciences.

You will be embedded in the Brain Plasticity group. The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, the Faculty of Science (UvA-FNWI), the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences (UvA-FMG) and the department of Clinical, Neuro- & Developmental Psychology of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU-FGB).

The Centre for Urban Mental Health (UMH) is the largest interdisciplinary Research Priority Area of the University of Amsterdam. It aims to find new pathways to improve mental health in the city that consider the complexities and dynamics of mental health problems and mental health disorders in an urban environment. UMH is embedded within three faculties of the University of Amsterdam and is unified by the emerging knowledge and skills available from the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Faculty of Science, together with the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS, UvA). This collaboration brings together unique multidisciplinary research teams and stakeholders from the Amsterdam region.

The general emphasis in the 2nd funding period (2024-2028) lies in developing and testing innovative interventions, aimed at different levels operating within an UMH context, i.e., from the individual to small social systems, such as family interventions up to urban level interventions on neighbourhoods, and up to a more global urban level, such as policy interventions. UMH is managed by three directors - prof. dr. Claudi Bockting, prof. dr. Reinout Wiers and dr. Harm Krugers - and is supported by a coordinator and an assistant. Most meetings for UMH are held on Wednesdays at the Institute for Advanced Study in the centre of Amsterdam.

All UMH team members, thus PhD candidates, PostDocs as well as their supervisors, are expected to not only work on their own projects, but to also work on the UMH framework collaboratively, and are expected to prioritise time to participate in weekly UMH sessions at the IAS, such as PhD meetings, PI meetings and Lecture series. The UMH PhD candidate is thus expected to be an active member of the centre and the community associated with the centre.

In the Caring Universities consortium, six universities (UvA, VU, Leiden, Utrecht, Maastricht, Erasmus) and three universities of applied sciences (Avans, Rotterdam, InHolland) work together to understand, prevent and effectively reduce psychological and psychosocial problems in students.

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

Questions?
Do you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact:

• Joram Mul, Assistant professor, j.d.mul@uva.nl

Job application
If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the button below. We accept applications until and including 15 August 2024.

Applications should include the following information (all files besides your cv should be submitted in one single pdf file):

• a detailed CV including the months (not just years) when referring to your education and work experience;
• a letter of motivation;
• the names and email addresses of two references who can provide letters of recommendation.

A knowledge security check can be part of the selection procedure.
(for details: national knowledge security guidelines)

Only complete applications received within the response period via the link below will be considered.

The interviews will be held in the last week of August (online interviews) and the first week of September (on campus interviews) 2024.

The UvA is an equal-opportunity employer. We prioritise diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. We value a spirit of enquiry and perseverance, provide the space to keep asking questions, and promote a culture of curiosity and creativity.

If you encounter Error GBB451, reach out to our HR Department directly. They will gladly help you continue your application.

No agencies please.