Utrecht University’s Strategic Theme
Dynamics of Youth focuses on youth development from conception to early adulthood, connecting science with society to empower children, adolescents, and emerging adults. We are honoured to have appointed the Prince Claus Chair: The Science of Well-Being and Quality of Life Studies in Youth - A Social Justice Perspective. To support this appointment, we are seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher, partly funded by NWO (Dutch Research Council).
Wat ga je doen? In this role, you will combine expertise in research with organisational skills to advance the goals of the Prince Claus Chair (approximately 50-50%). The postdoc position is designed to enhance high-quality academic scholarship and leverage evidence-based research for sustainable societal impact, with a specific focus on well-being and Quality of Life in children and youth.
In the research part, you will play a pivotal role in advancing the strategic and academic objectives of the Prince Claus Chair. The focus of the position will be on promoting well-being and QoL research among youth in the Netherlands, South Africa, and the broader Southern African region. The research adopts a social justice perspective and seeks to understand and address the socio-economic, cultural, and political factors that contribute to disparities in well-being among young people. Therefore, particular emphasis will be placed on identifying social, educational, and policy interventions that not only mitigate adverse outcomes but also actively promote thriving among youth, especially those in low- to middle-income contexts. By integrating a social justice perspective, the research aims to empower marginalised groups and advocate for systemic changes that ensure all young people have equal opportunities to achieve a high QoL.
Approximately half of the time is reserved for research aligned with the PCC’s goals, and half of the time for organisational and project support.
The tasks include:
- developing an integrative research strategy based on a comprehensive review of existing well-being and QoL research related to youth in South Africa and the Netherlands;
- designing and conducting training programmes focusing on research methodologies and approaches to studying well-being and QoL in youth, enhancing the capacity of emerging scholars in this field;
- conceptualising and conducting empirical research projects comparing social indicators status report on the well-being and QoL of children and youth in South Africa and the Netherlands using existing population-level databases. The postdoc will further be involved in the development of research proposals, instrumentation design, sampling, data collection, data analysis and report writing;
- publishing and disseminating research findings to (inter)national academic and stakeholder audiences. The postdoc will further provide editorial assistance in the publication of a book in the Springer Social Indicators Series, focused on quality of life in youth and young people from a social justice perspective.
You will be the first point of contact for these organizational activities and will work closely with the chair holder, the academic director of the strategic theme, and other key stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the chair objectives. Key organisational responsibilities include:
- facilitating international collaboration, for example by organising academic events;
- developing and implementing certification programmes in Youth Development;
- ensuring the impact of research on policy and practice, for example in dialogue with stakeholders and policy makers.