PhD positions 'Talent in the Region'

The Economic Geography Department of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences at the University of Groningen is seeking two PhD candidates within the project Talent in the Region (Talent in de Regio). These positions contribute to our expanding research programme on regional labour market dynamics and address two key questions about the labour market in the (Northern) Netherlands:

1. How can regions ensure that workers develop and maintain the right skills in an increasingly flexible labour market, and how do skill mismatches differ between urban and rural areas?
2. How does technological change, such as the adoption of (generative) AI, affect regional labour demand and the labour market prospects of young people entering the labour market?

What are you going to do?

The first PhD project will focus on changing skill requirements and examine how a skills-based approach can support better labour market matching, career mobility, and more inclusive regional labour markets. The second PhD project will investigate how technological change reshapes regional labour demand and affects the early-career trajectories of recent graduates and young workers, with particular attention to the role of (generative) AI. Detailed project proposals will be developed during the first three months in close cooperation with the supervisory team, leaving room to incorporate the PhD candidates’ own interests and ideas.

The PhD projects sit within the ‘Talent in the Region’ research programme, which is a large research project aiming to further talent development in the North of the Netherlands, with a specific focus on Groningen. A central component of this initiative is the Talentmonitor (www.talentinderegio.com/talentmonitor), an online dashboard designed to inform policymakers, firms, and citizens about local labour-market dynamics, based primarily on individual-level microdata from Statistics Netherlands. As part of your PhD, you will contribute to maintaining and further developing the Talentmonitor, and the analyses you conduct for it will also feed into the academic output of your doctoral thesis.

Although each project has its own thematic focus, we expect close collaboration between the two PhD candidates and with other researchers in the Talent in the Region programme. The supervisory team consists of Prof. Sierdjan Koster, Dr Femke Cnossen and Dr Harm-Jan Rouwendal.

Central tasks include:

• Write a PhD thesis consisting of 4 first-authored articles at the level of international scientific journals, an introduction and a discussion. The thesis will be written in English.

• Maintaining the Talentmonitor in cooperation with the other project members: a system for monitoring talent in the north of the Netherlands by using microdata from Statistics Netherlands.

• Quantitative analysis of various labour market transitions such as school-to-work, work-to-work, or work-to-inactivity, where you will specifically focus on the regional element in these transitions.

• Conduct supportive research activities if applicable such as policy analysis, stakeholder interviews, surveys, focus-groups.

• Presentations at (inter)national conferences as well as to audiences consisting of regional administrators, policy advisors, entrepreneurs etc.

• Contribute to teaching at the faculty, for instance by teaching classes or (co-) supervising research seminars or bachelor theses.

We are looking for a candidate with:

• A (Research) Master’s degree in a field of study relevant to the topic of the project (e.g. geography, economics, labour market studies, demography, sociology) or to be completed in the near future
• Good writing skills and fluency in English; preferably experience in academic writing.
• Passive understanding of Dutch, given the institutional context, the project partners and data sources. Speaking Dutch is not required, but the ability to understand conversations and written materials in Dutch is preferred.
• Strong conceptual thinking with the desire and capacity to relate theoretical topics to practical challenges and solutions, also in policies.
• Excellent skills in quantitative research methods and data handling. Experience in working with large individual level (register) data sets is preferred.
• Strong motivation, good communicative skills in different settings (scientific and in the policy arena), and a proactive and independent work attitude.

• 232 vacation hours per year, based on a 38-hour workweek (1.0 FTE). You can also work more or fewer hours in exchange for more or fewer free hours. For example, with a 40-hour workweek, you save 96 extra free hours, and with a 36-hour workweek, you lose 96 hours.
• End-of-year bonus of 8.3% and 8% holiday allowance.
• Extensive opportunities for personal and professional development.

The Faculty of Spatial Sciences (FRW) is an interdisciplinary faculty that makes a significant impact on societal issues such as climate, broad prosperity, population decline, healthy ageing, and sustainable energy. With approximately 100 staff and over 100 PhD students, we engage daily in up-to-date and relevant teaching and research in the fields of planning, demography, and geography. Through our research programme TRACE (Transformations, Communities, and Environments), we are committed to internationally oriented, interdisciplinary research. With two Bachelor's and seven Master's programmes, the Faculty offers broad educational opportunities to about 1,100 students from around the world. The Faculty of Spatial Sciences plays a crucial role in understanding and shaping the living environment of the future. We work for and with society. Our motto is: we are making places better together. If you would like to learn more, visit rug.nl/frw. 

The PhD researcher will be based in the Department of Economic Geography. The department offers teaching and training at different levels, including the Master’s Programme ‘Economic Geography’ and its specialization ‘Economic Geography: Regional Competitiveness and Trade’. The research agenda of the department focuses on regional aspects of labour market dynamics, well-being and socio-economic disparities, transport and mobility and Real Estate.

Do you have any questions or need more information?

Questions about the content of the job?
Femke Cnossen (Assistant Professor): F.D.Cnossen@rug.nl

Questions about your application process?
Femke Cnossen (Assistant Professor): F.D.Cnossen@rug.nl