PhD Position: Colonial Environmental History (19th-century Dutch East Indies)

Join our team historians as a PhD researcher with a project on the role of the environment in Dutch colonial projects in 19th century Indonesia.

Wat ga je doen?

As a PhD candidate, you will be working on a project titled “Conservation before conservationism: Resilient environments in Dutch East Indies in the 19th century” funded by the PhD Programme Faculty of Humanities. This project explores the introduction and development of the system of plantation and enforced labour – known as the Cultivation System – on the island of Java under Dutch rule between 1830 and 1870. You are expected to compare environments that were transformed by such system and environments that resisted to it, and identify key factors able to explain the differentiated output. The overarching goal of the project is to look at local-imperial dynamics and find out strategies that determined the non-transformation of Indonesian nature.

You will:

• conduct research within the period of appointment in the Netherlands as well as at archives and libraries in Indonesia;
• complete the dissertation within the period of appointment;
• be encouraged to publish at least one peer-reviewed journal article and/or book chapter;
• publish peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters;
• help with the organisation of workshops;
• participate in project meetings and closely collaborate with the other members of the research team;
• collaborate with environmental and colonial history within and outside UU;
• present research findings at national and international workshops and conferences;
• collaborate with societal partners.

Wat breng je mee?

General qualifications:

• You hold a Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. nineteenth-century Dutch history, environmental history, environmental studies, imperial history, the history of Southeast Asia, etc.) at the time of appointment.
• You have a good command of spoken and written English.
• You have a good command of written Dutch.
• You are flexible to travel for this position.
• You are able to work independently and in a team, be innovative and creative.
• It is considered an asset if you have an interest in developing language skills in Bahasa Indonesia or if you already have a basic/good command of written Bahasa Indonesia.

Wat bieden wij?

We offer:

• a position for four years;
• a working week of 38 hours and a gross monthly salary between €2,770 and €3,539 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.