PhD Social tipping points and individual consumer choices

Job description

The project is part of the Horizon TealHelix consortium. The goal of the consortium’s overarching project is studying how the consumption of sustainable and safe food products can be stimulated. The specific PhD project is designed to examine the influence of the perception that a tipping point has been reached regarding the consumption of such products. Does this affect consumers’ motivation to change their behavior accordingly? And if so, when, why and how will people change their consumption choices to more sustainable alternatives? And can public policy perhaps leverage insights from this research to further promote the transition to sustainable consumption? These questions will feature prominently in this project.

The tasks of the PhD candidate are

• Conduct research that results in a dissertation and is in line with the objectives and requirements of the project.
• Organize and execute the data collection for the different studies.
• Publish the results of the research in international scientific journals.
• Present the research findings to fellow scientists and developers in the larger project, and collaborate with them.
• Provide a limited number of educational activities at the Psychology department, such as small-scale tutorials and guest lectures, in collaboration with the supervisors.

The University of Groningen is a research university with a global outlook, deeply rooted in Groningen, City of Talent. Quality has had top priority for four hundred years, and with success: the University is currently in or around the top 100 on several influential ranking lists.

The Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences excels in teaching and research in the fields of human behaviour, thinking, learning, and how people live together. We work on societal issues and problems that people experience in daily life. Central to this is individual and societal resilience and how to increase this. To this end, we focus on the topics of migration, the environment and climate, health, upbringing and education, the protection of vulnerable minorities, and sustainable partnerships. The Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences employs over 650 staff members.

The project will be jointly supervised by Dr Kai Epstude (Social Psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences) and Prof. Bob Fennis (Marketing, Faculty of Economics and Business).

Qualifications

For this position you are expected to

• Have a (research) Master's degree in (social) psychology or marketing.
• Have a good academic track record.
• Be enthusiastic about writing international publications and a dissertation.
• Have good academic English writing skills.
• Have good social and communication skills and are willing to work with other team members.
• Be enthusiastic about translating scientific insights into practical guidelines and advice.
• Have good organizational skills and the motivation to organize and realize data collection.
• Have demonstrable competences as conceptual capacity, presenting, planning and organizing and monitoring.
• Have an interest in the link between psychology and marketing.
• Have an interest in the latest developments regarding open research practices.

Organisation

Conditions of employment

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities

• A salary of € 2,770 gross per month in the first year of the appointment, rising to € 3,539 gross per month in the fourth year for a full-time position. The position is classified in accordance with the University Job Classification (UFO) system; the UFO profile is PhD candidate.
• A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income an 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance.
• Attractive secondary terms of employment.
• A temporary employment of 1.0 FTE for a period of four years. You will first be employed for a period of one year. After a positive result and development interview, the contract will be extended for the remaining period of three years.

Intended starting date: 1 september, 2024