PhD Contentious politics and democratic renewal in sustainability transitions

Job description

This 36 month PhD position is part of the European project Trans4Demo, which seeks to understand and respond to the challenges of populism for just sustainability transitions policy and liberal democratic values in Europe. The project will investigate the role and evolution of different forms of contentious politics (social movements and bottom-up initiatives, subversion, protests, cultural opposition, populist backlash and 'anti-sustainability' mobilizations, party movements) at the intersection of the climate and democracy crises, with a particular focus on their practices and impact on democracy, and on efforts to achieve sustainability transitions. The post-holder will specialise in sustainability transitions theory, and will analyse the cultural and socio-political contexts that shape current discourse on sustainability policy. They will be registered in the Faculty of Science and Engineering (IREES: Integrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society), but will split their time between IREES, with lead supervisor Prof. Paul Upham, and the Faculty of Arts, with co-supervisor Prof. Judith Jansma. Fluency in both Dutch and English are required, as the post-holder will be responsible for the Dutch case studies. Trans4Demo has a start date of 1 January 2025.

Responsibilities and tasks

• To conduct research that results in a dissertation and is in line with the objectives and requirements of the project.
• To organize and execute the data collection and analysis.
• To publish the results of the research in international scientific journals relevant to the sociotechnical transitions community and/or the humanities.
• To present the research findings to fellow scientists and to collaborate as appropriate.
• To provide a limited number of educational activities relating to the academic fields in which the research is situated.

Organisation

The University of Groningen has an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Balanced study and career paths in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 34,000 students and researchers to develop their own individual talents. Belonging to the best research universities in Europe and joining forces with prestigious partner universities and networks, we are truly an international place of knowledge.

The Faculty of Science and Engineering harbours a kaleidoscope of disciplines and research strengths. Our programmes in research and education range from nanomaterials and biomachinery to astronomy, from mathematics to pharmacy, from neurosciences to computer science, and from molecular and evolutionary biology to marine biology.

The Energy and Sustainability Research Institute (ESRIG), in which IREES is based, is a highly multidisciplinary institute performing research on energy and sustainability, including the social sciences.

The Faculty of Arts is a large, dynamic faculty in the heart of the city of Groningen. It has more than 5000 students and 700 staff members, who are working at the frontiers of knowledge every day. The Faculty offers a wide range of degree programmes: 15 Bachelor's programmes and over 35 Master's specialisations. Our research, which is internationally widely acclaimed, covers Archaeology, Cultural Studies, History, International Relations, Language and Literary Studies, Linguistics and Media and Journalism Studies.

Qualifications

• Have a (Research) Master's degree in an environmental social science or humanities discipline or topic that demonstrates an interest in and aptitude for the work described above.
• Have a good academic track record, reflecting affiliation with interdisciplinary research projects.
• Be enthusiastic about writing international publications and a PhD dissertation.
• Have excellent academic English writing skills.
• Be fluent in Dutch.
• Have substantial experience of qualitative research designs.
• Have good social and communication skills and are willing to work with other team members.
• Have good organizational skills and the motivation to organize and realize data collection.
• Have demonstrable competences in conceptual and theoretical capacity, presenting, planning, organizing, and monitoring.
• Have an interest in contributing to environmental social science and humanities teaching.

Organisation

Conditions of employment

The successful candidate will be offered, following the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

• A salary of € 2,872 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,502 gross per month in the final year for a full-time working week.
• A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income.
• An 8.3% year-end bonus.
• A full-time (1.0 FTE) position for one year, with an extension of two years.
• A position for three years; first, you will get a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another two years; extension of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year so that successful completion of the PhD thesis within the contract period is to be expected.

A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of the Faculty of Science and Engineering.