Netherlands:PhD positions in Social Sciences at VU University Amsterdam and the University of Antwerp

In the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) of VU University Amsterdam, the PhD Programme is embedded in the Faculty Research Centre CCSS (Centre for Comparative Social Studies). The department of Political Sciences has a PhD position. The other position will be at the University of Antwerp.

Tasks:Both PhD students will conduct research in the context of a collaborative research program that studies recent social policy innovations and developments on social inequality in small, advanced European welfare states.

Traditional welfare states have been evolving towards “activating welfare states” or “social investment states”, emphasizing above all labour market participation as a social goal. What have been the major policy developments in the past decades? What have been the differences in developments in various countries? What are the effects (e.g. in terms of inequality) of such innovations? The PhD student in Antwerp will concentrate on gathering comparative data and on a quantitative analysis of these data. The PhD student in Amsterdam focuses on the comparative analysis of social policy innovations.

Requirements

Applicants should have a (research) Master degree with very good grades in one of the Social Sciences. Applicants must have a demonstrable affinity with doing scientific research and be proficient in written and spoken English. Applicants should be highly motivated, can work well independently as well as in small teams, and have excellent communication and social skills.

Further specifications

Of these two positions one will be posted in Antwerp and one will be employed in Amsterdam. For the one at VU University Amsterdam, a contract of employment is offered initially for a period of 12 months, to be extended to a total period of four years conditional upon a positive evaluation after the first year. The four-year contract period must be concluded with the completion of a doctoral dissertation. Part-time employment is possible (with a minimum of 80%, i.e. 5 years).

Application Deadline 3 August 2010

Read more: http://www.vu.nl/en/employment/index.asp

Posted in: PhD Scholarships