The Department of Demography of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences at the University of Groningen (RUG) is looking for an Assistant Professor Population Studies.

The Faculty of Spatial Sciences consists of 95 members of staff and around a thousand students. We focus on high quality teaching and research in the fields of cultural geography, demography, economic geography, and spatial planning. Our research theme is ‘towards Wellbeing, Innovation and Spatial Transformation’ (tWIST). It is our mission to produce research which is world-leading, distinctive, and policy-relevant. With two Bachelor and eight Master programmes, we provide a wide range of courses within the field.

The Assistant Professor’s teaching and research will be situated in the Department of Demography / Population Research Centre (PRC). The Department of Demography is responsible for the Master Population Studies and contributes to the bachelor programme Human Geography & Planning. The research of the PRC is carried out within the broad theme ‘Population and Wellbeing in Context’. The PRC has a long-standing tradition in population research directed towards issues related to both the Global North and Global South, and applying both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

As an Assistant Professor, you will contribute to teaching, research and co-ordination tasks. Your main teaching tasks will be in Bachelor and Master courses related to population studies, population geography, migration and in supervising Master and/or Bachelor theses. Other teaching tasks could be in quantitative and/or qualitative methods courses, or other geography and/or planning courses, depending on your expertise. To strengthen our team, we are looking for someone with a keen interest (expertise) in population issues in the Global North or Global South, contributing to the research theme ‘Population and Well-Being in Context’. The Assistant Professor will invest 60% of his/her time in teaching and management, and 40% in research (including PhD supervision).

• PhD in demography, population studies, population geography, or in another social science with proven affinity with population issues
• motivation to work in an interdisciplinary team that uses qualitative as well as quantitative methods and works on the Global South as well as the Global North
• experience in various teaching approaches; awareness of and willingness to use the latest innovations in teaching techniques
• possession of a university teaching qualification or preparedness to acquire this qualification within a reasonable timeframe
• ideas on ways to attract students to the Faculty’s Bachelor and Master programmes and willingness to work on this
• willingness to coordinate the Master Population Studies
• proven affinity with the research theme ‘Population and Well-Being in Context’ and willingness to conduct research and supervise PhD students within this theme
• proven skills in qualitative, quantitative and/or mixed research methods
• publications in international peer-reviewed academic journals in the field of population studies
• network of connections in the field of population studies and willingness to invest in external relations and participating in external projects, events and presentations, representing the Faculty and the Department
• willingness to share ideas with, give energy to and invest in colleagues and students
• fluency in English; willingness to acquire knowledge of Dutch (B2-level).

Competencies
• conceptual capacity
• environment orientation
• presenting
• result orientation.

The University of Groningen offers a salary based on qualifications and experience between € 3,475 (scale 11 Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) and € 5,405 (scale 12) gross per month for a full-time position, plus 8% holiday allowance and an annual end-of-year bonus of 8.3%. For more detailed information about working conditions and working with the University of Groningen, please check: https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/

The post will be established for a fixed term period of two years. Towards the end of that period there will be a result- and development interview in order to decide whether the appointment may be made permanent.

The University of Groningen is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive our full consideration. Nevertheless, as we are committed to building a diverse faculty, female applicants and international candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.

Starting date: 1 August 2018

The interviews will be held on April 10 and April 16, 2018.

Application
You may apply for this position until 31 March 23:59 h/ before 1 April 2018 Dutch local time by means of the application form (click on “Apply” below on the advertisement on the university website).

Applications should include:
1. a motivation letter
2. a curriculum vitae including publications or other research output clearly showing your expertise in relevant areas
3. email and telephone contact information of at least two referees.

Only complete applications submitted by the deadline will be taken into consideration.

Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.