All Things Urban

The Urban Futures Studio of the Utrecht University is devoted to the study of positive urban futures and of ways to get there. We investigate what we call ‘Techniques of Futuring’. We are a transdisciplinary institute; we conduct empirical research on existing practices, but also help to initiate experiments. We are convinced that new thinking starts in ‘crossovers’ between distinct disciplines, and in coalitions of new and old agents of change.

As a Postdoctoral Researcher, you will contribute to further develop the Urban Futures Studio into an academically innovative and societally relevant institute. Your academic work will deliver cutting-edge and innovative academic insights intertwined with collaborating in new transformative policy practices. You are responsible for studying existing ‘performances’ and techniques of ‘futuring’ that constitute the engagement of cities with their future, and conceive of ways in which to improve the transformative capacity of cities, partly via the design of experiments in the Urban Futures Studio. Candidates bring relevant disciplinary knowledge and look forward to operating in a creative and interdisciplinary climate. We have a particular interest in candidates who combine an understanding of urban issues with knowledge from fields like design science, Science and Technology Studies (STS), public policy, discourse analysis, urban planning, social psychology or governance. You are expected to report your findings in ways both appealing to a wider audience (e.g. short videos, blog posts, presentations, one-pagers) and academic contributions (e.g. peer-reviewed articles). Besides your academic work, you will also be involved in the (horizontal) management of the Urban Futures Studio and organizational tasks. Candidates are expected to contribute to teaching topics related to the Urban Futures Studio (up to a maximum of 0.2 FTE). For the communication with policymakers, proficiency in Dutch is strongly preferred.

The candidate is expected to have: - a PhD in a relevant Social Science discipline including Urban Studies, Policy Science, Political Science, Planning, Science & Technology Studies, Psychology or Sociology, or a design discipline such as Architecture or Urban Design; - excellent track record and research skills relative to experience; - excellent academic writing and presentation skills; - shown ability to publish in high quality academic journals; - the ability to work both independently and as part of a team; - an interest in setting up organizational experiments; - proficiency in English requires and in Dutch strongly preferred; - a pro-active attitude and excellent communication and collaborative skills; - experience in interdisciplinary work, design thinking and societal challenges is considered an advantage.

You will be offered a full-time Postdoc position (1.0 FTE), initially for a period of one year. Upon good performance, the contract will be extended for another three years (four years in total). The gross salary - depending on previous qualifications and experience - ranges between €2,640 and €4,166 (scale 10 according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) gross per month for a full-time employment. Salaries are supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8 % and a year-end bonus of 8.3 % per year. We offer a pension scheme, (partly paid) parental leave, collective insurance schemes and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). More information is available at: working at Utrecht University.

€2,640 – €4,166

This job is available for international candidates.