All Things Urban

A modern university with a rich history, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) traces its roots back to 1632, when the Golden Age school Athenaeum Illustre was established to train students in trade and philosophy.

The UvA seeks to offer an inspiring international academic environment in which both staff and students can develop their talents optimally. Characterised by a critical, creative and international atmosphere, the UvA has a long tradition of open-mindedness and engagement with social issues, in keeping with the spirit of the city with which it is inextricably linked.

CLEAR (City LivEAbility by Redesign) is an international, transdisciplinary, action orientated research project in which the University of Amsterdam collaborates with the Technical University of Munich, the architecture firm UNstudio and the cities of Amsterdam, Munich, and Milan. It aims at understanding how city street experiments – defied as an intentional, temporary change of a street use, regulation and/or form - can trigger a transition of the urban mobility system towards less motorized transport dominance, and more space for non-motorized transport, and the use of streets as public spaces.

The project is embedded within the EIT Urban Mobility, a program supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and aimed at creating more livable urban spaces. CLEAR has started in July 2019, and is presently planned to last until the end of 2020, with a possibility of being extended further. The contribution of the University of Amsterdam focuses on the development and implementation of a common experimentation framework, and on enabling learning and capacity building between project participants, and between the project and the broader EIT Urban Mobility community. In addition, the University of Amsterdam will more directly support and assess the activities in Amsterdam.

Within the framework of the CLEAR project, the University of Amsterdam/UP group is looking for a junior researcher to support its team to conduct the planned research and learning and capacity enabling activities.

We offer an exciting job opening in a dynamic, trans-disciplinary research team, and a great deal of opportunity to develop research skills, and build networks. While we cannot give this guarantee beforehand, we will strive to make the position into a full-blown PhD, and anyway achieve outputs that can be steppingstones of a future PhD trajectory.

We are looking for a candidate who can:

• support the development of city street experiment set-ups and assessment frameworks;
• support the development and implementation of trans-disciplinary learning and capacity building activities such as workshops and online discussion fora;
• support the development and implementation of online policy design support tools and project data bases;
• co-write internal briefings, project reports and scientific papers;
• maintain contacts with other project partners, and with the City of Amsterdam in particular;
• more directly contribute to the set-up and analysis of city street experiments in Amsterdam.

The candidate:

• has a MA/MSc in Urban Planning, Urban Geography, or Urban Studies; a Research Master degree is especially appreciated, but is no exclusive condition;
• has excellent English and Dutch language skills;
• is thorough, and is able to work to tight deadlines;
• has well developed research skills, both quantitative and qualitative;
• has well developed writing skills;
• is pro-active, able to work both independently and as part of a team;
• has experience/affinity with research on urban mobility, urban planning, and/or urban experimentation;
• has experience/affinity with academic research involving stakeholders from practice;
• has good IT skills (including word, excel, SPSS, PPT). Knowledge of online data collection software is an advantage.

The appointment will be for 12 months, with a probationary period of two months. In the event of prolongation of the project beyond the first year, and satisfactory performance of the employee in the first year, an extension of the contract until the new end of the project will be offered.

Salary depends on past education and relevant work experience, with a minimum salary of €2,709 and maximum salary of €2,972 gross per month based on a full-time appointment for a 38-hour working week (in keeping with scale 10). We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary employee benefits, including a generous holiday scheme and year-end bonus. Because we value your continued personal development and professionalization, we also offer excellent opportunities for study and development. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

We’re not fully sure whether this role is open to international candidates. If you would need visa sponsorship or work authorisation, we recommend checking directly with the employer before applying.