Job description

Your position is part of the project 'ImpFic: The Impact of Fiction'. Within this project we investigate the impact fiction can have on readers. We use a large corpus of electronically available Dutch-language (original and translated) novels and a large collection of online book reviews. The aim of the project is to translate concepts of literary theory about how literature works into a computational form suitable for computational analysis of books and book reviews.

The postdoc we are looking for can operationalise literary concepts in terms of observable or measurable textual characteristics. The main focus of your work will be on the empirical analysis of mood, topic, style, narrative pace and likeability of characters in novels. You will also play an important role in annotating texts to prepare them for Machine Learning. For the computational analysis you will cooperate closely with an eScience engineer based at the Netherlands eScience Center, and researchers in the Huygens Institute. A project description is available on request.

Job requirements
The successful applicant must:
● have a completed PhD in the field of (Dutch) literary studies;
● must have a substantive publishing record;
● have a strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research;
● have good knowledge (C1/C2) of Dutch;
● be well-read in modern fiction;
● have a strong interest in and ideally already experience with quantitative and computational approaches to literary questions.

Fixed-term contract: 27 months.

Terms of employment
Depending on education and experience the minimum salary is EUR 3.974,- and the maximum salary is EUR 5.439,- gross per month for a full-time appointment (scale 11 cao Nederlandse Universiteiten/KNAW). This is exclusive of 8% vacation allowance, 8.3% year-end bonus, travel allowance, internet allowance, home working allowance and pension accrual with ABP. The KNAW offers its staff an excellent package of secondary benefits. A package that meets the different needs of employees depending on their stage of life, lifestyle or career ambitions. For example, by working an extra two hours a week, it is possible to increase the number of days off from 29 to 41 days a year (with full-time employment).

For a complete overview of the terms of employment, please refer to the web page: werken bij de KNAW.

KNAW Humanities Cluster

About the Huygens Institute
The Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands (Huygens ING) is an Academy research institute that studies the history of science, Dutch history and literature. Huygens ING extracts information from historical sources and literary texts, is building a digital infrastructure, and offers searchable online data. It provides an historical context for contemporary issues related to politics and governance, literature, science and society.