FASoS is looking for an Assistant Professor in its Department of Politics, with experience in teaching and research related to Disinformation and European Democracy. This vacancy is part of the SSH Sector Plan on “Education, Citizenship and Democracy”.

You will contribute to the teaching in a variety of BA and MA programs at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, such as the BA programs in European Studies and in Digital Society and the MA programs in European Studies, Research Master European Studies, and European Public Affairs. Teaching tasks include tutoring, coordinating, and lecturing courses as well as supervising internships and BA and MA theses.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is organized like a matrix (https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/fasos-research-institute). You will become part of the Department of Political Science (https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/about-um/faculties/arts-and-social-sciences/departments/department-political-science) as well as the Research Program Politics and Culture in Europe (https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/politics-and-culture-europe). You are expected to develop international research projects and to attract external funding that is related to the faculty’s core research themes.

At the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, teaching and research duties follow the regular division of 60% teaching and management and 40% research. The research time can be extended through external fundraising.

Who are you? 

You will have a PhD degree in political science, international relations, communication and media studies, or another relevant social science discipline with a focus on disinformation and/or democracy in the European context, and willing to explore a future research agenda combining both. Ideally, your focus will be on the problematic of disinformation (fake news) and its role in elections and/or the attempts by the European Union of countering disinformation (including in neighboring countries). The candidate may study the undermining of democracy by anti-democratic forces and authoritarian regimes. This profile could be informed by insights from geopolitics and hybrid security as well as electoral politics and communication and media studies. Quantitative methods are a clear asset.

You are excited to work in an international team to collaborate and attract research grants. Your record of international peer-reviewed academic publications or publications of similar stature is excellent. You have engaged with outreach activities that contributed to relevant public debates. You have a relevant academic and societal network.

You are an experienced and enthusiastic teacher and have demonstrated ability in teaching coordination roles, in course development, and in thesis supervision. You are able to stimulate student learning and to maximize student participation. You have affinity with team-teaching and the teaching philosophy behind our system of Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Experience with teaching in international classrooms is preferable.

You subscribe to the values of academic citizenship. You are a team player and are open to collaborations that may be out of your disciplinary comfort zone.

Fluency in English is a prerequisite (Cambridge English Proficiency, level C2, orally and written). Non-Dutch speaking applicants should be willing to learn Dutch (intermediate level).

Fixed-term contract: 18 months.

What we have to offer

We offer you a fulltime position as Assistant Professor (level 2) in tenure track. Following the new Dutch Collective Labor Agreement (CLA), you will automatically be tenured after 18 months on the condition of a positive evaluation. Remuneration will be according to standard salary levels, depending on relevant work experience. This implies a minimum of € 3.974,-  and a maximum of € 5.439,- gross per month for a full-time appointment of 38 hours per week (salary scale 11 according to Dutch Universities Conditions of Employment). Each year, the standard salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8,3%.

The university’s relocation policy stipulates that you need to move to (the vicinity of) Maastricht. If not already living in Maastricht (or its direct surroundings), you will be eligible for an allowance for moving costs. Other secondary conditions include, for instance, a pension scheme and partially paid parental leave as well as a shared office space.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > About UM > Working at UM.

Starting date: August 15, 2023, which is the beginning of the academic year 2023–2024.

Maastricht University

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 22,000 students and about 5,000 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts 6 faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience. 
For more information, visit www.maastrichtuniversity.nl.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

In the teaching and research at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), we highlight major developments in societies and cultures as they have unfolded during the modern and contemporary eras. We seek to gain understanding of the interrelationships of Europeanization, globalization, scientific and technological development, political change, and cultural innovation. We are interested in how today’s societies cope with these challenges through, amongst others, practices of remembrance, governance techniques, strategies for managing knowledge, technologies, and risks and ways of dealing with diversity and inequality. Yet, understanding our present world is impossible without insight into its past. This is why historical research serves as a key element of our scholarly and educational identity.

FASoS has a very international student body and 42% of our staff comes from abroad. All programs are offered in English. FASoS offers four 3-year BA programs: Arts and Culture, European Studies, Digital Society, and Global Studies. It also offers eight different 1-year MA programs and two 2-year Research Master programs. Research is organized around four programs: Arts, Media, and Culture; and Globalization, Transnationalism, and Development; Politics and Culture in Europe; and Science, Technology and Society Studies. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is housed in the historic city center of Maastricht.