Local governments often collaborate in regional intergovernmental cooperations in order to efficiently provide public services and effectively tackle societal challenges. Regional intergovernmental cooperations are used to implement the energy transition, create climate adaptability, provide healthcare, and collect garbage. Characteristically, these cooperations operate in a contested environment, with multiple principals, different target audiences, diverging political interests, and contested responsibilities. This raises questions about how these collaborations interact and collaborate with their principals (municipalities) and about whether and how these collaborations are responsive to the public they aim to serve.

Job description
In this four-year PhD-project, you will study how, and to what extent, regional intergovernmental cooperations are responsive to their principals and to citizens. The project consists of several sub-studies aimed to disentangle the various responsiveness relations of regional cooperations. You will use both qualitative and quantitative research methods such as a systematic literature review, qualitative-comparative analysis (QCA), Survey’s and (Survey)experiments. The results of this research will be used to write a doctoral dissertation consisting of several academic research articles and an essay(s) for a broader interested public.

This project is funded by the Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) in collaboration with the Netherlands School of Public Administration (NSOB). You will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team from both research institutions.

• You have obtained a (research) master’s degree in public administration and/or public management or related relevant social sciences discipline;
• an affinity with, and ambition to develop, scientific research on regional intergovernmental collaborations, organizational responsiveness and/or citizen-state interactions in the context of municipal collaborations;
• experience with conducting qualitative and/or quantitative research;
• interest in and affinity with pursing societal impact by communicating scientific insights to practice.
• Excellent spoken and written proficiency in Dutch and English.
• The capacity to work both independently and collaboratively in research and teaching teams;
• A willingness to contribute to the educational programs of the department of public administration and Sociology (DPAS) at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB), and a motivation to further develop your teaching competences.

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is March 2024 and you will be based at Campus Woudestein in Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB). This position is for 1 fte. The salary ranges from a minimum of € 2.770 to a maximum of € 3.539 gross per month (scale PhD) on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is entered into for the duration of 1 year (with option to extend plus 3 years).

Everything else we offer you, you can find below!

• Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!
• Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME, QuEUR, or Young Erasmus Academy.
• Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget, foreign exchange opportunities with most costs paid by EUR, and free access to our university library.
• Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.
• Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare.
• Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the 30%-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 3.700 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB)
The Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences is home to a vast diversity of scientific disciplines: public administration, pedagogical sciences, psychology and sociology. In addition, the Erasmus University College, IHS, and two research institutes RISBO and DRIFT are linked to the faculty. This also reflects in the content of the (international) bachelor's and master's programs and in research. Our activities are always focused on people and society. At the ESSB fundamental, internationally oriented research is of paramount importance. In addition, social research for professionals, policy makers, and the society is part of our research activities. ESSB offers a stimulating research environment where major national and international research grants are received. Appealing guest researchers and ambitious PhD candidates come along to conduct their research. Our education is small-scale and works with innovative forms of education. Both the Dutch and English programs are highly ranked by students and alumni. ESSB is home to over 4000 students and more than 400 staff-members. The different disciplines are supported by the Faculty Office (for more information, please visit www.eur.nl/essb).

Department of Public Administration and Sociology (DPAS)

DPAS covers the disciplines of Public Administration and Sociology. Two related scientific fields with different profiles. Public Administration studies governance capacity and policy interventions. It focuses on the institutional power to organize and intervene in the relations between different social, political and economic actors. Public Administration in Rotterdam goes well beyond the public realm itself and pays attention to public-private cooperation and networks of organizations. Sociology investigates the social structure of societies and the way it evolves. Sociologists in Rotterdam focus among other things on processes of globalization and individualization and on the effects of these processes on international social relations, the labor market or family relations. Related social problems that are studied are migration, flexibilization and solidarity. The perspectives of Public Administration and Sociology complement each other. Together they guarantee a highly relevant and scientific approach to topical administrative and social issues. The bachelor- and masterprogrammes of DPAS are build on this profile and educate students to become scientifically schooled professionals.

Team Organization & Management (O&M)
The Organization & Management team consists of about 25 lecturers and researchers who teach and research topics such as executive agencies, interorganizational collaboration, financial management and procurement, HR policies, change management, leadership, innovation, and integrity. We train students in the bachelors Public Administration and MISOC, and three different master's specializations: Public Management, Management of HR and Change, and Labor Organization and Management. We also conduct research on the aforementioned topics, using a variety of research methods, from qualitative case studies to large-scale surveys and behavioral experiments. We advise organizations on their internal management, innovations and the improvement of (public) services. For more information see https://www.eur.nl/en/essb/information/researchers/research-themes/organisations-work-and-people