GenAI is rapidly changing work, and predictions about job losses have reached newspaper headlines. Current debates on GenAI and work are typically framed around its consequences for jobs, though without empirically grounded research into both GenAI’s development and its implications for organizations and professionals. GenAI systems that are currently being developed and rolled out in organizations are crucially different from prior AI systems, bringing about novel risks for organizations, knowledge work, interactions and collaboration.

Through ethnographic studies we will reveal how GenAI reconfigures professionals’ work practices, interactions and relationships as well as how GenAI reshapes organizational structures. The project will contribute to theories of technology’s role in knowledge, professional and organizational change.

Your duties
The PhD student will conduct theoretical and empirical research on the (un)intended consequences of GenAI on group and organizational level, including studying themes such as GenAI’s impact on work practices, professionals’ interactions and relationships within the organization, management and organizational responsibilities and organizational structures.

The PhD student will give a modest contribution to the Department’s teaching programme, with the opportunity to obtain a basic qualification teaching certificate (shortened BKO).

Requirements

• motivated to do high quality research with the aim of publishing top level articles for both an organizational science and practitioner audience
• communication skills required to collaborate with industry partner(s)
• academic writing skills
• high proficiency English language; Dutch proficiency (or willingness to learn)
• preferred research master or MSc in business administration, sociology, anthropology, or equivalent
• proven expertise in qualitative research methods e.g. ethnography, interviews, and observations

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• a salary of € 2.770,00 (PhD) and maximum € 3.539,00 (PhD) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment
• an employment contract of initially one year. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and arrangements. Some examples:

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• contribution to commuting expenses
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package
• solid pension scheme (ABP)

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

School of Business and Economics
We at the School of Business and Economics (SBE) at VU Amsterdam bring together socially relevant teaching and research in the areas of business administration and economics. We focus on real-life issues that have a huge impact on society, economics and ecology: from robotics to big data, and from job market participation to change management.

Collaboration and cooperation, transparency and social responsibility are four keywords that embody our approach. Students, researchers and staff at SBE share real-world knowledge in order to devise solutions together to global economic and social challenges. In order to make a positive impact on the world, society and the lives of others.

Are you interested in joining SBE? You will work in a stimulating, dynamic and international environment with motivated colleagues dedicated to helping society make informed choices. SBE employs roughly 600 staff, with 7,250 students enrolled in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes and 1,700 executive students.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely. - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of the VU. The VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.