The Plant

The PLANT: Playground and Laboratory for New Technologies is the new infrastructure at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), opening in January 2023. The mission of the PLANT is to support FASoS staff and students in engaging with technologies and to open up new societally relevant research and teaching paths, through collaboration, exchange, and experimentation. The PLANT will add to the digital infrastructure at Maastricht University (UM) by catering to needs that are specific to the humanities and social sciences, while also fostering groundbreaking interdisciplinary research and education: group-based and technology-oriented with diverse and atypical outputs, including but not limited to podcasts, (online) digital exhibitions and collections, videos, datasets, interactive 2D/3D visualisations, databases, prototypes, and software. The PLANT will also support current and future efforts in the areas of Open Science, data management, FAIR data and data-related ethical and legal requirements.

As a Creative Lab Technologist, you will:

• Create ‘playgrounds’ to allow colleagues and students to make effective use of technology in research and education;
• Manage the day-to-today operations of the PLANT, including maintenance of hardware and software (e.g., licenses, updating, installing images etc.);
• Have close collaboration with Central IT on software/hardware use and management and maintenance of the PLANT;
• Contribute or take the lead with the organisation and facilitation of workshops, consultation sessions, and training events;
• Stay educated on latest trends and practices across state-of-the-art software development and new technologies and methodologies;
• Be aware of issues around software security and GDPR;
• Act as a bridge between academic faculty and technical staff;
• Work together with the PLANT’s Executive Cooperative Group in order to maintain a relevant portfolio.

What we are looking for:

• Candidates with Master’s/PhD degree in Digital Humanities, Creative Media, or related specialism or HBO degree (vocational education) with proven affinity in Social Sciences and Humanities. Experience in a similar setting is considered a plus;
• Passion for existing and emerging technologies;
• Ability to conceptualise, ideate, prototype, design, and build creative solutions in close collaboration with researchers and professionals in the humanities and social sciences;
• Ability to participate in and facilitate workshops that highlight how technologies can be effectively used in research and education;
• A keen interest in problem solving and a willingness to upskill and learn new technical knowledge and skills;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and a willingness to work closely with faculty colleagues and stakeholders outside the faculty, including the Maastricht University IT Department;
• Work experience and/or background with one or more of the following: hands-on coding skills, digital and physical prototyping, UI/UX design, Web3D and metaverse enabling technologies (e.g., AR/VR), IoT/Edge computing, 3D printing, digital storytelling, digitisation, XML technologies, mapping, media art, microelectronics, smartphone apps, human-computer interaction; agile/scrum methodology;
• Excellent writing and presentation skills in English.

You stand out if you have:

• Familiarity with Design Thinking and Human-Centred Design;
• Experience working with diverse stakeholders;
• Experience in Business development.

Fixed-term contract: 1 year, with opportunity to extend.

We offer a dynamic and challenging job in an internationally oriented organisation where people receive an advanced education and scholars conduct exciting research.

Specifically, we offer a 1,0 fte appointment for 1 year. Thereafter, in case of good performance and equal prospects for the faculty, a tenure appointment will be offered.

Remuneration will be according to standard salary levels, depending on education and relevant work experience, in salary scale 9 or 10 (between 3.098,00 and a maximum of
€ 4.670,00  gross per month, based on a fulltime appointment) according to the collective labour agreement (CAO) of Dutch Universities (UFO-Profile Consultant ICT 3 - A preliminary scale might apply in case you have yet to develop certain professional skills).

Each year the standard salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%. Other secondary conditions include e.g. a pension scheme and partially paid parental leave, up to 40 days off per year for full-time employment, bicycle plan and other attractive and contemporary conditions.

You have to be willing to move to (the vicinity of) Maastricht. If you do not already live in Maastricht (or its direct surroundings), you will be eligible for an allowance for moving costs. If you do not already live in Maastricht (or its direct surroundings), you might be eligible for an allowance for alternative housing.

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.

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.

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 Europeanisation, globalisation, 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 ca. 270 staff members and ca. 1,730 students. More than 77% of our students are non-Dutch (65 different nationalities) and 42% of our staff comes from abroad. All programmes are offered in English. FASoS offers four 3-year Bachelor’s programmes: Arts and Culture, European Studies, Digital Society, and Global Studies. It also offers eight different 1-year MA programmes and two 2-year ReMA programmes. Research is organised around four programmes: Politics and Culture in Europe; Science, Technology and Society Studies; Arts, Media and Culture; and Globalisation, Transnationalism and Development. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is housed in the historic city centre of Maastricht.

Further information on the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is available on our website: www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/fasos.