Are you passionate about advancing our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying addictive behaviors and helping to develop and test new interventions?

Is it your ambition to be a part of an international team of researchers?

Are you enthusiastic about intervention development, experimental psychopathology, cognitive processes in relation to addiction or other psychopathology and experience sampling?

We would like to get to know you!

ADAPT (Addiction Development and Psychopathology) lab at the department of Psychology is looking for a PhD Candidate who is interested to join the team.

What are you going to do
The PhD canidates will become part of an international team working on the N.W.O. large grant of Prof. dr. Reinout Wiers (University of Amsterdam).

The project
In a series of studies we have demonstrated that approach bias modification can help people with alcohol use disorders to quit drinking, when added to regular treatment. However, the same intervention does not yield differential effects in online interventions and has limited effects in smoking cessation. Recently a new perspective on the underlying mechanism has been developed, based on inferential processing. Based on this account, the promotor and international collaborators developed a new variety of training, ABC training, which yielded promising initial effects. In this project, this new intervention will be further developed and tested in relation to different addictions (alcohol and cannabis use disorders). ABC-training is personalized and in one project the personalization will be based on Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data. In addition, the reliable assessment of automatically activated action tendencies is an important topic of the project, as is the relationship with motivational processes, triggered by substance-related cues.

The team will consist of the PI, two PhDs and a Postdocs, as well as a large network of collaborators and co-supervisors.

What are you going to do
As a part of this team consisting of national and international researchers, and societal partners, you will play a central role in one of the work packages of this project. You will work on a wide array of research tasks, that include designing and performing empirical studies on the project.

Your tasks will include the following

• Recruiting participants;
• Draft pre-registrations and submit ethics for the studies;
• Conduct data-analysis and prepare results for publications;
• Draft articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals;
• Contribute to the ADAPT Lab and the wider scientific community through collaborations, workshops, presentations/talks, attending conferences.

What do you have to offer
We are looking for a dedicated candidate who is eager to conduct basic research with clinical implications on motivational mechanisms underlying addictions and is excited about making clinical and societal contributions. The candidate must thrive in a collaborative environment that calls for autonomy, creativity, and commitment. Excellent command of statistics and programming is recommended.

Your experience and profile

• You hold a (research) master’s degree in psychology or an associated field. If you completed your master’s degree in the Netherlands, we have a preference for a research master, although this is not a requirement;
• You have strong interest in experimental psychopathology research;
• You have excellent quantitative data-analysis skills or you are interested in acquiring these skills;
• Affinity with Open Science (pre-registrations, sharing data etc.);
• Experience with R and a program used to provide experimental tasks like Python
• You have excellent writing and presentation skills in English;
• You enjoy working in a team of ambitious researchers.

What can we offer you

• A position in which initiative and input are highly valued;
• An enthusiastic and warm team that is open to new colleagues;
• An inspiring academic and international working environment, in the heart of Amsterdam.

The position concerns employment of 38 hours per week for 4 years (or 30,4 hours for approximately 5 years). The initial employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances this term will be extended, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate. Together with you, your supervisors will put together a curriculum that will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events. You will also have the opportunity to teach bachelor’s and master’s students.

Your salary will be €2.872 gross per month in the first year and will increase to €3.670 in the final year, based on full-time employment (38 hours per week) and in keeping with the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities. We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%

The UvA offers excellent possibilities for further professional development and education.

About us
The University of Amsterdam is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest spectrum of degree programmes. It is an intellectual hub with 39,000 students, 6,000 employees and 3,000 doctoral students who are all committed to a culture of inquiring minds.

About the faculty
A challenging work environment with a variety of duties and ample scope for individual initiative and development within an inspiring organization. The social and behavioral sciences play a leading role in addressing the major societal challenges faced by the world, the Netherlands and Amsterdam, now and in the future.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.

Questions
Do you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact:

• Prof. dr. Reinout Wiers, r.wiers@uva.nl

Job application
Do you recognize yourself in the job profile? Then we look forward to receiving your application/motivation letter and resume/CV in one .pdf and will consider them on a rolling basis, by 11 November 2024. We plan to do interviews on Friday November 22, with a possible 2nd round on December 2. We aim for early 2025 as a starting date. Interviews with candidates who live outside of the Netherlands will be held online.

Applications in one bundled .pdf should include:

• a curriculum vitae including publication list;
• a letter of motivation (max 800 words);
• a reference letter.

The UvA is an equal-opportunity employer. We prioritise diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. We value a spirit of enquiry and perseverance, provide the space to keep asking questions, and promote a culture of curiosity and creativity.

No agencies please.

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