The Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences is intensifying research in the fields of urban greening and sustainability initiatives, which are core pillar themes within research, education and impact/engagement. Are you a social scientist with a PhD degree, come join our school as a postdoctoral researcher. At Erasmus University Rotterdam we offer interdisciplinary and engagement-driven research and education in a dynamic and inspiring working environment.

Job description
As a postdoc researcher will be contributing to the Europeand project, research and engagement/impact in the area of urban greening and sustainability initiatives, with the city of Rotterdam, district Oud Mathenesse as a special target area. Like cities across Europe, Rotterdam is facing significant environmental challenges. As a port city, Rotterdam has numerous, linked water challenges: a decrease in soil sealing, rising water levels, a year-on-year increase in rainfall, all of which have resulted in significant risks and impacts, like a continual decline in the quantity and variety of native flora and fauna in urban surroundings.

Rotterdam aspires to develop more and more effective green space to address and cope with environmental challenges. Furthermore, from the population perspective, residents in numerous districts are underserved by public green space and there an increasing need for such space due to an expanding population. However, with 60% of land being privately owned, the ability of traditional public greening approaches to generate sufficient impact is limited. The greening approach needs to go beyond traditional policy approaches, and needs to be more collaborative and inclusive, opening opportunity for participation and community initiatives by (groups of) residensts and private owners Thus, the project “Greening Without Borders” takes an integrative, holistic and neighborhood approach, focusing on both the public-private land challenge and the need for a fully integrated solution that addresses the interlinked environmental, social and economic factors at play.

The postdoctoral research is embedded in the European project “Greening without Borders” and will be specicailly focused on monitoring the whole research project regarding the social, economic and environment approach and impact of the project in the neigborhood Oud Mathenesse, city Rotterdam. The project will be designed and implementated in close collaboration with residents of the neighborhood and the city government of Rotterdam. The collaborative aspect will therefore also be an important part of the monitoring.

The core tasks of the postdoc researcher include:

• Participating in the European Project “Greening without Borders” from a social and behavorial sciences perspective, with close attention to inclusion of (social, economic, environmental) values of the residents and other stakeholders.
• Monitoring of the social, economic and environmental values and aspects to developing greening ambitions and initiatives for the neighbourhood.
• Participating in teaching in one or more of our programs at Bachelor’s and Master’s level at the department of public administration and sociology (DPAS). Teaching involves individual supervision of research internships and theses and workgroups.
• Participating in the research programs of the school as well in the team of Governance & Pluralism in the department.
• Publishing research findings in (high impact) international scientific journals.
• Contributing to and developing further the collaboration with actors in the city and region of Rotterdam.

The following job requirements apply:

• A PhD degree in a relevant discipline (Public Administration, Sociology, Social Psychology, or related).
• Preferably experience with both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Experience with and committed to engaged, impact-driven research, especially community-driven research and action research.
• Experience with project and program monitoring and evaluation.
• Familiar with the literature on program evaluation and monitoring tools, urban greening, community-based research approach and urban governance.
• Ability to, and preferably experience with, acquire external research funding.
• Motivated to contribute to open and responsivle science.
• Excellent communication skills, team player, development-oriented.
• Experience with interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research.
• Excellent proficiency in Dutch and English (both at least at level C1 of the Common European Framework).

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 1 December 2024 (but can also be a bit later) and you will be based at Campus Woudestein, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB). This position is for 0.70 FTE. The salary is dependent on your experience and knowledge and ranges from a minimum of € 4.492 to a maximum of € 6.148 gross per month, scale 11 on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is entered into for the duration of 1 year and can be extended with 2 years if performance is good and the organizational circumstances remain unchanged.

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 or QuEUR.
• Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget 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 (daycare not paid for by EUR).
• 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 4.100 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.

Faculty / Institute / Central service
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 such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL). 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 encompasses the disciplines Public Administration and Sociology: two related scientific fields each with a unique profile. Public Administration studies governance capacity and policy interventions. It focuses on institutional power to organize and intervene in the relations between different social, political and economic actors. Public Administration in Rotterdam goes far beyond the public realm to also pay attention to public-private cooperation and the networks of organizations. Sociology investigates the social structures of societies and the way these evolve. Sociologists in Rotterdam focus, inter alia, on processes of globalization and individualization, and the effects of these processes on international social relations, the labor market and family relations. Social issues that are studied under this banner include 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 master programs of DPAS are built on this profile and develop students into scientifically schooled professionals.

Department
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (ESSB) has a team-based structure. The Department of Public Administration and Sociology (DPAS) works with four teams, of which Governance & Pluralism (GoPlu) is one. Our team has about 55 members now. We study complex, multi-value, and multilevel issues regarding a wide variety of societal challenges. GoPlu takes the pluriform nature of societal issues as a given and therefore approaches these multi-value issues from various social groups, lifestyles, and identities. We investigate how these complex societal issues can be dealt with by various modes of governance, like public-private partnerships, public sector collaborations, community-based initiatives, triple helix partnerships, and the like. The work of our team is highly valued by (inter)national peers, civil society, policymakers, and governments, expressed by their visibility in design, impact and academic research projects and programs.

Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained by contacting prof.dr. Jurian Edelenbos (edelenbos@essb.eur.nl).