Junior Researcher in Economic Geography (0.8-1.0 FTE)

The Faculty of Spatial Sciences consists of approximately 100 members of staff, 100 PhD students and around 1000 undergraduate students. We focus on high quality teaching and research in the fields of social and economic geography, demography, and spatial planning. With a single collective research theme of 'towards Wellbeing, Innovation and Spatial Transformation' (tWIST), it is our mission to produce research which is world-leading, distinctive, and policy-relevant. With two bachelor and eight master programmes, we provide a wide range of courses within the fields of geography and spatial sciences.

You will be based in the Department of Economic Geography. The department offers teaching and training at different levels, including the Master’s Programme ‘Economic Geography’ and its specialization ‘Economic Geography: Regional Competitiveness and Trade’. The research agenda of the department focuses on regional aspects of labour market dynamics and entrepreneurship, well-being and socio-economic disparities, transport and mobility and Real Estate. The department has about 20 members of staff and 25 PhD researchers. Worldwide, the University of Groningen is the third largest centre in regional economic research.

The department of Economic Geography in the Faculty of Spatial Sciences is looking for a versatile junior researcher. The junior researcher will contribute to ongoing research projects in the department of Economic Geography, often commissioned by regional or national governments. The projects can vary thematically but they are typically related to issues of regional socio-economic development, entrepreneurship and labour market dynamics. The main tasks will be gathering, preparing, managing and analyzing empirical data used in these projects. In addition, the junior researcher may participate in the write-up and presentation of the project outcomes. These may be in the form of presentations, research reports, but can also be scientific publications.

Also, the Junior Researcher can contribute to the development of grant proposals. The main tasks will be to process information about the application process and conditions as well as developing the conceptual arguments in the proposal itself (writing a literature review, for example). If appropriate, the junior researcher will contribute to the write-up and coordination of the proposal. Importantly, if interested and possible, developing a personal PhD grant application is also an opportunity in the position.
Finally, the junior researcher is envisioned to assist in the revision of a course book on Economic Geography. This will mainly involve finding supporting literature, relevant case-studies and data preparation for illustrations.

The position allows you to explore different aspects of the practice of scientific research, while working in an experienced research team. As such, the one-year position can be a great stepping-stone for a PhD-position, although this is not a goal in and of itself.

We invite candidates to apply who have:

• an MSc degree (or near completion) in Economic Geography, Real Estate Studies, Human Geography, Economics, Sociology, Planning or related
• a keen interest in issues of regional socio-economic development, including for example entrepreneurship, innovation, labour market dynamics and/or real estate
• a versatile researcher with well-developed skills in quantitative methods and experience with working with large datasets. Experience with GIS and statistical software is preferred
• a pro-active work attitude and the ability to cooperate in a project team
• good writing and presentation skills
• an excellent command of English. A passive understanding of Dutch is preferred
• a great curiosity and enthusiasm for research.

Your Competences:

• analytical and conceptual thinking
• creativity
• planning and organizing
• presenting.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

• a salary dependent on qualifications and work experience of € 2,960 gross per month (salary scale 10.0) for a full-time position. This position is defined according to the UFO function profile 'researcher 4'. The appointment is temporary for a period of 12 months.

Starting date is September 1st 2022

For information you can contact:

Sierdjan Koster,   [email protected]

(please do not use the email addresses above for applications)