Postdoctoral Position Foreign Fighters in Ukraine

Postdoctoral Position Foreign Fighters in Ukraine
Postdoctoral Position Foreign Fighters in Ukraine

Published	Deadline	Location
yesterday	24 Apr	Amsterdam

Job description
The Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH) currently has a vacant Postdoc researcher position as part of the Dutch National Research Agenda (Nationale Wetenschapsagenda, NWA)-funded project Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: Mobilisations, Combat experiences, and Return trajectories, led by main researchers Dr Samuël Kruizinga (UvA) and Dr Elanie Rodermond (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/NSCR). ASH is one of the five Research Schools within the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research .
What are you going to do?
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, thousands of volunteer "foreign fighters" - including an unknown number of Dutchmen - have joined Ukraine's International Legion. The research project Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: Mobilisations, Combat experiences, and Return trajectories' central aim is to study both foreign fighting generally and increase our understanding of the International Legion specifically. Specifically, it aims to ascertain how the unique Ukrainian battlespace and the (social) media landscape shape mobilisations, combat experiences, and return trajectories of this iteration of the foreign fighter phenomenon.
You will, on the basis of currently available, but disparate historical data sets on foreign fighters in the 19th and 20th century, as well as contemporary information on returning Islamic State volunteers, set up hypotheses related to this project's central aim. Then you will test these by making creative use of contemporary open sources on foreign fighter involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war, including social media posts. Crucially, you will contact and then interview actual, potential and/or returning Dutch members of the International Legion.
Your research will be indispensable in increasing policy makers' as well as mental health and legal experts' ability to understand the ramifications of foreign fighting on both systemic and personal levels. Societal stakeholders in the overall project are ARQ Nationaal Psychotrauma Centrum, the Dutch national centre for specialist diagnostics and treatment of people with complex psychotraumatic complaints, ARQ Kenniscentrum Oorlog, Vervolging en Geweld, the prime Dutch knowledge centre for research on the psychosocial impact of war on individuals and society, the T.M.C. Asser Institute, which specialises in international (humanitarian) law and operates at the interface of academia, legal practice and governance, and the Nederlands Veteraneninstituut, which promotes the social recognition of combat veterans, and has expertise in and developed a working methodology for sensitive, post-mission interviews with combat veterans. Together with these stakeholders and project leaders Kruizinga and Rodermond you will contribute to a workshop to be organized by all subproject partners to bring together historical, legal, psychological, psychiatric, political and social science, experiential and government perspectives on foreign fighting in Ukraine and beyond; to a joint policy brief resulting from the workshop designed to disseminate public knowledge and influence policy; and to a podcast on foreign fighting.
Your tasks and responsibilities:

• participating in meetings with the project leads and partners;
• conducting research, presenting intermediate research results at workshops and conferences and publishing a single-authored, peer reviewed article;
• co-organising knowledge dissemination activities (workshop, policy brief, podcast).

Specifications

• max. 26.6 hours per week
• max. €3703 per month
• Amsterdam View on Google Maps

University of Amsterdam (UvA)

Requirements
We are looking for a team player with a research interest in the lived experiences of volunteers, who enjoys the challenges of new research areas and formats, relishes working within an interdisciplinary team, and is interested in communicating results to both various scientific communities and to a wider public.
Your experience and profile:

• a PhD in history, criminology, anthropology, law, or related fields;
• a strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research;
• experience with semi-structured interviews in research settings;
• near-native command of Dutch (required for the interviews) and English.
• research interests related to foreign fighting, either in the past or the present;
• excellent qualitative research skills demonstrated by a track record of publishing in high-ranking journals and/or with leading presses or a demonstrable capacity to develop such a record;
• enthusiasm for communicating academic research to non-academic audiences.

Conditions of employment
The Postdoc researcher will be appointed at the Department of History, European Studies and Religious Studies of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam and will conduct the research in Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH). The employment contract is for one year and 26.6 hours a week (= 0.7 fte). Preferred starting date is either 01 June 2023 or 1 September 2023 depending on the availability of the selected candidate.
The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and relevant experience, ranges between € 3.703 to € 5.439. This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8,3% year-end allowance. A favourable tax agreement, the '30% ruling', may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.
What else do we offer?

• excellent possibilities for further professional development and education;
• an enthusiastic, inspiring and professional academic team;
• the opportunity to collaborate with leading researchers at research institutes that - partly as a result of their interdisciplinary approach - are world renowned.

Employer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Amsterdam is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 42,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.
The Faculty of Humanities provides education and conducts research with a strong international profile in a large number of disciplines in de field of language and culture. Located in the heart of Amsterdam, the faculty maintains close ties with many cultural institutes in the capital city. Research and teaching staff focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and are active in several teaching programmes.
Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.
Additional information
Do you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact (during office hours):

• Dr Samuël Kruizinga

T: +31 20 5257733
Working at UvA

The University of Amsterdam is ambitious, creative and committed: a leader in international science and a partner in innovation, the UvA has been inspiring generations since 1632.

Learn more

Apply for this job
Apply for this job

This application process is managed by the employer (University of Amsterdam (UvA)). Please contact the employer for questions regarding your application.

Apply for this job via the employer's website
Thank you for applying

Please contact the employer for questions regarding your application.

Tip: save this job as favorite in your AcademicTransfer account. This gives you an immediate overview and makes it easy to find the job later on. No account yet? Create it now and take advantage of other useful functionalities too!

Back to the vacancy
Application procedure
If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the link below. The deadline for applying for this vacancy is 24 April 2023.
Applications should include the following information (submitted in one .pdf):

• a letter of motivation;
• a full academic CV, including a list of publications;
• the names and contact details of two references who may be approached by the selection committee.

Only complete applications received within the response period via the link below will be considered.
The interviews will be held in the course of May 2023.