Postdoctoral Researcher: Complexity Science-Based Adaptive Pandemic Management Project (0.8 - 1.0 FTE)

Updated: over 2 years ago
Deadline: The position may have been removed or expired!

  • Employment: 0.8 - 1.0 FTE
  • Gross monthly salary: € 2,836 - € 4,474
  • Nijmegen School of Management
  • Required background: PhD
  • Application deadline: 12 September 2021

During the COVID-19 crisis, pandemic management proved highly complex because of strongly interacting centralised and decentralised decision making in combination with having multiple incommensurate goals (physical health, mental health, economy, etc.). This unavoidably resulted in uncertainty about health care effects and lowering societal resilience. In this NWO funded project we will apply complexity science methods to create an improved, more resilient management strategy in four directly linked work packages (WP):

            WP I. data-driven multi-domain resilience operationalisation;

            WP II. group model building;

            WP III. computational modelling;

            WP IV. 'flight simulator'-based scenario workshops on adaptive decision making.

Having policy makers participate in group model building and pandemic simulations should result in proof-of-principle testing of adaptive pandemic management to improve handling uncertain and multi-domain effects. For each of the four work packages we offer a two-year postdoctoral researcher position. The project is supervised by a highly interdisciplinary study group with scientists from complexity science, medical microbiology, management and computational science.

Are you as intrigued as we are by this opportunity to study and improve societal resilience and overall management in future pandemics and in the interdisciplinary application of modern methods of epidemiology, management science and computational modelling, and in bridging the gap between science and centralised/decentralised policy making? Are you interested in research on the interacting societal domains of health care, finances and education, characterised by their complexity, uncertainty and interactions between decentralised and centralised decision making? As the future of medicine and society is determined by complex, interdisciplinary problems, we offer you the challenge to work at the forefront of relevant research using complexity science methods suitable to undertake these challenges.

Tasks of the postdoctoral researcher in WP II:

  • Conducting group model building sessions, i.e. co-developing causal loop diagrams (CLDs) in collaboration with stakeholders and experts.
  • Quantification of interactions and parameters in annotated CLDs and linked models.

Profile
  • A PhD degree in operational research, decision support or a related discipline.
  • Proficiency in English language as well as Dutch (level B2), because of the close relation with policymakers and the need to work with Dutch (meta data) databases.
  • Experience with facilitated modelling (e.g. anticipating and handling conflict, explaining, providing feedback, synthesising; systems thinking, visualisation).
  • Affinity with multidisciplinary research.
  • Project management skills, flexibility, proactive behaviour, and excellent academic writing skills.
  • An interest in qualitative and quantitative system dynamics and behavioural operational research.
  • Stakeholder management skills.
  • A team player mentality.

We are

The Nijmegen School of Management (NSM) is an academic centre of research and higher education, focusing on institutional and managerial issues within complex organisations. There are seven disciplines within NSM: Business Administration, Public Administration, Political Science, Economics and Business Economics, Social and Political Sciences of the Environment, Human Geography, and Spatial Planning. NSM has four departments: Business Administration; Economics; Public Administration and Political Science; Geography, Planning and Environment.

NSM strives for a multidisciplinary approach. Its educational programme offers small-scale teaching settings with an emphasis on the development of academic skills.

NSM's research activities fall under the responsibility of the interdisciplinary Institute for Management Research (IMR). Under the motto 'creating knowledge for society', IMR focuses on academic research into the development, design and effectiveness of the public and private structures that regulate, govern or manage human interactions. IMR is built around six multidisciplinary research themes linked to scientifically and societally relevant issues, including European Policy, Gender and Diversity, International Conflicts and Policy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Integrated Decision Making, and Governance and Innovations in Social Services. Research groups working on these themes consist of researchers from various disciplines and departments.


We offer
  • Employment: 0.8 - 1.0 FTE.
  • The gross monthly salary amounts to a minimum of €2,836 and a maximum of €4,474 based on a 38-hour working week, depending on previous education and number of years of relevant work experience (salary scale 10 ).
  • In addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
  • Duration of the contract: 2 years.
  • The intended start date is 1 December 2021.
  • You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Care Services . Our Dual Career and Family Care Officer can assist you with family-related support, help your partner or spouse prepare for the local labour market, provide customized support in their search for employment  and help your family settle in Nijmegen.

Additional employment conditions
Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions . You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.


Would you like more information?

For more information about this vacancy, please contact:
Marcel Olde Rikkert, Professor
Tel.: +31 24 361 11 11
Email: [email protected]  

Hubert Korzilius, Associate Professor
Tel.: +31 24 361 30 54
Email: [email protected]


Practical information and applications

Please address your application to Marcel Olde Rikkert and submit it, using the application button, no later than 12 September 2021, 23:59 Amsterdam Time Zone.   

Your application should include the following attachments:

The first round of interviews will take place on 28 September.

We drafted this vacancy to find and hire our new colleague ourselves. Recruitment agencies are kindly requested to refrain from responding.



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