PhD grant holder Bibliometrics of social sciences and humanities

Department: Department of Sociology
Regime: Full-time

The Centre for Research & Development Monitoring (Expertisecentrum Onderzoek en Ontwikkelingsmonitoring, ECOOM) University of Antwerp is looking for a full-time (100%) PhD grant holder in the domain bibliometrics of social sciences and humanities.

The Centre for Research & Development Monitoring of the Flemish Community (ECOOM, see www.ecoom.be ) is an interuniversity consortium with participation of all Flemish universities. ECOOM-UAntwerp is attached to the Faculty of Social Sciences and manages the coordination of the Flemish Academic Bibliographic Database of the Social Sciences and Humanities (VABB-SHW). The VABB-SHW allows to count and internationally benchmark scientific publications by researchers in the social sciences and humanities who work at a Flemish university.

Since 2019, ECOOM has been working on a new project on interdisciplinarity and impact of research. In this framework the ECOOM groups at KU Leuven and UAntwerp collaborate, with ECOOM-UAntwerp focusing on interdisciplinarity and impact in the social sciences and humanities and the development of relevant indicators.

Your tasks

• You expand the techniques for document classification recently developed by ECOOM to enable direct application to the VABB-SHW;
• You develop, implement and validate indicators of interdisciplinarity, a.o. based on textual data from the VABB-SHW database;
• You develop, implement and validate indicators of impact, e.g. of books and their presence in libraries;
• You prepare a PhD thesis on this topic;
• You present your research findings at local and international conferences;
• You publish papers in international scientific journals;
• You contribute to the further development of the VABB-SHW and the information about it;
• You support services that ECOOM-UAntwerp performs on behalf of the government.

Your profile and requirements

• You have a master's degree and a relevant specialization (e.g. digital humanities, sociology, data science) and you can present excellent study results;
• You already have some experience in processing and analyzing data using R or Python, and are strongly motivated to further develop your data skills. Experience in natural language processing (NLP) and knowledge of bibliometrics are a plus.
• Your academic qualities comply with the university’s policy ;
• You have an excellent command of both oral and written academic English. Furthermore, you know Dutch or a related language.

We offer

• A four-year doctoral scholarship with an initial period of one year, starting 1 January 2021 (or as soon thereafter as possible);
• Your monthly scholarship amount is calculated according to the scholarship amounts  for doctoral scholarship holders on the pay scales for contract research staff (Dutch: Bijzonder Academisch Personeel, BAP).
• A dynamic and stimulating work environment;
• Possibility to collaborate with other ECOOM groups, especially the bibliometrics group at ECOOM-Leuven (https://www.ecoom.be/en/research/bibliometrics );
• Many possibility to collaborate with a wide international network.

How to apply?

• You can apply for this vacancy through the University of Antwerp’s online job application platform up to and including 22 November 2020 (by midnight Brussels time). Click on the ‘Apply’ button, complete the online application form and be sure to include the following attachments: a motivation letter, your CV and a recent paper or text illustrative of your academic writing skills (preferably in English).
• The selection committee will review all of the applications as soon as possible after the application deadline. On the 2nd  of December, we will hold job interviews with candidates that passed a first selection based on the application dossier.
• If you have any questions about the online application form, please check the frequently asked questions  or send an email to jobs@uantwerpen.be . If you have any questions about the job itself, please contact dr. Raf Guns (raf.guns@uantwerpen.be ) or dr. Tim Engels (tim.engels@uantwerpen.be ).

The University of Antwerp received the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research Award  for its HR policy. We are a sustainable, family-friendly organisation which invests in its employees’ growth. We encourage diversity  and attach great importance to an inclusive working environment and equal opportunities, regardless of gender identity, disability, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or age. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse characteristics to apply.