PhD on Exploring Other-than-Human Homes in the Urban South - Subproject Semarang

11 Jan 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Utrecht University

Research Field

Physics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Netherlands

Application Deadline

9 Feb 2024 - 22:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Hours Per Week

40.0

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

The Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development is looking for a PhD in the project ‘Homescapes make the world we live in?: A multi-sited study to unpack other-than-human homes in the urban South’. HOMESCAPES is a multi-sited collaborative research project led by Dr Tatiana Acevedo Guerrero .

Your job
By focusing on the everyday life inside and around homes in low-income neighborhoods of Semarang (Indonesia), San Andrés (Colombia), and Maputo (Mozambique), HOMESCAPES studies the interconnected infrastructural histories and arrangements, ecological changes, and social power relations that constitute homescapes. The concept of homescape is originally proposed to denote a produced place in which interdependent social, material and ecological processes unfold in and around the domestic, but are not independent of broader socio-economic power relations and ecological dynamics. HOMESCAPES casts a spotlight on the domestic scale as a critical, yet overlooked, vantage point for understanding urban socio-ecological relations in a context of inequality and climate change.

The research is carried out by a project team consisting of forty-two researchers: 2 PhD candidates, 3 Master's students, 36 Community Research Assistants and the Principal Investigator (PI), Dr Acevedo Guerrero. The team will work together to gather and analyse the data, participate in conferences, and (co-)author publications.

You will be based at Utrecht University and conduct twelve months of in-depth ethnographic fieldwork in low-income neighborhoods in Semarang. You will work collaboratively with community research assistants and a grassroots association. The focus of your research will be on how low-income residents make homescapes in Semarang, by accessing groundwater. During the first phase, you will carry out preparatory archival/literature reviews to analyse the historical processes and political transformations that have shaped water service configurations and power relations at the city level. During the second phase, you will coordinate multi-modal ethnographic work in the city. You will investigate urban life in the Global South from the perspective of the home as a place of social and ecological processes.

Your duties and responsibilities include:

• setting up and carrying out ethnographic fieldwork in collaboration with community research assistants;
• completing a PhD dissertation within four years;
• authoring and co-authoring publications with other team members;
• participating in conferences, workshops, seminars and other scholarly activities;
• being part of the research team and help organise the overall work and strategy of the team;
• being an active member of the Environmental Governance Group (participating in group activities, meetings, and seminars).

Requirements
Specific Requirements

You are:

• a dedicated researcher who wishes to build a deeper understanding of issues of water-access, social injustice and inequality, while generating knowledge that may help bring about a fairer, more sustainable world;
• a team player who contributes to making a collaborative research project a success, but you also have the creativity, aptitude and qualities needed to do individual work when needed, especially when it comes to 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork;
• willing to nurture these qualities further over the course of the project, including how these could serve you in a further career in academia or beyond after the PhD.

You possess:

• completed (Research) Master’s degree in Social Sciences, preferably with a focus on one or more of the following areas: human geography, urban studies, feminist studies, political ecology, social studies of science and technology, development studies, anthropology;
• demonstrated passion and aptitude for research;
• proven experience with ethnographic and other qualitative research methods, ideally in urban Indonesia and/or on topics related to political ecology, urban development, health, and gender relations;
• an excellent command of written and spoken English and Indonesian (proficiency of Javanese is a plus);
• good skills in planning, taking initiatives, organising events, and presenting your work to a wider audience;
• proven skills in academic writing;
• interest in being part of and contributing to a caring, spirited, and engaging academic environment.

Since you are to become an active member of the department’s intellectual community and work closely together with the project team, you are expected to live in the Netherlands.

For this position you are expected to have a command of English at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language.

Additional Information
Benefits

We offer:

• a position for one year, with an extension to a total of four years upon a successful assessment in the first year, and with the specific intent that it results in a doctorate within this period;
• A working week of 36 hours and a gross monthly salary between €2,770 and €3,539 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU);
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development , leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities , as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University .

Selection process

As Utrecht University, we want to be a home for everyone. We value staff with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and identities, including cultural, religious or ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. We strive to create a safe and inclusive environment in which everyone can flourish and contribute.

The application should be submitted via the application buttonbelow and please attach:

• your letter of application that describes your motivation and qualifications in relation to the position requirements listed above;
• your CV including a list of any publications published or under review;
• an executive summary (max 2 pages) of your Master's thesis, in English, highlighting the theories used and key findings;
• the names, contact details and addresses of two referees.

Interviews will likely be held in the week commencing 26 February.

Additional comments

For more information, please contact Dr Tatiana Acevedo Guerrero at [email protected] .

Website for additional job details

https://www.academictransfer.com/336504/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

2

Company/Institute

Universiteit Utrecht

Country

Netherlands

City

Utrecht

Postal Code

3584CB

Street

Princetonlaan 8a

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://www.academictransfer.com/en/336504/phd-on-exploring-other-than-human-ho…

Contact

City

Utrecht

Website

http://www.uu.nl/

Street

Domplein 29

Postal Code

3512 JE

STATUS: EXPIRED