PhD position in Education/Data Science studying teacher-student classroom interaction (0,8 - 1,0 fte)

PhD position in Education/Data Science studying teacher-student classroom interaction (0,8 - 1,0 fte)

Job description

Are you interested in teacher-student classroom interaction and do you have the ambition to contribute to scientific progress as well as perform socially relevant research? Then a PhD position at the Department of Education might be just the right job for you.

You will work on the project, “Better Together: Disentangling the dynamics of pedagogical translanguaging to improve adaptive teacher-student interaction in the language classroom” which aims to investigate how teachers use more than one language for teaching and learning to optimize students’ responsiveness during classroom interaction. This is a research project at the faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, supervised by an interdisciplinary research team from the departments of Education and the Department of Methodology and Statistics (the Human Data Science Group). You will collect and analyze classroom observational data in Dutch secondary education, learn how to apply innovative quantitative research methods to analyze the social network of a classroom from a complex dynamic systems perspective. In the project, we aim to disentangle drivers in teacher-student interaction in order to improve our understanding of how teenagers in a multilingual society like the Netherlands develop their interactional competence during language lessons. Results of this project may inform teacher education and educational policy in terms of how multilingual teachers who are skilled in interacting “better together” might educate resilient multilingual learners who can face global challenges “better together”.

Qualifications

We are looking for an enthusiastic colleague (m/f/x) who meets the requirements below:

• a (completed or almost completed Master’s degree in a domain relevant to the project, for instance, Educational Sciences, (applied) Linguistics, and (developmental) Psychology, (social) Data Science, Quantitative Social Sciences or a related field;
• well-developed analytical and statistical skills, experience in programming (e.g. R, Python, Matlab or any other programming language) and willingness to follow additional statistics courses; 
• willing to collaborate across scientific fields;
• a motivated and communicative team member;
• able to work independently and have excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and understand Dutch. We offer free Dutch language courses.

Offer

We offer a position for 4 years (1.0 FTE) or 5 years (0.8 FTE). Salary will range from €2,443 in the first year to €3,122 in the fourth year in the P-scale (Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) per month based on a full-time employment. We encourage you to grow professionally, and we support a healthy work-life balance. That’s why we offer employment benefits such as professional development, leave arrangements, partially paid parental leave and sports. We also give you the opportunity to expand your terms of employment via the Employment Conditions Selection Model. 

You will receive training and various opportunities for professional development. Your work will also include teaching activities. You will collaborate with and be supported by two daily supervisors, one from Education and one from Methodology and Statistics (M&S), as well as two senior supervisors (one from Education and one from Methodology and Statistics). You will work in a collaborative, social and dedicated team. We will guide you in your research and teaching tasks, which will help you develop your academic career.

And that's not all. We are happy with you as a new employee and are happy to give you a warm welcome. We host a good introduction process for our new colleagues where we will introduce you and show you around our Faculty and University.

About the organization

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University , the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major societal themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Sustainability.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is one of the leading faculties in Europe for research and academic teaching in Cultural Anthropology, Educational Sciences, Interdisciplinary Social Science, Pedagogical Sciences, Psychology and Sociology. We are a faculty at the heart of society and one which cooperates closely with others. Our almost 6,000 students are enrolled in a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programmes. We have approximately 900 faculty and staff members, who all work closely together to educate and train young talent and to research and find solutions to scientific and societal issues. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth and Institutions for Open Societies.

 

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences aspires to have a diverse body of staff and students and strives to create and sustain a safe and inclusive environment for everyone, in line with Utrecht University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policys .

Additional information

For additional information, please contact Nienke Smit ([email protected]) or Mahdi Shafiee Kamalabad ([email protected]).

Apply

Utrecht University aims to make a visible contribution to an inclusive university community, a just society and equal rights and opportunities for all. Everyone deserves to feel at home at our university, which is why we welcome employees from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives.
To apply, please send your curriculum vitae, including a letter of motivation, via the ‘apply’ button below. Online interviews through MS Teams will be held between 17th june.

The application deadline is 05/06/2022