PhD position in the SCOOP Program on Identities and Networks #1 (1.0 FTE)

The University of Groningen is a research university with a global outlook, deeply rooted in Groningen, City of Talent. Quality has had top priority for four hundred years, and with success: the University is currently in or around the top 100 on several influential ranking lists.

The Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences is a centre of knowledge focusing on individuals and society. The faculty studies issues relating to human behaviour, and the relationships between people and society as a whole. This includes the study of how people function under normal circumstances, but also of the problems encountered by individuals or groups, and how these can be resolved or prevented. The Department of Social Psychology is part of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences.

Full title: PhD position in the SCOOP Program on Identities and Networks #1: social mechanisms linking group identities, social network structures and sustainable cooperation at the Department of Sociology of the University of Groningen

Function description
We are seeking a candidate for a PhD project to investigate the complex interplay of network relations, subgroup identification, and cooperation in a diverse population. More specifically, the question is how and under which conditions boundaries between subgroups can be overcome that arise from exclusive subgroup identities, segregated social networks, or both. Such boundaries can hinder cooperation in the provision of common goods when individual efforts are required that benefit not only the own but also other subgroups in society. The current project aims to utilize both existing longitudinal social network data and new experimental studies building on the paradigm of public-good games. Drawing on theories about the dynamics of social networks and theories about the formation of social identities and intergroup attitudes, hypotheses will be developed and tested targeting how the network positions of high- and low-subgroup identifiers interact with the emergence and sustainability of cooperation between members of different subgroups.

This PhD project will be based in the department of Sociology, RuG, and conducted in close interaction with a SCOOP sister-project focusing on the psychological mechanisms connecting social identity, social relations and cooperation, which is located in the department of Social Psychology (RuG). Links between the projects will be maintained by overlapping supervision teams and joint project meetings.

See the link below for a more detailed description of the project:
https://www.scoop-program.org/program-projects/790-8-3-identities-and-networks-partners-in-sustainable-cooperation

For a detailed description of the sister project in Social Psychology see link below:
https://www.scoop-program.org/program-projects/791-8-4-identities-and-networks-2-partners-in-sustainable-cooperation

The project is part of the transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary research programme SCOOP: Roadmaps to Resilient Societies (see: http://www.scoop-program.org ). SCOOP is a research and training centre dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of sustainable cooperation as a key feature of resilient societies. SCOOP brings together researchers of the University of Groningen, Utrecht University, VU Amsterdam, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Radboud University Nijmegen. The PhD student will participate in the SCOOP PhD training program, see: https://www.scoop-program.org/training-program-towards-transdisciplinarity

In accordance with the collective labor agreement for Dutch Universities, we offer:

• a gross salary of € 2,443 gross per month in the first year to a maximum of € 3,122 gross per month in the final year (salary scale PhD), based on a full-time position (1.0 FTE)
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end bonus on the annual gross income
• attractive secondary and market terms of employment
• job classification in the UFO job profile of PhD
• a position for four years (fulltime). The successful candidate will first be offered a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another three years. Prolongation of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the contract period is to be expected
• a PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of the Faculty
• PhD students in Sociology are expected to contribute to the department's undergraduate teaching program from the 2nd year of the PhD employment.

The preferred start date is 1 September 2022