Postdoctoral Position (1 FTE): Emotions in Regulatory Politics

This two-year postdoctoral position is part of the VIDI research project “Emotion-Infused Risk Regulation: Rethinking the Fundamentals of Regulatory Governance for Citizen-Centric Rulemaking”, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and led by Dr. Dovilė Rimkutė.

The VIDI project investigates the role of emotions in regulatory governance, examining how emotions shape both regulators’ formulation of rules and citizens’ reception of regulatory responses. It is structured around three interlinked objectives: (1) Emotion and Regulatory Responsiveness: To what extent and why do regulators respond to citizens’ emotion-laden concerns? (2) Citizens’ Emotional Responses in Regulatory Encounters: To what extent and how are citizens’ emotions elicited during interactions with regulators? (3) Emotions and Regulatory Legitimacy: What are the effects of citizens’ emotions on their perceptions of regulators’ legitimacy? Read more about this research agenda in the following link: Affective regulatory governance: towards an emotion-based understanding of citizen-regulator interactions in regulatory politics.

The postdoctoral project will contribute to the emerging research agenda on affective regulatory governance, with a particular focus on citizens’ emotions in the Regulatory State context (Objectives 2 and 3). Specifically, the project will examine emotionality in citizens’ interactions with the regulatory state and experimentally test causal effects and mechanisms through which emotions influence citizens’ perceptions of regulators’ legitimacy.

Your duties
As a postdoctoral researcher, you will contribute to the implementation of three empirical studies planned within Objectives 1 and 2 of the Vidi project. In addition, you will have the opportunity to develop and pursue your own research ideas within the broader topic of the project (e.g., Emotion in Public Governance).

You will be responsible for designing and implementing experimental studies (primarily large-scale survey experiments) and applying (advanced) quantitative analysis methods. Experience with laboratory-based experiments can also be used or developed within the project.

Working closely with an interdisciplinary research team within the Regulatory Behavior Lab, led by Dr. Dovilė Rimkutė, you will play a central role in advancing the project’s scientific contributions. Your responsibilities will include refining cross-national survey experiments, administering data collection with representative citizen samples in at least six EU countries and beyond, analysing quantitative data, and disseminating findings through conference presentations, publications in high-quality international journals, and publicly accessible policy outputs (e.g., reports and policy briefs).

As a core member of the recently founded Regulatory Behavior Lab, you will actively contribute to shaping its scientific profile and visibility. This includes participating in lab meetings, engaging in collaborative research, and helping build connections between academic and practitioner communities (for example, by co-organizing workshops and events that translate research findings into actionable insights for regulatory practice).

The allocation of your time will be determined in consultation with the Principal Investigator, with a typical balance of approximately 0.8 FTE dedicated to research and 0.2 FTE to teaching activities, such as supervising MA theses within the department’s teaching programmes.

If desired, you may also act as a formal co-supervisor for the PhD candidate working on Objective 1 of the Vidi project, gaining experience in PhD supervision and contributing to the candidate’s academic development.

These tasks are intended as development opportunities and will be performed under guidance, depending on your experience and growth within the role.

PhD Position (1 FTE): Emotions in Regulatory Politics

This fully funded four-year PhD position is part of the VIDI research project “Emotion-Infused Risk Regulation: Rethinking the Fundamentals of Regulatory Governance for Citizen-Centric Rulemaking”, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and led by Dr. Dovilė Rimkutė.

The VIDI project investigates the role of emotions in regulatory governance, examining how emotions shape both regulators’ formulation of rules and citizens’ reception of regulatory responses. It is structured around three interlinked objectives: (1) Emotion and Regulatory Responsiveness: To what extent and why do regulators respond to citizens’ emotion-laden concerns? (2) Citizens’ Emotional Responses in Regulatory Encounters: To what extent and how are citizens’ emotions elicited during interactions with regulators? (3) Emotions and Regulatory Legitimacy: What are the effects of citizens’ emotions on their perceptions of regulators’ legitimacy? Read more about this research agenda in the following link: Affective regulatory governance: towards an emotion-based understanding of citizen-regulator interactions in regulatory politics.

The PhD project will contribute to the emerging research agenda on affective regulatory governance, with a particular focus on regulatory responsiveness to citizens’ emotionally charged concerns (Objective 1). Specifically, the project will examine when and under what conditions regulators respond to citizens’ emotion-laden reactions - such as anger, fear, or anxiety regarding regulatory conduct. The project will analyze these dynamics across different regulatory domains (e.g., health, environment, financial regulation) and multiple levels of the EU governance system (supranational and national). It will investigate how independent regulators exercise their discretionary authority when responding to affective citizen concerns, particularly when addressing emerging societal risks that demand regulatory interventions. Empirically, the PhD project employs a rigorous mixed-methods design, combining survey experiments with interviews involving top-level EU and national regulators.

Your duties
As a PhD candidate, you will complete a cumulative dissertation within four years at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. Your dissertation will consist of approximately six chapters, including four experimental and qualitative studies prepared as journal articles.

Working closely with your interdisciplinary supervisory team led by Dr. Dovilė Rimkutė, you will play an integral role in advancing the VIDI project’s first objective on regulatory responsiveness. You will design and conduct survey experiments and semi-structured interviews with EU and national regulators, collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data, and disseminating findings through conference presentations, publications in high-quality international journals, and publicly accessible policy outputs (e.g., reports and policy briefs).

The allocation of your time will be determined in consultation with the Principal Investigator, with a typical balance of approximately 0.95 FTE dedicated to research and 0.05 FTE to teaching activities within the department’s teaching programmes.

As a core member of the recently founded Regulatory Behavior Lab, you will actively contribute to shaping its scientific profile and visibility. You will engage in collaborative research, participate in lab meetings, and help bridge academic and practitioner communities—for instance, by co-organizing workshops and events that translate the project’s findings into actionable insights for regulatory practice.

As a member of our vibrant, internationally renowned department, you will broaden your professional network and develop collaborations with scholars in related fields. All PhD candidates of the Faculty of Social Sciences will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Social Sciences (VU-GSSS) and admission to the VU-GSSS is part of the hiring procedure. More details can be found on their website and are available upon request.

Assistant Professor in Quantitative Marketing or Marketing Strategy

We seek to further expand our top-level research and teaching in the field of quantitative marketing or marketing strategy. Therefore, we are looking for internationally oriented, ambitious, and collegial scholars who share our passion for marketing with purpose. We specifically are seeking candidates showing great research potential with a track record of published papers or promising studies aimed at top journals.

Your duties

• Initiating, conducting, and supervising high-quality research
• Publishing in top-tier marketing outlets and securing competitive external research funding
• Teaching and course coordination in the BSc and MSc programs of the School of Business and Economics.
• Contributing to the marketing department in providing executive education and collaborating with the business community and other stakeholders
• Contributing to the Department / School through service and (eventually) committees
• Be committed to obtaining a university teaching qualification, or possessing one already.

Student Assistant Aurora

Are you an internationally minded student looking for a student assistant position for 1 or 2 days per week within a dynamic academic network?

In this role, you will work with international partners of the Aurora Alliance in project groups, help coordinate the Aurora Student Ambassadors, and collaborate closely with the University Student Council within Aurora. You will also support international exchange and cooperation across the network.

Job description
The Aurora Student Assistant will be employed by VU Amsterdam and will develop and carry out activities for the thematic working group Student Engagement within the Aurora Alliance and coordinate the Aurora Student Ambassadors group. The VU Aurora student Assistant will work in close cooperation with the VU Institutional coordinator and the VU Aurora team (mobility and communication). He/she will work under supervision of the VU Institutional coordinator.

Tasks
The Aurora Student Assistant will:

• Represent VU Amsterdam within the Aurora working group for students;
• Actively carry out planning, execution and follow up of activities as discussed within the group in cooperation with other group members;
• Coordinate the Aurora student ambassadors group within VU Amsterdam and work on strengthening the student representation;
• Work closely with the portfolio holders of the VU Student Council; the official representation within the Aurora student council;
• Report 6-weekly on the development within the working group to the VU Aurora institutional coordinator;
• Support the communications officer around student initiatives within the network;
• Support the mobility officer around student exchanges within Aurora;
• Participate once a year in the Aurora summit abroad;
• Actively involve other VU sections involved in Aurora student activities.

PhD-student sociale relaties in het beroepsonderwijs (VMBO/MBO)

Positieve sociale relaties tussen jongeren zijn belangrijk voor jongeren om te kunnen floreren. Leraren hebben veel invloed op de sociale relaties tussen jongeren in de klas. In dit promotietraject onderzoek je hoe leraren in het (voorbereidend) middelbaar beroepsonderwijs kunnen bijdragen aan het bevorderen van positieve relaties tussen jongeren en ga je na hoe dit bijdraagt aan hun floreren en mentale welzijn.

Het onderzoek heeft drie elementen:

1. Je begint met het analyseren van de samenhang tussen de rol van de leraar, groepsdynamiek en peerrelaties in de klas (zoals vriendschappen en sociale posities). Je onderzoekt wat effectieve mechanismen zijn waar de leraar gebruik van kan maken tijdens de dagelijkse interacties en het lesgeven in de klas, om zo tot een goed overzicht te komen van hoe leraren actief (bijv. via diverse klassenmanagement praktijken) en passief (bijv. via de relatie) positieve relaties kunnen bevorderen.
2. Samen met de leerlingen en leraren doe je onderzoek in focusgroepen en ontwikkel je – in co-creatie met jongeren en leraren - interventies die leraren kunnen inzetten om positieve relaties tussen jongeren te bevorderen.
3. Je levert een bijdrage aan de ontwikkeling van het CARES-model (Child & Adolescent Relationships & Ecological Support) en levert inzichten op die direct toepasbaar zijn in scholen.

Taken en verantwoordelijkheden:

• Verrichten van een systematische review;
• Uitvoeren van kwalitatief onderzoek middels focusgroepen met jongeren en professionals;
• Uitvoeren van een design-based onderzoek in nauwe samenwerking met jongeren en professionals;
• Schrijven van een proefschrift op basis van Engelstalige peer-reviewed artikelen;
• Samenwerken met (onderzoek van) andere S2G promovendi;
• Bijdragen aan een documentaire en een praktijkboek;

Het begeleidingsteam bestaat uit dr. Fanny de Swart (VU), Prof. dr. Nienke van Atteveldt (VU), Dr. Chiel van der Veen (VU/Windesheim) en Dr. Jantien Gerdes (Windesheim).