Assistant Professors at Utrecht University

The Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning at the Faculty of Geosciences of Utrecht University has vacancies for four early-career academics. Our ambition with these tenure-track Assistant Professorships is to further develop our teaching and research activities across the department.

Your research will be embedded in our Urban Futures research programme focusing on transitions to socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable cities. Preferably, your research connects with (one of) Utrecht University’s strategic themes: Pathways to Sustainability, Dynamics of Youth, or Institutions for Open Societies. An additional task is to contribute to the acquisition and execution of externally funded projects.
You will teach in our undergraduate programme in Human Geography & Spatial Planning and, depending on your expertise, in our Master’s programmes in Urban and Economic Geography, Spatial Planning, Geographical Information Management and Application, and Geography: Education and Communication. Furthermore, you will supervise students working on their Bachelor’s and Master’s theses.

The new colleagues will be based in one section of the department but are asked to explicitly indicate at least one other section, to establish linkages and cooperation. The sections recruiting candidates are: Urban Geography, Economic Geography, Spatial Planning and Geography & Education. The department’s section of International Development Studies has already recruited, but is open for suggestions for crosslinks.

The position in the Spatial Planning Section focuses on research and teaching on the governance and planning of sustainable urban futures, and the changing role of urban and regional planning in sustainability transformations. In the field of teaching, the department particularly seeks to strengthen its expertise in Dutch and European spatial planning, planning design studios, and planning methods.

The position in the Urban Geography Section focuses on research and teaching on housing, migration, consumption, tourism, health and mobility in urban regions worldwide, with an emphasis on inequalities and sustainability transformations. Teaching is envisioned to take place in general introductory Bachelor’s courses and in more specialized topical courses.

The position in the Economic Geography Section focuses on research and teaching on the spatial distribution of economic activities and in the Evolutionary Economic Geography programme. Current research projects cover topics like the geography of innovation, regional inequality, regional innovation policies, resilience of regions to crises like COVID, institutions and regional development.

The position in the Geography and Education Section focuses on research on the role of (in)formal teaching and learning in transitions to socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable cities and societies. This may include topics such as young people’s perspectives on transitions in their living environment, pedagogical strategies and beliefs of teachers, and questions related to a curriculum for the Anthropocene. Teaching is envisioned to take place in general introductory Bachelor’s courses and in specialized courses in the educational Master’s programmes.

The position involves 60% teaching and 40% research time. Activities include:

• teaching in our core Bachelor’s and Master’s courses;
• teaching in our research methods courses, including mixed methods;
• Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis supervision;
• research and publishing;
• creating societal impact and engagement with societal stakeholders, and
• proposal writing and project acquisition

University of Strathclyde Glasgow is looking to appoint a Research Assistant. The post will be based at the EPRC office in the Netherlands (at Delft University of Technology).  You would participate in research programmes on regional development, particularly the design and regulation of national regional policies, EU Cohesion Policy, and State aid and subsidy control, as well as studies on European territorial cooperation, financial instruments, sustainable urban development, rural development policy, and citizen engagement in regional policies.

As a Research Assistant, you will work as part of a team. You will conduct literature reviews, develop questionnaires, conduct surveys, collect and collate data, analyse information, draw conclusions, and contribute to the drafting of research reports and publications. You will be responsible for managing and prioritising your work and ensuring that it is completed on time. There will be opportunities for you to participate in knowledge exchange activities related to research projects. We encourage career and skills development.

To be considered for the role, you will be educated to Degree level in a relevant discipline. Equivalent work experience in policy or consultancy fields would be welcome as would a good knowledge on regional development policy in Europe. You will be fluent in English and at least one other major European language (at C1/C2 level), with Dutch and/or German particularly desirable. You will have appropriate qualitative and quantitative research techniques, an ability to plan your own work, and enjoy working in a team. You will have good interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to listen, engage and persuade, and to present complex information in an accessible way to a range of audiences.

**For applicants who have a PhD, or equivalent work experience, and evidence of academic/policy publications, the appointment could be made at the level of Research Associate, Grade RS07 (salary range £32,817 – £40,322 per annum) plus additional allowances based on work location (Delft)*). In such cases, the job description will be recalibrated to reflect the Main Activities and Person Specification of a grade 7 Research Associate role. However, this would require evidence of more advanced involvement in research and knowledge exchange activities (such as development of research proposals, generating research income and managing parts of research projects).

*Delft allowances: salary supplemented by an 8.3% Delft allowance and an 8% Annual leave allowance.

The post will be for 24 months in the first instance, with the possibility of renewal thereafter dependent on receipt of further funding.

Informal enquiries about the post can be directed to Professor John Bachtler, Director (john.bachtler@strath.ac.uk) or Professor Fiona Wishlade, Director (fiona.wishlade@strath.ac.uk).

Formal interviews for this post will be held on Wednesday, 28 July 2021.

Assistant Professor Regional Labour Markets / Economic Geography (1.0 FTE) (221251)- University of Groningen

Job description

As an Assistant Professor, you will contribute to teaching, research and coordination tasks in the department of Economic Geography. Your main teaching tasks will be in bachelor and master courses in Economic Geography (e.g. the course Regional Labour Market Analysis) or Real Estate and in supervising master’s and/or bachelor’s theses, depending on your expertise. With regard to research, we seek someone with a profile that fits the research topics of the Department and the Faculty and who is willing to participate in the research project “Talent in the Region” on labour market developments in the province of Groningen as well as other research themes of the Department related to regional labour markets, entrepreneurship, happiness and/or socio-spatial inequalities.

Organisation

The Faculty of Spatial Sciences consists of approximately 100 members of staff, 100 PhD students and around 1000 undergraduate students. We focus on high quality teaching and research in the fields of social and economic geography, demography, and spatial planning

Application deadline:  Tuesday 18 May 11:59 pm / before 19 May 2021 Dutch local time (CET), Dutch local time by means of the application form (click on “Apply” below on the advertisement on the university website).

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