PhD position Work and Organisational Psychology University of Groningen, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences

Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has enjoyed an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Balanced study and career paths in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 30,000 students and researchers to develop their own individual talents. Belonging to the best research universities in Europe and joining forces with prestigious partner universities and networks, the University of Groningen is an international place of knowledge.

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 Psychology is part of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, and offers bachelor’s and master’s programmes in both Dutch and English to over 3,000 students (https://www.rug.nl/gmw/).

The Organisational Psychology group – part of the Department of Psychology - at the University of Groningen invites applications for the PhD position Work and Organisational Psychology: Flexible action regulation in changing occupational contexts – the roles of proactive and adaptive behaviours (4 years, full-time). The group is highly internationally oriented and plays an active role in the national graduate training and research school Kurt Lewin. The research programme has a (inter)national reputation for excellence and focuses on social-cognitive and individual difference factors underlying human behaviour in organizations. Research within the Organisational Psychology group focuses for instance on occupational well-being, healthy ageing at work, power and leadership, creativity and innovation, work motivation, and goal striving. To this end, the group uses a large variety of research methods, ranging from lab and field experiments to surveys and experience-sampling methods. The research has the explicit aim of contributing to both theory development and practice. For more information, see https://www.rug.nl/(...)anisatiepsychologie/

In this four-year research project, the PhD candidate is involved in research on flexible action regulation in changing occupational contexts. This position is part of the Rosalind Franklin Fellowship awarded to Dr Antje Schmitt (https://www.rug.nl/staff/a.schmitt/research).
With this project, we aim to gain more insight into the dynamics of proactive and adaptive behaviours in change processes and how the flexible use these behaviours relates to individual well-being and performance across time. The PhD candidate will conduct empirical research (with a focus on longitudinal field studies) on questions such as: how do occupational changes (e.g., the transition from university to work, the transition into self-employment) induce changes in individual well-being? Does well-being during the change process depend on the flexible engagement in both proactive and adaptive behaviours? Which personality traits can predict the flexible engagement in proactive and adaptive behaviours?

The position includes teaching at the bachelor’s and master’s level for 15% of the allotted time.

• developing measurements
• data collection and data analysis
• project management
• writing scientific papers, resulting in a PhD thesis
• presenting one’s research at conferences
• teaching in bachelor or master programme, including supervising thesis students (15%).

We are looking for candidates who meet the following requirements:
• excellent MSc or research master degree in Psychology (or in related fields)
• strong interest in research on work and organizational psychology
• experience with quantitative research
• very good methodological and statistical skills (using software such as SPSS, R or Mplus)
• hands-on mentality and the ability to work independently
• excellent organizational skills
• good communication skills in English, both verbally and in written form; a good command of Dutch is an advantage.

The University of Groningen offers a salary starting from € 2,325 to a maximum of € 2,972 (salary scale Dutch Universities, 1 February 2019) for a full-time position. The position is temporary for a period of 4 years, under the condition of a positive assessment at the end of the first year.

Starting date: as soon as possible (May 2019 at the latest)

Application
You may apply for this position until 13 December 23:59h / before 14 December 2018 Dutch local time by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

Please submit your application consisting of the following materials electronically (in pdf):
• a motivation letter stating your motivation to apply for the position and your key qualities relevant for this position
• curriculum vitae
• a list of grades obtained in the MSc and BSc programmes
• a scan of your diploma (if already available)
• other relevant documents (e.g. publications, if any).

The job interviews are scheduled in January 2019.

Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.