Postdoctoral Researcher Comparative Analysis of Population and Welfare Declines in Europe (V25.0494)

This postdoc position will focus on quantitative and spatial analysis of regional population declines and changes in the provision of health and care services since the 1950s. The position will be within the ERC-funded project “Coping with decline: Comparative social-historical analysis of depopulation and community welfare in Europe, 1950-2022 (DEPOP)”. Our focus in the project is on the Netherlands, Finland, and Ukraine, and other countries could be added, if the post-doc has relevant expertise and experience. More information about the project could be found here: http://www.rug.nl/let/depop

The University of Groningen
Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has established an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative university offering high-quality teaching and research. Its 33,000 students are encouraged to develop their own individual talents through challenging study- and career paths. The University of Groningen is an international centre of knowledge: It belongs to the best research universities in Europe and is allied with prestigious partner universities and networks worldwide.

The Faculty of Arts
The Faculty of Arts is a large, dynamic faculty in the heart of the city of Groningen. It has more than 5000 students and 700 staff members, who are working at the frontiers of knowledge every day. The Faculty offers a wide range of degree programmes: 15 Bachelor's programmes and over 35 Master's specialisations. Our research, which is internationally widely acclaimed, covers Archaeology, Cultural Studies, History, International Relations, Language and Literary Studies, Linguistics and Media and Journalism Studies.

Program
The Chair Group of Economic and Social History (https://www.rug.nl/research/research-let/onderzoek-per-vakgebied/geschiedenis/sectiesgeschiedenis/esg/) is an ambitious group of researchers dedicated towards global and regional histories of population and health, gender and social inequalities, and focusing on the role of spatial, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts in historical change. We have a specific interest in social science history and long-term historical developments and apply theories and methods from the social sciences in our research.

The successful candidate has a PhD degree in (Historical) Demography or a related discipline (sociology, geography, economics). Expertise with register data, statistical methods of analysis, and GIS are required.

The working language of the project is English, and the candidate should possess excellent communication skills in English, as indicated by the ability to write scientific papers and deliver presentations. The candidate should also be able to work independently and as part of the team. We seek someone who would help us to strengthen our collaborations with Population Studies and Demography.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

• A salary of € 4,728 gross per month (salary scale 11.0, UFO profile researcher 3), based on a full-time position.
• A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income.
• An 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance.
• A temporary appointment of 0.8 FTE for a specified period of 30 months (additional teaching tasks up to 0.2 FTE may be possible). The successful candidate will first be offered a temporary position of one year with the option of one and a half years extension.

The selected candidate is expected to start on 1 December 2025

Do you want to become a member of our team? Please send your application to us, by submitting the following documents in English:

• Letter of application, indicating what papers you would envision writing with the team and what data will you use.
• Curriculum vitae.
• Writing sample (e.g. a chapter of your PhD thesis, a peer-reviewed article, or a publication).
• Copy of PhD certificate and list of grades and a list of examination marks and copy of Master’s diploma.
• Contact information of two academic referees.

You may apply for this position until 15 October 11:59pm / before 16 October 2025 Dutch local time (CET) by means of the application form (click on “Apply”; below on the advertisement on the university website).

The selection interviews will take place in the last week of October 2025.

The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and-strategy/diversity-and-inclusion/

Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/nl/sollicitatiecode and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

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