PhD position in Late Medieval and Early Modern Urban History (1.0 FTE) (V25.0486)

Fully funded PhD position (1.0 FTE) with the Centre for Historical Research at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, in the project “The Art of Governance: Politics of Society and Economy in the Urban Low Countries, c. 1400-1600”.
As a PhD candidate, you will develop your own research project on “Urban Governance in the IJssel Region, c. 1450-1600”, in collaboration with the project leader, Dr Arie van Steensel. You will conduct independent and original academic research and report results via peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and ultimately a PhD dissertation. You will also be requested to teach. This PhD project offers a unique opportunity to develop yourself as an academic researcher and to work local and international research contexts.

The PhD project
The IJssel region was economically and culturally a dynamic region in the late medieval Low Countries. The mid-size commercial towns of Deventer, Kampen, Zwolle and Zutphen were part of the extensive economic network of the German Hanse towns and home to the religious movement of the Modern Devotion. They became increasingly entwined with other territorial polities in the Low Countries from the fifteenth century onwards. The dynamics of economic change, political integration and religious renewal, but the histories of the towns were of adaptation to shifting political, economic and religious conditions rather than of urban decline. You will examine the interactions between authorities and citizens in the IJssel towns between 1400 and 1600, and the impact of social, economic and environmental measures on society. In order to explain the emergence and effects of urban governance, you will analyse the process of decision-making and the implementation of policies in the context of power relations, political ideas and wider societal dynamics. Your findings will make a fundamental contribution to debates on power, governance and well-being, and the effects of (good) governance on living conditions.

The research involves a systematic and question-driven consultation of archival records (mainly written in Middle and Early Modern Dutch) from the IJssel towns, especially town council resolutions and minutes, by-laws and verdicts, petitions, town accounts and fiscal records, and various records produced by guilds, citizens and other urbanites. In order to process the archival material, the HTR-tool Transkribus will be used in partnership with an ongoing digitization project of Collectie Overrijsel. The data will be qualitatively and quantitatively analysed by means of annotation and geospatial tools.

The PhD project contributes to the research project that aims to provide an innovative, timely and integral analysis of governance and the political economy of, primarily, the IJssel towns, with the aim of integrating this urban region better into the most recent historiographical debates about the premodern urban Low Countries and of putting some of the historiographical and theoretical assumptions about the role of institutions, political participation and inequalities in urban societies to the test. The project will contribute to the knowledge of the histories of Deventer, Kampen, Zutphen and Zwolle, and your findings about the ways in which authorities and citizens interacted to shape urban society in the past will also be communicated to a general public by means of lectures and publications.

You will be asked to:

• Develop your own PhD project within the broader research project in consultation with the supervisor.
• Conduct independent and original historical research.
• Report results via peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and ultimately a PhD dissertation.
• Conduct a total of 0.4 FTE teaching spread over the second, third, and fourth years of your appointment.
• Complete the PhD in the specified timeframe (4 years).
• Contribute to scientific and public engagement.

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 5.000 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.

Programme
History is a large and dynamic department with a strong regional anchor and an international outlook. It accommodates and facilitates international state-of-the-art research in several major historiographical and interdisciplinary fields. We introduce our students to the diversity and complexity of human experience in the past and in present societies around the globe through the study of civilisations, regions, nations, communities, and individuals across all historical periods. We organise our teaching and research around a variety of thematic, geographical and theoretical approaches including, among others, network theories, connected history, reading history, medical humanities, material culture studies, postcolonial perspectives, and digital humanities.

Candidates should possess:

• A Research Master’s or Master’s degree in History or related areas, preferably with a specialisation in medieval or early modern (urban) history and with a high academic merit.
• A high level of spoken command and of academic writing skills in English and Dutch. Basic knowledge of German is considered an asset.
• Demonstrable methodological and analytical skills and the capacity to develop and conduct innovative research. Preferably experience with digital tools, such as Transkribus or GIS, or the ability and willingness to develop these skills.
• Demonstrable experience with archival research, including basic palaeographical skills and the ability to read Middle and Early Modern Dutch.
• A clear and well-articulated motivation for pursuing PhD research, demonstrating an intrinsic motivation to conduct this historical research project.
• A clear motivation to follow the PhD training of the N.W. Posthumus Institute and to take additional courses in support of your research.
• Great interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team. In particularly, also to collaborate with professionals in the relevant archival organisations.

We offer in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement for Dutch universities:

• A salary of € 3,059 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,881 (salary scale P) gross per month in the final year, based on a full-time position
• 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• Participation in a pension scheme for employees.
• Favourable tax agreements for non-Dutch applicants may be applicable.
• The PhD candidate is expected to conduct 0.4 FTE teaching spread over the second, third and fourth year of their appointment.
• Willingness to move and reside in The Netherlands.
• A temporary 1.0 FTE appointment for a specified period of four years. The candidate will first be appointed for twelve months. After 11 months, an assessment will take place of the candidate’s results and the progress of the PhD project, in order to decide whether employment will be continued.

The selected candidate is expected to start in January 2026. We allow 3 months from selection in case of VISA applications.

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 motivation (c. 1000 words) explaining your motivation for applying and how your skills and experience demonstrate your suitability for the position according to the criteria above.
• Curriculum Vitae no longer than three pages, including contact details of two academic referees.
• Copies of (Research) Master diploma and list of grades. If candidates are still studying for their (Re)Master diploma, a written statement from the supervisor is required commenting on performance and expected date of completion.
• Copy of (Research) Master thesis. If the MA thesis is unavailable, the applicant should clarify why this is the case and attach a different writing sample (e.g., a copy of an article, book chapter, or other academic text that you feel best represents your work).

Please send in your application as two PDF files (one for the (Re)Master thesis, and one for all other documents). Please submit the merged application under the ‘Letter of motivation’ and the thesis under ‘Extra attachment’.

You may apply for this position until 30 October 11:59pm / before 31 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 second week of November 2025. If you are invited for an interview, you will be informed by 5 November 2025. You will be asked to submit an outline of c. 1000 words (excluding reference list) before the interview, in which you reflect on your potential approach to develop the PhD project based on the full research proposal that will be send to you.

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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