Assistant Professor Mobility and Transport in Rural and Urban context (0.8 FTE) (V25.0366)

The Faculty of Spatial Sciences is looking to hire an assistant professor in its department of Economic Geography to strengthen its educational and research team. In this position, you will contribute to teaching, research and coordination tasks in the faculty.

We are looking for an assistant professor who can contribute to various courses across the different programmes we run. Specifically, we envision you to contribute across our bachelor and master programmes in geography and planning with a focus on (economic) geography and regional policies, issues of mobility and accessibility and rural-urban relations. In addition, you may contribute to scientific methods courses at the bachelor and master's level. Finally, if fitting, you may contribute to Research Master programme in Spatial Sciences and the recently established international Erasmus Mundus Research Master programme on Islands and Sustainability. As a rule, assistant professors spend 60% of their time on educational and organizational tasks.

With regard to research (40% of your time), we strive to strengthen our research profile which revolves around issues of (perceptions of) transport accessibility in rural areas in relation to other spatial contexts. Although spatial differences in transport systems, land use and travel behaviour between rural and urban areas are visible, the impact such differences have on people's lives and how we should deal with them are less well known. We are interested to hire a candidate that can extend the research into directions such as: (1) understanding how people experience their living environment in terms of accessibility; (2) the influence of the experience of accessibility on behaviour and well-being; (3) the role of experience in formulating and evaluating accessibility policies that balance economic efficiency, sustainability and social inclusion in a context of socio-spatial transitions; and (4) comparative research between rural and (peri)urban areas. Ideally our preferred candidate has experience with mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative methods). Your research profile should fit within the Faculty’s new research agenda “TRACE (TRAnsformations, Communities and Environments)”.

As part of the job, we offer ample opportunities for personal development. This includes the possibility to obtain a university teaching qualification.

Organisation

The Faculty of Spatial Sciences is a mid-sized faculty with approximately 100 members of staff, 100 PhD researchers and around 1000 undergraduate students. We focus on high quality teaching and research in the fields of human and economic geography, demography, and spatial planning. Our research programme is titled TRACE (TRAnsformations, Communities and Environments). Our ambition is to create scientific and societal impact by undertaking cutting-edge research at the interface of people, places, and planning in rural and urban settings, especially at local and regional scales, in the Netherlands, Europe and globally. With two bachelor and six master programmes, we provide a wide range of courses in the fields of geography and spatial sciences.

The Department of Economic Geography, in which the position will be based, is one of the four departments in the faculty and it offers an open and friendly academic environment with an international staff. The department has about 20 members of staff and 25 PhD researchers. The University of Groningen has a very strong reputation as one of the main centers in regional science globally. In terms of teaching, the department of Economic Geography contributes to the bachelor Human Geography and Planning and it is responsible for the master’s programme in Economic Geography, which includes the tracks 'Regional Competitiveness and Trade' and ‘Sustainable Rural Futures’, and the master of Real Estate Studies. Our research is directed towards issues related to regional labour markets, migration, entrepreneurship, happiness, socio-spatial inequalities and real estate applying quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods.

Our ideal candidate has:

• A PhD-degree (or nearly finished) in the field of economic geography, human geography, rural geography, transport geography, regional science, applied economics or in another social science with a specialization in one of the research themes in the department.
• Proven experience, ideally through a completed post-doc, in applying quantitative and/or qualitative research methods to issues related to mobility and transport geography.
• Publications in international peer-reviewed academic journals in the field of geography, regional science or related fields.
• Experience in various teaching approaches; awareness of and willingness to use the latest innovations in teaching techniques.
• A university teaching qualification or the willingness to acquire this qualification.
• A network of connections in the field of economic geography, transport geography, regional science or related and the ability to develop and maintain university–practice networks, including a willingness to participate in external projects, events and presentations.
• The ambition to share ideas with, give energy to and invest in colleagues and students.
• A willingness to participate in appropriate faculty committees and/or other management tasks
• The motivation to work in an interdisciplinary team that uses qualitative as well as quantitative methods.
• Fluency in English.

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

• A salary, depending on qualifications and work experience, with a minimum of € 4,537 to a maximum of € 6,239 (scale 11) gross per month for a full-time position.
• On top of that income, you will receive an 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• You will be appointed for 0.8 FTE.

For more detailed information about working conditions and working for the University of Groningen, please check: https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/

Preferred starting date: September 1st 2025

You can apply for this position until Monday 30 June 2025, 11:59pm / before 1 July 2025 Dutch local time (CET) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below the advertisement on the university website).

Applications should include:
1. a letter of application
2. a curriculum vitae including publications or other research output clearly showing your expertise in relevant areas, experience in teaching and management
3. the names of two referees.

Only complete applications submitted by the deadline will be taken into consideration. A demonstration lecture may be part of the assessment procedure.

It is anticipated that the selection interviews will take place between 5 and 10 July 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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