PhD position in International Relations (1.0 FTE)

Department

Faculty of Arts

Organisation

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, University of Groningen, V25.0202

Job description

A 4-year, fully funded PhD position in International Relations at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen (start date: September 2025), within the project “The Migrating Globalised City: Rethinking everyday urban life dynamics”. The project will be under the joint supervision of Dr. Renata De Figueiredo Summa and Dr. Mayada Madbouly, with Prof. Luis Lobo-Guerrero as the promotor.

This PhD position offers a unique opportunity to work in an international, diverse environment and to acquire valuable research experience at a top-ranked European university. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to develop their academic writing skills, support outreach activities in the Netherlands and abroad, undertake fieldwork/ethnographic work and gain teaching experience. The candidate will be placed in the International Relations International Organization (IRIO), embedded within ICOG (The Groningen Research Institute for the Study of Culture).

The PhD Project
The broader project within which the PhD will be inscribed explores the intersection of urban everyday life and international politics, focusing on how migration and displacement reshape urban dynamics. We are interested in understanding how migration urban space becomes a site of power struggles, identity formation, and resistance. Drawing from interdisciplinary scholarship, it examines key trends such as urban identity, spatial mobilization, informal economies, and the impact of political and economic shifts on urban landscapes. The research aims to bridge the gap between international policies and urban life by addressing how racialization, heritage negotiation, and governance shape urban experiences. Employing ethnographic methods and discourse analysis, the study focuses on France and/or the Netherlands while remaining open to other geographical contexts. By emphasizing the global-local nexus, it seeks to uncover how colonial legacies, nationalist discourses, and migration policies materialize in urban spaces, influencing everyday life and political agency.

You will be asked to:

- Conduct research independently (carry out archival work, conduct interviews, analyze the data).
- Write and Complete a dissertation within the framework of the project in the specified timeframe (4 years).
- Publish and present a number of academic and popular articles and/or papers about your research (in discussion with your supervisors).
- Participate in teaching activities from the second year of the PhD.
- Participate in other academic activities within the RUG community

Organisation
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 34,000 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 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.

Requirements

- A Research Master’s or Master’s degree in International Relations, Anthropology, migration studies, geography, urban studies, or any other relevant discipline related to the project.
- Excellent academic writing skills in English.
- A very good command of French or Dutch language or other relevant languages.
- The ability to develop your own research interests and academic profile, in collaboration with your supervisors.
- Excellent analytical skills and capacity to do innovative interdisciplinary research.
- An experience in carrying out qualitative research (ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and/or discourse analysis) and/or archival work (official or informal/personal archives).

Conditions of employment

Contract length: 48 months.

In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, the University of Groningen offers you

- A salary of € 2,901 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,707 gross per month in the final year, based on a full-time position.
- A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income.
- An 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance.
- A temporary 1.0 FTE appointment for a specified period of four years. The candidate will first be appointed for twelve months. After six 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 PhD candidate is expected to conduct a total of 0.4 fte teaching spread over the second, third and fourth year of their appointment.
- Excellent work-life balance.
- Willingness to move and reside in the Netherlands.

The appointment will commence on 1 October 2025 at the very latest. We allow 3 months from selection in case of VISA applications.

Job Application

Applications should be made in English and contain the following materials - A short statement (c. 1,000 words), explaining your motivation for applying. - An outline of max 1000 words with your own research proposal in the wider frame of this project. - A curriculum vitae. - Copies of MA diploma and list of grades. - Copy of MA thesis (If the candidate did not finish the MA by the deadline, a written statement by the supervisor is required). - If available, a copy of an article, book chapter or other academic text that you feel best represents your work. - Contact details of two academic referees (no letters of recommendation are needed for the application process). - In case your Master degree is not in English, please include a language certificate (e.g., IELTS, TOEFL). Please send in your application as two PDF files (one for the MA thesis, and one for all other documents). You may apply for this position until 30 April 11:59pm / before 1 May 2025 Dutch local time (CEST) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website). Interviews with selected candidates will be held between (6 May to 16 May 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/ Ourection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/sollicitatiecode/ and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code We provide career services for partners of new faculty members moving to Groningen. Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.

Additional information

For additional information, please contact:

Dr. Renata De Figueiredo Summa, for information about the project
[email protected]

dr. Mayada Madbouly, for information about project and framework
[email protected]

Maarten Schmaal, for questions regarding the submission procedure
[email protected]

In your application, please always include the job opening ID V25.0202

Digital application form