PhD position: Place-based economic development in Europe (V25.0094)

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 approximately 34,000 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 truly an international place of knowledge.

Faculty of Economics and Business
The Faculty of Economics and Business has an inspiring study and working environment for students and employees. International accreditation enables the Faculty to assess performance against the highest international standards. It also creates an exciting environment of continuous improvement. FEB's programmes, academic staff and research do well on various excellence ranking lists.

FEBRI, the graduate school and research institute of the Faculty of Economics and Business has one PhD position on the topic of place-based European economic development.

Project description
The European Union is committed to reducing regional economic disparities and fostering inclusive growth, yet it has not been strikingly successful in achieving this. Some regions continue to lag behind while others thrive. This project aims to explore the underlying causes of these disparities and develop innovative strategies to enhance the EU's regional policy framework. The focus will be on place-based economic development, emphasizing the unique strengths and opportunities of different types of regions. This means that this project relates to themes including cross-regional collaboration, interregional alliances, and smart specialization.

The PhD position is embedded in the research programme Innovation & Organization of FEB’s Research Institute. We offer a truly international environment (our working language is English and we currently employ more than 15 different nationalities). The project will be supervised by Prof. Florian Noseleit, Dr Daniël Speldekamp, and Dr Benito Giordano. The supervisory team has a track record of publishing in leading academic journals.

The ideal candidate is ambitious, highly motivated and wishes to make a career in research at a leading university, and/or in a high-level professional role where a PhD is advantageous. The project allows for both a qualitative and quantitative approach (or mix thereof), and it is important that the candidate has a strong analytical mindset and is trained in at least one of these methods. Furthermore, it is essential that the candidate speaks and writes English fluently, and has obtained or is close to finishing their Master’s degree with excellent results.

The PhD candidate should have a background in economics, economic geography, human geography, political science, international business or a related field (such as strategic management, planning, urban studies). In addition, the candidate should have a keen interest in regional economic development and policy.

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

• A gross monthly salary from a minimum of € 2,910 which increases yearly to a maximum of € 3,707. Based on the gross salary you will receive an additional 8% holiday allowance each year in May, and an additional 8.3 % end of year bonus in December.
• A temporary full-time appointment for a period of four years, under the condition of a positive assessment at the end of the first year. PhD candidates contribute 20% of their time to teaching in years 2-4.

Starting date: as soon as possible.

The application package consists of the following separate documents

1. A motivation letter (1A4 max).
2. Your cv.
3. Your Master’s thesis.
4. A scan of your diploma including transcripts.
5. Other relevant documents.

Documents 1 through 4 are compulsory. Please note that incomplete application packages will not be taken into account.

You may apply for this position until 2 March 11:59pm / before 3 March 2025 Dutch local time (CET) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

If you are selected an assessment may be part of the procedure, consisting of psychological tests and an interview.

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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