PhD on Criminalising Homelessness in Comparative Perspective (1.0 FTE) (V25.0236)

Are you a (nearly) graduated law student with an interest in scientific research? If so, this position could be a great opportunity for you!

We are looking for an enthusiastic PhD student who wants to do research within the following topic:

The rising cost of living, growing welfare inequality, and an affordable housing crisis have contributed to increasing levels of homelessness in many (Western) countries. With limited access to adequate housing, many homeless people are forced to meet their basic needs on the streets or in other unsuitable environments. Though widely regarded as a social welfare issue, homelessness is increasingly viewed as a public order problem. Homeless individuals are often perceived as more likely to engage in criminal activities, cause public nuisance, or disrupt the urban environment. Visible homelessness, such as encampments, is frequently seen as detrimental to cities’ public image. In response, public authorities are increasingly introducing laws and regulations that criminalise homelessness, prohibiting behaviours that homeless individuals often cannot avoid, such as sleeping, eating, and urinating in public spaces, as well as restrictions on erecting shelters or begging.

This PhD project aims to investigate punitive and other public order responses to homelessness, potentially focusing on the Netherlands yet situating the analysis within a comparative framework of the criminalisation of homelessness in other nations. The PhD researcher will be expected to employ doctrinal legal research methods as well as conduct a comparative analysis between jurisdictions. Depending on the project’s development and feasibility considerations, the PhD researcher will be encouraged to integrate empirical-legal research and/or interdisciplinary methodologies into the research design.

In your doctoral research, under the supervision of your supervisors, you will conduct independent scientific research resulting in a dissertation. You will be accommodated at the Groningen Graduate School of Law (GGSL). The GGSL offers a training program to help carry out this research. Your training program will be tailored to your interests, and needs for development. During your appointment, you will publish and present (partial) results of your research in academic and professional journals and participate in academic activities and events, such as conferences and seminars.

In addition, you make a limited contribution to the teaching of the department.

Organisation

The University of Groningen is an internationally-oriented university that has partnerships with world-class international universities such as Uppsala, Göttingen and Ghent. We have around 34,000 students and 6,500 staff members from The Netherlands and abroad. We work together with partners in society on the themes of Healthy Ageing, Energy and Sustainable Society.

Faculty of Law
The Groningen Faculty of Law is a modern, (inter)nationally-oriented organisation with both a broad and classic profile. Even though it has a four-century-long tradition, it continues to innovate its education in order to train broadly-oriented lawyers. Our research largely transcends legal fields and is multidisciplinary in nature. With almost 5,000 students and 500 staff, it is a medium-sized faculty of the UG.

Department of Legal Methods
The PhD researcher will become a member of the Department of Legal Methods, a vibrant and relatively young legal multidisciplinary department at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen. The Department provides education at the beginning of the programme (introductory courses) as well as later in the bachelor's and master's programmes. Its research is focused on three interrelated themes: (1) public order law, (2) the right to housing, and (3) legal research methods and methodologies.

You must have a (nearly) completed Master’s degree, preferably in law and/or a related domain that is relevant to the execution of the research proposal.

The ideal candidate has the following competences:

• Creativity
• an analytical mind
• results-oriented
• a critical research attitude
• perseverance

Other requirements:

• good didactic and relational skills
• good command of English and a minimum level of Dutch, depending on your field of research
• flexible availability during examination periods
• work attitude focused on teamwork, flexibility and communication
• Interest in and affinity with legal, scientific research and human rights
• Interest and experience in researching housing law and homelessness would be an advantage

In accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities, we offer

• A gross starting salary of at least € 2,901 during the first year with a maximum of € 3,707 in the 4th year.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus over the annual gross salary.
• A temporary employment contract for a period of 4 years, under the condition of a positive assessment at the end of the first year.
• Attractive leave policy and opportunities to follow training courses.

Starting date: to be determined in consultation, but preferably no later than 1 September 2025. This means that students who are in the final stage of their studies and will graduate this academic year are also invited to apply.

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

If shortlisted, candidates will be invited for an interview taking place on Wednesday 7 May 2025, and may be asked to provide a sample of writing. It will also be possible to interview remotely.

Your application comes with:

• A cover letter explaining why you want to do research, why this subject is specifically important and why you are ideally suited for this.
• A curriculum vitae.
• A list of marks or results acquired in your Bachelor's and Master’s degrees.
• The name of a reference that we may contact and/or a written recommendation.
• A research proposal of maximum 3 A4 (excluding bibliography, but including footnotes) which includes the following:

1. the introduction of the research question
2. the definition of the question
3. relevant literature
4. the methodology
5. the plan of approach

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/(...)rsity-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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