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Postdoctoral Researcher in Safety Science (0.8 - 1.0fte)

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) is looking for a postdoctoral researcher with research and teaching expertise in safety science.

What you will do
The successful candidate will conduct research on safety science and crisis management from an organization science perspective and assist with teaching across several programs within the institute, including the MSc in Crisis and Security Management.

• Conduct independent and collaborative research with an associate professor in public safety (dr. Jeroen Wolbers), applying a safety science approach in the domains of public safety, crisis governance, and/or cybersecurity.
• Collect and analyse data on safety critical organizations in relevant domains.
• Produce high-quality co-authored outputs for both academic and non-academic audiences, with a focus on international, peer-reviewed journals.
• Work within a multidisciplinary team across the Crisis Governance and Cybersecurity research groups, supporting the development and implementation of the Institute’s research strategy.
• Assist in teaching courses in crisis governance or public safety.
• Furthermore, the successful candidate may be asked to participate in the following activities:
• Assist in the implementation of the educational innovation project Towards a Smarter Academic Year
• Assist in managing the journal Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy (Wiley)
• Supervise thesis and capstone projects.

Our priority is to hire an excellent candidate who can contribute to the research led by associate professor in public safety (dr. Jeroen Wolbers), while also assisting in teaching to develop their teaching portfolio. This opportunity will help the candidate prepare for the next step in their academic career.

The successful candidate will engage in the following research project:

Crisis management literature traditionally focuses on how best to respond to a crisis. However, this provides little insight into how to prevent or mitigate crises. Therefore, a renewed emphasis is needed on the phase where harm may be averted — a shift from analyzing what goes wrong to understanding what goes right. To learn from success and explore effective prevention strategies, we would like to draw parallels from the field of safety science.

A key issue affecting both fields is the tendency to learn from failure by analyzing key accidents, crises, and disasters. This approach overlooks valuable lessons from successful interventions that prevent crises from occurring in the first place. Safety science has similarly emphasized learning from mistakes to prevent future incidents, a perspective known as the ‘Safety-I approach.’ However, scholars in this field have recognized that focusing solely on incidents neglects the lessons from countless instances where issues were successfully managed or circumvented. Instead, the ‘Safety-II approach’ advocates learning from how people actually perform their work to manage variable circumstances and adapting to complexities in safety-critical processes.

It is essential to strengthen the connection between crisis governance and safety science, especially in times of polycrisis, fostering a more comprehensive understanding that transcends the traditional safety-crisis divide. The purpose of this postdoctoral vacancy is to contribute to bridging both fields by studying safety-critical organizations in one of the following critical domains: critical infrastructure (e.g., water, energy, internet, financial transactions, transport), cybersecurity, and/or defense. This involves investigating safety-critical processes in societal contexts that may precede crisis governance.

If you recognize yourself in this profile, or do not quite meet all the requirements but believe this is the right job for you, please do apply. We look forward to your application.

Where you will work
ISGA is a scientific institute specializing in security, safety, and global challenges. These include crises, intelligence, terrorism, war, violence, and cybercrime. ISGA is characterized by high-quality, interdisciplinary education and the development of scientific knowledge with a high potential for societal impact. ISGA is part of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) and is based in the city of The Hague, the international city of peace and justice. FGGA is one of the seven faculties of Leiden University. This young, entrepreneurial, innovative organization has three scientific institutes, two centers, over 3,700 students, and 425 staff members. For more information about the faculty, click here.

Within ISGA, the Governance of Crises research group focuses on understanding crises, disasters, and emergencies, including hurricanes, floods, accidents, cybersecurity breaches, system blackouts and terrorist attacks. Crises are considered serious threats to the basic structures or the fundamental values and norms of a system. Our approach reflects ISGA’s multidisciplinary nature, drawing on public administration, organization science, sociology, political science, and methodological perspectives.

Traditionally, crisis governance research has focused on either functional approaches to crisis management -preventing or mitigating tangible harm- or political approaches, which address legitimacy threats, reputation management, and organizational contingencies. Crisis governance research seeks to identify, understand and explain the political, organizational, and societal routines, perspectives, and interests at stake in the strategic management of crises. This research contributes to academic knowledge, informs public debate, and support the development of professional practice. We are keen to connect crisis governance studies to broader disciplinary and interdisciplinary debates. To strengthen this focus, we seek to expand our expertise in safety, accident prevention, and high-reliability organizing.

What you bring
In this team, we are looking for someone who can work independently. Every job is different, so in the beginning we will devote attention to your onboarding. If some of the work activities are new to you, we will look together at what you need, and draw up a development plan. This position is a good fit for you if you recognize yourself in the following:

Applicants are expected to have:

• A PhD degree in safety science, organization studies, or public administration; or a related field relevant to researching and teaching public safety.
• Demonstrable research experience in safety science or public safety.
• Outstanding research qualities manifest in a developing publication record.
• Experience with research-led teaching is considered an asset.
• Demonstrable passion for education, both inside and outside the classroom.
• Commitment to fostering a close-knit, interdisciplinary academic community.
• Experience with diverse research methods and techniques.
• A growing network of academics and professionals in the field of safety science both domestically and internationally.
• Ability to connect academic research to policy and societal impact.
• Excellent command of English, with the ability and willingness to work towards Dutch language proficiency. Current proficiency in Dutch is considered an asset.
  

What we offer
You can count on an enjoyable job within the socially relevant world of education and research. The University's challenging and international work environment is located in the bustling city centre of The Hague. We also want to work with you to devote attention to your health and vitality, for example with the fun activities we organize through Healthy University.

We also offer:

• An employment contract for the duration of 2 years. The contract is entered into for the duration of one year and can be extended with another year if performance is good and the organizational circumstances remain unchanged. This contract falls under the CLA of Dutch Universities;
• A salary of a minimum of € 4.537,- and a maximum of € 6.209,- gross per month, based on a full-time appointment (38 hours) (scale 11);
• A holiday allowance (8%), an end-of-year bonus (8,3%), and an attractive pension scheme at ABP;
• Full reimbursement of public transport commuting costs for home-to-work travel;
• Flexible working hours: as a standard, you are entitled to a minimum of 29 leave days on the basis of a full-time working week of 38 hours; you can also save for extra leave, for example by working 40 hours a week, and in this way accrue an extra 96 leave hours, or exchange 96 leave hours for a 36-hour week.
• Lots of options when it comes to secondary employment conditions; we can, for example, discuss options for paid parental leave. Within our terms of employment individual choices model, you can exchange leave days and/or salary for benefits such as an advantageous sports subscription or bicycle scheme.
• If your work allows it, hybrid working is possible within the Netherlands;
• A home-working allowance (day and internet allowance) and attention for good workplaces. The University will also provide you with a laptop.
• The successful candidate must live in The Netherlands prior to the start of contract.

For more information about employment conditions, see: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/working-at/job-application-procedure-and-employment-conditions

What we find important
Our goal is to work together to create a transparent and inclusive work environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated. Our organisation is always evolving and we need your ideas for improvement and innovation to take us further. We want to devote attention to your personal development.
Promoting an inclusive community is central to Leiden University’s values and vision. Leiden University aims to be an inclusive community in which all students and staff members feel valued and respected, and are able to develop to their full potential. Diversity in experiences and perspectives enriches our teaching and strengthens our research. High-quality education and research means inclusive education and research.

Want to apply or find out more?
Please follow the link below to the submission site and submit the following documents (PDF format), quoting the vacancy number:

• Motivation letter.
• Curriculum vitae, including a list of publications.
• A 2-page research proposal that provides details on your plans of how to engage with the research proposed in the vacancy text
• One sample publication, or chapter from your PhD thesis.
• If relevant, a teaching portfolio, including teaching evaluations.
• The names and contact information of three potential referees (referees will only be contacted if the candidate is invited to an interview).

If you would like more information about what the job entails, please contact dr. Jeroen Wolbers – Associate Professor and Director of Education of ISGA, at j.j.wolbers@fgga.leidenuniv.nl

You can apply until April 15th 2025; late applications will not be considered. Interviews will follow in April and May. The successful applicant is expected to start on June 1st, 2025 at the latest.

To help us get to know each other better, we follow a number of steps in the application procedure. For more information, see https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/working-at/job-application-procedure-and-employment-conditions

• We believe mobility is very important. That is why we are also publishing this vacancy internally. In case of equal suitability, we will give priority to the internal candidate.
• A pre-employment screening (references, diplomas, certificate of good conduct (VOG)) may be part of the selection procedure.
• Acquisition in response to this vacancy is not appreciated. If you nevertheless choose to send us CVs, no rights can be derived from this.
  

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