2 PhD Positions in Modelling Attitude-Mediated Social Tipping
Are you excited about explaining rapid social change with mechanistic models? Do you want your work to help design climate interventions that scale up sustainable behaviour without sparking backlash? Join ROOTS at the University of Amsterdam and build computational models that connect individual decision-making, social influence, and policy to collective transitions in solar PV adoption and dietary change.
Working at the UvA
Join us!
Help build the next generation of models for rapid climate action without division. In the NWO Vidi-funded project ROOTS (Resilient Outcomes from Organic Transitions in Society), you will develop mechanistic, data-driven models to understand when sustainable behaviours (like adoption of sustainable technologies or daily behavioural choices) can spread rapidly through society and when interventions risk triggering backlash or polarization. You will join an interdisciplinary team at the University of Amsterdam working at the interface of complexity science, behavioural science, and policy.
This is what you will do
As a PhD candidate, you will develop quantitative mathematical and computational models that connect individual attitudes and decision-making to collective behaviour change. Your work will focus on identifying conditions under which small interventions can scale into large, self-sustaining transitions (social tipping dynamics), and when such dynamics may stall or reverse. You will connect qualitative to quantitative theories by working closely with the ROOTS team and collaborating with societal partners to keep the research policy-relevant and grounded in real-world constraints.
You are expected to focus on your PhD research and take an active role in departmental activities, ranging from participating and organizing research and education seminars, group activities, to grant applications.
Tasks and responsibilities:
The list of tasks is not exhaustive and covers some aspects of both positions. If there are sets of skills that you already have or would like to develop or a topic that you are particularly interested, please mention those in your motivation.
A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). The preferred starting dates are September 2026 and September 2027, for each of the two PhD positions. This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.
The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 3,059 to € 3,881 (scale P). This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The UFO profile PhD Candidate is applicable. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.
Curious about our extensive secondary benefits package? You can read more about it here.
Your place at the UvA
You will work in this team
The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 8,000, as well as 1,800 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.
You will work at the Computational Science Lab, under the supervisions of dr. Vítor V. Vasconcelos, embedded in the Informatics Institute (IvI) and POLDER at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) to connect complexity science to policy and societal impact. The ROOTS project is carried out in collaboration with Dutch societal partners, including CBS (Statistics Netherlands), PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, TNO, and the Ministry of General Affairs (DPC).
More About The UvA
The University of Amsterdam is ambitious, creative and committed. An inspiration to students since 1632, a vanguard player in international science and a partner in innovation.
The University of Amsterdam is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest range of courses on offer. An intellectual hub with 42,000 students, 6,000 staff and 3,000 PhD students. Connected by a culture of curiosity.
Important to know
Your application & contact
If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the button below. We accept applications until and including 30 April 2026. The first round of interviews will happen in the week of 12 May and you may receive an invitation with less than a week in advance; the second round of interviews will occur on the week of 18 May. These dates may be subject to delays. A second round of applications may happen for the second PhD position if no ideal candidate is found (including in terms of timing). The project begins on 1 September.
Applications should include the following information (all files besides your cv should be submitted in one single pdf file):
(for details: national knowledge security guidelines)
Only complete applications received within the response period via the link below will be considered.
If you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact:
As an employer, the UvA maintains an equal opportunities policy. We value diversity and are fully committed to being a place where everyone feels at home. We nurture inquisitive minds and perseverance and allow room for persistent questioning. With us, curiosity and creativity are the prevailing culture.
Studies show that women and members of underrepresented groups only apply for jobs if they meet 100% of the qualifications. Do you meet the educational requirements but not yet all of the requested experience? The UvA encourages you to apply anyway.
Working at the UvA
Join us!
Help build the next generation of models for rapid climate action without division. In the NWO Vidi-funded project ROOTS (Resilient Outcomes from Organic Transitions in Society), you will develop mechanistic, data-driven models to understand when sustainable behaviours (like adoption of sustainable technologies or daily behavioural choices) can spread rapidly through society and when interventions risk triggering backlash or polarization. You will join an interdisciplinary team at the University of Amsterdam working at the interface of complexity science, behavioural science, and policy.
- A good salary Your salary will be determined on the basis of your experience and seniority, in accordance with the Labour agreement. Your grading and therefore the amounts mentioned are based on full employment of 38 hours per week.
- 232 vacation hours We also offer parental leave, partner leave and social engagement leave. Through the Employment Conditions Menu Card, there are opportunities for even more vacation hours.
- Financial arrangements On top of your salary, you receive holiday allowance (8%) and a year-end bonus (8.3%). You build up a good pension with ABP. And in addition, we offer many other allowances and schemes.
- Career development and room for growth The UvA encourages you to continue to professionalise through training courses and open UvA lectures.
- Family matters Relocating to the Netherlands with your family? Find out about daycare, schooling, health insurance or employment options and support for your partner or spouse. Including the IDCN-network which provides support for your spouse through various training sessions, social activities, and networking events.
This is what you will do
As a PhD candidate, you will develop quantitative mathematical and computational models that connect individual attitudes and decision-making to collective behaviour change. Your work will focus on identifying conditions under which small interventions can scale into large, self-sustaining transitions (social tipping dynamics), and when such dynamics may stall or reverse. You will connect qualitative to quantitative theories by working closely with the ROOTS team and collaborating with societal partners to keep the research policy-relevant and grounded in real-world constraints.
You are expected to focus on your PhD research and take an active role in departmental activities, ranging from participating and organizing research and education seminars, group activities, to grant applications.
Tasks and responsibilities:
The list of tasks is not exhaustive and covers some aspects of both positions. If there are sets of skills that you already have or would like to develop or a topic that you are particularly interested, please mention those in your motivation.
- Derive behavioural models from individual-level data
- Develop mean-field, agent-based, and network-based models of collective behaviour adoption with heterogeneous preferences and reversible dynamics
- Link individual-level factors (e.g., costs, norms, infrastructure, trust) to adoption outcomes in the domains of technology adoption (e.g., solar PV) and/or daily behavioural choices
- Contribute to the design and analysis of discrete-choice (conjoint) experiments and survey measures that parameterize and validate the models
- Derive interpretable outputs for policy partners (e.g., elasticity curves, scenario analyses, “what-if” intervention tests)
- Publish results in peer-reviewed journals
- Present at international conferences
- Participate in team activities at CSL and POLDER/IAS (workshops, seminars) and contribute to collaborative papers
- Assist in teaching and supervision (e.g., tutorials, MSc/BSc projects) in consultation with the group within the programmes MSc Computational Science and MSc Complex Systems and Policy
- An MSc (or equivalent) in computational social science, applied mathematics, physics, computer science, behavioural science, econometrics, or a closely related field
- You can translate messy real-world questions into clear model assumptions and testable mechanisms
- Demonstrable experience with quantitative analysis and programming (e.g., Python and/or R)
- You communicate clearly in spoken and written English and can write publishable academic texts
- You collaborate well in an interdisciplinary team and are motivated to engage with societal stakeholders
- It is a preference if you additionally have experience with discrete-choice modelling, complex contagion/threshold models, computational economics, causal discovery, and/or simulation-based inference.
A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). The preferred starting dates are September 2026 and September 2027, for each of the two PhD positions. This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.
The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 3,059 to € 3,881 (scale P). This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The UFO profile PhD Candidate is applicable. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.
Curious about our extensive secondary benefits package? You can read more about it here.
Your place at the UvA
You will work in this team
The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 8,000, as well as 1,800 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.
You will work at the Computational Science Lab, under the supervisions of dr. Vítor V. Vasconcelos, embedded in the Informatics Institute (IvI) and POLDER at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) to connect complexity science to policy and societal impact. The ROOTS project is carried out in collaboration with Dutch societal partners, including CBS (Statistics Netherlands), PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, TNO, and the Ministry of General Affairs (DPC).
More About The UvA
The University of Amsterdam is ambitious, creative and committed. An inspiration to students since 1632, a vanguard player in international science and a partner in innovation.
The University of Amsterdam is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest range of courses on offer. An intellectual hub with 42,000 students, 6,000 staff and 3,000 PhD students. Connected by a culture of curiosity.
Important to know
Your application & contact
If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You can apply online via the button below. We accept applications until and including 30 April 2026. The first round of interviews will happen in the week of 12 May and you may receive an invitation with less than a week in advance; the second round of interviews will occur on the week of 18 May. These dates may be subject to delays. A second round of applications may happen for the second PhD position if no ideal candidate is found (including in terms of timing). The project begins on 1 September.
Applications should include the following information (all files besides your cv should be submitted in one single pdf file):
- a detailed CV including the months (not just years) when referring to your education and work experience;
- a letter of motivation;
- a list of publications/relevant projects;
- the names and email addresses of two references who can provide letters of recommendation.
(for details: national knowledge security guidelines)
Only complete applications received within the response period via the link below will be considered.
If you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact:
- dr. Vítor V. Vasconcelos, Associate Professor, v.v.vasconcelos@uva.nl.
As an employer, the UvA maintains an equal opportunities policy. We value diversity and are fully committed to being a place where everyone feels at home. We nurture inquisitive minds and perseverance and allow room for persistent questioning. With us, curiosity and creativity are the prevailing culture.
Studies show that women and members of underrepresented groups only apply for jobs if they meet 100% of the qualifications. Do you meet the educational requirements but not yet all of the requested experience? The UvA encourages you to apply anyway.