Vacancy: Research Assistant for Kingdom Chair 
on Curaçao

Job description:
In 2024, the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) established a new chair on Kingdom Affairs, hosted by Leiden University. Prof. Wouter Veenendaal has been appointed to this chair, which is situated in the fields of political science and public administration, and focuses specifically on democratic representation in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The chair aims to study the characteristics of democratic representation on the six Caribbean islands in the Kingdom, as well as the representation of the islands at the Kingdom level. 
In the context of this chair, Prof. Veenendaal is recruiting a research assistant on Curaçao. The research assistant will assist and participate in the preparation and implementation of research activities on Curaçao, the organization of workshops, events and meetings in the context of the chair, and will generally act as a liaison between Prof. Veenendaal and knowledge institutions and academics on Curaçao – in the first place Dr. Nelly Schotborgh, Dr. Renske Pin, and Dr. Margo Groenewoud. The research assistant will have their own research and travel budget, and will also collaborate closely with two research assistants who have been recruited on Aruba and St. Maarten.

Job requirements:

• A Master's degree in social sciences, preferably in political science, public administration, or a related field.
• Excellent organizational skills, and a capacity to work independently as well as in teams.
• Preferably: experience with social science research methods (opinion surveys; interviews; focus groups; statistical analyses) and writing reports in English.
• Permanent residence on Curaçao, as most activities will be carried out on this island.
• Flexibility to conduct research activities, including possible short trips to other Caribbean islands (particularly Bonaire) and the European Netherlands.
• English language proficiency; comprehension of Papiamentu and Dutch are desirable.

Offer:

• Part-time position of 12 hours per week.
• Salary based on scale 7 of the CAO Dutch Universities.
• Position for two years initially, with a probation period of two months. If possible, the position can be extended to a maximum of five years.
• An individual research and travel budget of approximately USD 2,000 per year.
• Personal academic training by the Chairholder.

Information:
For more information, please contact Prof. Veenendaal via w.p.veenendaal@fsw.leidenuniv.nl. 

Application:
If you would like to apply for this position, please send a motivation letter and your CV to Prof. W. Veenendaal via w.p.veenendaal@fsw.leidenuniv.nl. The deadline for submitting applications is Friday 7 March 2025 at 23.59 hrs. AST. The selection procedure will take place in March 2025; you are kindly requested to be available during this period.