Postodoctoral Position in Developmental PsychologyAffective Science

Are you interested in understanding early emotional development We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to study the emergence of infants and young childrens distinct emotions. This research is at the intersection of developmental psychology and affective science.

Join Us!

Post-doctoral position in developmental psychology/affective science

What are you going to do

The post-doc will examine the emergence of distinct emotions in infants and young children across cultures using both qualitative (e.g. interviews) and quantitative methods (e.g. observations daily diary studies social media video analysis). The project will address a range of emotions including envy awe schadenfreude disappointment excitement elevation interest and worry.

You will:

• Develop methods to study the emergence of infants and young childrens emotions using both subjective (e.g. caregivers reports) and objective methods (e.g. behavioural observations);
• Design and conduct cross-cultural and field (e.g. in daycares) studies;
• Process data and conduct a range of statistical analyses;
• Write high-quality scientific articles together with other project members and present at conferences.

As well as being hosted in the supportive research atmosphere of the Research Institute of Child Development and Education at the University of Amsterdam the post-doc will have the opportunity to establish research connections with international collaborators.

The post-doc will conduct their research under the supervision of Dr Milica Nikolic at the University of Amsterdam and engage with her research group as part of Dr Nikolics ERC-funded project EMODEV: The emergence of distinct emotions in human development. Dr Nikolics research group is part of Developmental Psychopathology group at the Research Institute of Child Development and Education. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr Disa Sauter at Oxford University as well as other international collaborators.

The position includes allowances for research expenses and travel and subsistence costs toward project-specific travel including international research visits and conferences.

What do you have to offer

You are:

• Curious and eager to learn;
• Motivated to share your knowledge with academic and non-academic audiences;
• Strongly committed to methodological rigor and scientific integrity;
• Willing and able to travel internationally (costs will be covered by the project grant).

You have:

• (or are about to obtain) a PhD in Psychology Child Development Cognitive Science or related field;
• expertise on early child development and/or emotions;
• demonstrated experience with designing conducting and publishing high-quality quantitative research;
• good programming skills (in R or similar);
• experience in and/or commitment to engage in open science;
• excellent written and spoken English;
• excellent research project management skills;
• experience with experience sampling behavioural observations social media analysis computational methods and/or cross-cultural research is advantageous.

What else do we offer you

• a position in which initiative and input are highly valued;
• an enthusiastic and warm team that is open to new colleagues;
• an inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam.

You will work here

The Research Institute of Child Development and Education (RICDE) is part of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. Dedicated to advancing knowledge on the development learning and well-being of children the institute integrates cutting-edge research with real-world applications to impact education and care. We offer a dynamic environment paired with an informal and supportive atmosphere. The institute is situated centrally in Amsterdam an international city consistently ranked as one of the worlds top places to live. Our faculty offers excellent facilities for undertaking research in a broad range of areas including EEG ERP TMS fMRI social observations labs eye-tracker and physiological measurement. The Family lab of the faculty comprises two large video studios for observing and filming the behaviour of children and family interaction.

The appointment concerns temporary employment of 30.4 hours per week (0.8 fte) for a period of 3 years. Subject to availability and qualifications there might be a possibility to increase employment to 1.0 fte (38 hours per week) by taking on teaching responsibilities for 0.2 fte (7.6 hours per week) which would involve supervising thesis students who can assist in data collection. The intended starting date is as soon as possible after 1 February 2026.

Based on a full-time appointment (1.0 fte) the gross monthly salary will be between 4.728 and 5.705 euros (scale 11 depending on qualifications based on the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities).

If you recognize yourself in this profile and are interested in the role we look forward to receiving your motivation letter (maximally two pages) and your motivation letter you should include a research statement that specifies how your research to date is relevant to the project and a brief proposal that outlines how you might approach studying the emergence of distinct emotions in infants and young children across cultures. You can apply via the red button until November 23 2025. Interviews for shortlisted candidates will take place at the beginning of December.

For questions about the vacancy you can contact Dr Milica Nikolic (). Please quote Inquiry post-doc EMODEV Project in the subject line. A summary of the relevant part of the research proposal can be made available to interested candidates.