Two PhD Positions in Computational Social Science

We are seeking two enthusiastic and well-qualified PhD candidates in computational social science / (social) network science to support the growing activities of the newly established Urban Impact Lab and of PLANET-NL a collaborative inter-university research group. The positions are for 4 years and are fully funded.

Two PhD candidates

Are you a passionate and committed researcher with strong expertise in cutting-edge computational social science approaches With a keen interest in policymaking Would you like to contribute to research that turns large-scale network analysis into actionable policy insights Do you want to work in an interdisciplinary environment of leading researchers and policymakers at the City of Amsterdam If so we hope that you will apply to become our new colleague.

We are currently searching for two PhD candidates (full-time 4 years expected starting date Spring 2026) on Population-Scale Social Network Analysis in the context of the Urban Impact Lab and PLANET-NL.

The Urban Impact Lab is a new collaboration between the City of Amsterdam and the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences University of Amsterdam. Its motto: social data science for a better city. Its aim: to bring together knowledge and expertise from policymakers and scientists to better answer todays most pressing societal questions. PLANET-NL (Platform for the Analysis of Large-Scale Networks) is the national infrastructure for large-scale social network analysis based at the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University.

While the position offers a certain degree of freedom in terms of the precise research direction the candidate will be asked to work on issues related to social segregation polarization political behaviour or public health. This ties into a broader objective of the Urban Impact lab which is to understand how privacy-sensitive population-scale network data can generate actionable insights for better policy interventions.

As an ideal candidate for this position you find yourself at home in the international computational social science research community with a keen interest in retrieving actionable insights to make better policies. You have a well-developed skillset in scientific programming and an affinity with network analysis in particular. Policy experience is a plus. You are able to work with very large data and have the creativity and curiosity to work with network measures and statistics. You may also be an expert on grounded computational social science: combining large-scale data analysis with detailed contextual (often qualitative) data. You may have a disciplinary background in either social sciences (such as sociology political science communication sciences) humanities or computational science. You believe in interdisciplinary collaboration and you get excited about working across traditional disciplines. You want to know more about how research insights play out in practice for the people living in Amsterdam.

You are a creative team player who doesnt shy away from entering new scholarly terrain and sees this as essential to scientific progress. You aspire to build a career with real impact be that in science public service or industry. You have creativity precision and perseverance. You take initiative have excellent communication skills and are able to work in a team as well as independently. You are motivated by the social impact of your work rather than journal metrics yet your ambition drives you to achieve excellence in all you do.

Do you recognize yourself Do you want to be involved in frontier computational social science research Are you thrilled by the opportunity to work in a truly interdisciplinary research environment Send us your application.

What are you going to do

• Conduct research in the area of computational social science and (city) network science leading to peer-reviewed publications.
• Write an article-based PhD thesis within the duration of the position.
• Translate research findings into actionable insights for policymakers.
• Engage on a limited basis in co-supervising BSc and MSc students and minor local organizational activities.
• Engage in relevant teaching activities.

What do you have to offer

• A completed masters in a relevant discipline*.
• Willingness and ability to work in an interdisciplinary setting bridging social science computer science and policy.
• Proficiency in scientific programming (Python) preferably with some large-scale network analysis experience.
• Excellent proficiency in English.
• Proficiency in Dutch or the willingness and ability to acquire this in the first year.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to engage diverse scholarly and policy audiences.

• Ability to work independently and in a team.
• An academic creative and curious mindset.

*: excellent candidates not (yet) (fully) past the MSc phase but sufficiently close to graduation are also invited to apply.

What else do we offer you

• A collaborative inclusive work environment with opportunities for professional development
• Part of a team that spans several institutes and universities
• The chance to advance groundbreaking research and contribute directly to policy initiatives
• Flexible work arrangements and competitive compensation

The position concerns temporary employment of 38 hours per week for a maximum term of four years.

The initial employment is for one year and will preferably start in Spring 2026with a probationary period of two months. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances this term will be extended by a maximum of three years which should result in the conferral of a doctorate in four year.

For this position the University Job Classification profile Promovendus applies.

You will work here

You will be part of an active academic community spanning several universities and institutes. You will be based at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research where you will join the PhD program. Your work will be embedded in the PLANET-NL research group based at Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam. With colleagues from PLANET-NL you will work closely together with the Municipality of Amsterdam in the context of the Urban Impact Lab. You will attend the monthly meetings of the PhD community of the Municipality of Amsterdam.

More information about PLANET-NL can be found at

If you recognize yourself in this profile and are interested in the position we look forward to receiving your motivation letter (no more than 2 pages) and your academic CV. Your motivation should include a short description of a research idea that you would want to work on in light of this particular position.

The deadline for submitting your application is 15 January 2026. Interviews are scheduled for the last week of January.

You can apply via the red button.

In case of equal qualifications internal candidates will be given preference over external candidates.

For questions about the vacancy you can contact: