Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences, Department of Earth Sciences

Utrecht University’s Faculty of Geosciences studies the Earth: from the Earth’s core to its surface, including man’s spatial and material utilisation of the Earth – always with a focus on sustainability and innovation. The Faculty is organised in four Departments: Earth Sciences, Physical Geography, Sustainable Development, and Human Geography & Spatial Planning.

The Department of Earth Sciences conducts teaching and research across the full range of the solid Earth and environmental Earth sciences, with activities in almost all areas of geology, geochemistry, geophysics, biogeology and hydrogeology. The department hosts a highly international tenured staff of over 50 scientists and more than 110 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. In addition to the Paleomagnetic laboratory, we house or have access to a wide variety of world-class laboratories, among which are UU’s Electron Microscopy Centre, the Geolab, and the Earth Simulation Laboratory. Moreover, the department also has several flume facilities and excellent High-Performance Computing facilities.

About Utrecht
Utrecht is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands with a population of nearly 360,000 and forms a hub in the middle of the country. Its historical city centre and its modern central station can easily be reached from our campus in Utrecht Science Park by public transport or by a 15-minute bicycle ride. Utrecht boasts beautiful canals with extraordinary wharf cellars housing cafés and terraces by the water, as well as a broad variety of shops and boutiques.

Homepage: https://www.uu.nl/geo/aw

The Department of Earth Sciences is looking for an enthusiastic and ambitious colleague in the general field of paleomagnetism/rock magnetism, to further strengthen our Earth Science programme in terms of research and teaching.

As our new assistant professor, you are expected to develop your own rigorous and novel research line that will be complementary to the ongoing work of your UU colleagues in general, and in the Paleomagnetic laboratory Fort Hoofddijk in particular.

In the last decades, the Paleomagnetic laboratory Fort Hoofddijk has evolved into a world-class facility, famous for its fundamental contributions to paleomagnetic methodology and its applications to studies of the Earth’s magnetic field, stratigraphy, and tectonics. Ongoing research focuses on magnetostratigraphy and geomagnetic polarity time scales, global (plate) tectonic reconstructions, short-term behaviour of the Earth’s magnetic field, and advancing magnetic microscopy. We are especially looking for candidates with complementary expertise and a proven track record in e.g. fundamental paleomagnetism, rock magnetism, or environmental magnetism. Your expertise serves as a corner stone for (improving) laboratory instrumentation and developing new technologies, as you will have a role in keeping Fort Hoofddijk at the forefront of paleomagnetic laboratories worldwide.

You will play an essential role in education by inspiring students and developing innovative courses. It is expected that you will participate in teaching in both our undergraduate (e.g. elementary Earth Sciences, geological fieldwork, and/or supportive courses like Mathematics, Chemistry, or Physics) and our graduate programmes (e.g. Paleomagnetism and Geomagnetism), as well as in supervising graduation projects. On average, the department of Earth Sciences targets at equal contributions to educational activities and research for all its tenured academic staff, resulting in (up to) 40% BSc/MSc teaching duties, 40% research, and 20% of other activities (management tasks, committee work, etc.).

You will also contribute to the supervision of early career scientists such as PhD candidates and postdocs. Moreover, you will also have a role in mentoring our technicians and visiting researchers.

Qualifications
We seek a highly motivated candidate who holds a PhD degree in Earth Sciences or a relevant other natural science. Besides that, you bring the following qualifications:

• You have a strong record of original research within the fields of paleomagnetism and/or rock-magnetism, or you apply paleomagnetic and/or rock-magnetic techniques to other areas within the Earth Sciences.
• You have an outstanding record of academic research, reflected in high-quality publications. You show evidence of academic independence, creativity, and scientific rigor.
• You have successfully applied for or have a strong potential to generate research funds. You are willing to actively apply for research grants.
• You are an inspiring teacher and mentor to Bachelor’s and Master’s students, as well as PhD candidates and hold a basic teaching qualification or are willing to obtain one in the near future.
• You have a keen eye for public outreach.

Experience of at least two to three years as a postdoctoral researcher is desirable. We are especially looking for a strong team player with good communication and networking skills. You thrive in a dynamic department and enjoy collaborating with people with different (academic) backgrounds. You easily collaborate with other members of the Earth Science department, both in terms of science, teaching, and organisation.

You are expected to have an excellent level of English, both spoken and written. We require a qualification English at C1 level (CEFR or comparable to level 3 of the Lecturer Assessment Grid) or to be prepared to obtain this level by training. For non-Dutch speaking candidates, Dutch language skills should be at the level of practical communication within two years of the appointment. Willingness to further develop this toward the ability of teaching in Dutch in the longer term is desired.

Your vision on teaching, research vision and funding potential will be considered by the committee. Publication track record, teaching record, acquired research funds and leadership experience will be weighed against the number of years of academic experience, also considering (parental) leave and part-time appointments.

We strongly encourage women to apply. The faculty’s policy is to improve gender, as well as cultural diversity. Therefore, the diversity of our staff population and your connection to existing activities in the department may also provide guidance in the selection process.

Terms of employment
We offer:

• a position as an assistant professor for 18 months, with the prospect of permanent employment;
• a working week of 32 to 40 hours and a gross monthly salary between €4,537 and €6,209 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale 11 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities, as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

For informal questions (not for application), contact Dr Lennart de Groot at l.v.degroot@uu.nl.

To apply, please follow the link tot the corresponding advertisement on our own website and follow the guidelines mentioned there. The application deadline is May 15th, 2025. The preferred starting date is September 1st, 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Note that international candidates that need a visa/work permit for the Netherlands require at least four months processing time after selection and acceptance. This will be arranged with help of the International Service Desk of our university. Finding appropriate housing in or near Utrecht is your own responsibility and, unfortunately, we must warn that it is a tight market at the moment. In case of general questions about working and living in The Netherlands, please consult the Dutch Mobility Portal.

Online screening may be part of the selection. Commercial response to this ad is not appreciated.