Postdoctoral Researcher - GRAPHIA Project

Postdoctoral Researcher - GRAPHIA Project (Generations and Gender Programme - NIDI-KNAW - The Hague)

The Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher position within the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) as part of the GRAPHIA project. This project contributes to the development of a Social Sciences and Humanities Knowledge Graph and AI‑powered tools that improve how research data is found, connected, and used. The position focuses on integrating and interpreting cross‑national survey data within this emerging technological framework.

Project description

The GGP is a cross‑national research infrastructure that provides high‑quality, open‑access data on population and family dynamics. Its core component is the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), a longitudinal study on life courses and family structures across countries. The GGP Central Coordination Team is located at NIDI in The Hague and is responsible for the coordination, data processing, and scientific support of the programme. This position is part of the EU‑funded GRAPHIA project, aiming to transform social science and humanities data into a more machine‑readable and actionable format, significantly improving SSH data visualisation and analysis capacities. Within this project, GGP contributes domain expertise, data integration, and user‑oriented development, with the aim of testing the integration of the GGP data and metadata into the GRAPHIA knowledge graph.

What you will be doing

As a Postdoctoral Researcher, you will work at the intersection of survey data, research infrastructure, and emerging technologies, supporting the activities of the GGP Central Hub.

• Support the selection and use of GGP datasets, documentation, and related materials for GRAPHIA activities.
• Help ensure that GGP data is correctly understood and used within GRAPHIA project workflows.
• Contribute to the development, testing, and evaluation of use cases, pilots, and demonstrators.
• Participate in GRAPHIA project meetings and follow developments across work packages.
• Support the day‑to‑day operations of the GGP Central Hub where needed.

What you will be contributing

• Hold a PhD in Sociology, Demography, or a related social science (or have equivalent experience).
• Have experience with survey research, longitudinal data, or population studies.
• Be able to interpret and communicate research data to different audiences.
• Be curious about how research data can be structured, connected, and made more accessible (for example through metadata, knowledge graphs, or AI tools).
• Be motivated to work at the interface of social science and data technologies.
• Be well‑organised, detail‑oriented, and able to manage multiple tasks.
• Have excellent communication skills in English (written and spoken).
• Enjoy working in an international and collaborative environment.

What we offer

We offer a postdoctoral researcher position at the heart of an internationally connected research infrastructure. You will contribute to work that directly shapes how survey data is found, interpreted, and used across disciplines and countries. The role provides exposure to a wide range of activities, from data documentation and quality assurance to user‑facing pilots and dissemination. The initial appointment will be until 31.12.2027, with extensions contingent on performance, availability of funds, and human resource needs. Dutch law stipulates a maximum of four years in total for a temporary research‑based contract.

Terms of employment

Depending on education and experience the minimum salary is 3,546 € and the maximum salary is 5,538 € gross per month for a full‑time appointment (scale 10 cao Nederlandse Universiteiten/KNAW). This is exclusive of 8% vacation allowance, 8.3% year‑end bonus, travel allowance, internet allowance, home working allowance and pension accrual with ABP. The KNAW offers its staff an excellent package of secondary benefits, with options to increase days off by working extra hours. For a complete overview of the terms of employment, please refer to the KNAW employment page.

Diversity & Inclusion

The KNAW considers a working environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated to be of great importance. Together we strive for an inclusive culture in which we embrace differences. We would therefore like to invite candidates who want to contribute to this through their background and experience. In the event of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who thus enhances diversity within the Academy.

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