"Amplifying the Impact of Behavioural Interventions with Complexity Science"

Job Description

Are you a systems thinker with affinity with the social and behavioral sciences? Are you motivated to ensure that complexity science makes its way to the real world of government communication and policy? Then we have the perfect challenge for you.

Can you improve behavioral interventions with systems thinking? Governmental behavioral interventions typically aim to promote some desirable target behavior: e.g., communication campaigns to promote vaccine uptake or subsidies incentivizing house insulation. However, well-intended behavioral interventions often don’t seem to influence the desired target behavior. In the worst cases, they trigger unintended consequences (e.g., polarization). To better understand how interventions ultimately affect target behavior, it helps to realize that interventions are in essence disturbances in a complex system. By triggering feedback loops, interventions in one part of the system can get amplified and produce large effects somewhere else. Concepts (e.g., tipping points’) and tools (e.g., systems mapping) from complexity science can help practitioners to better understand how their interventions impact wider systems.

This is what you will do

As an impact-postdoc, you are an ambassador of complexity science. You form the bridge between complex systems literature on the one hand, and government behavior change practitioners on the other. Your goal is to ensure that social complexity becomes integrated into DNA of government communication, campaigns and policy aimed at promoting behavior, thereby maximizing the impact of government behavioral interventions. Are you motivated to maximize the impact of government behavior change campaigns by applying complexity science? Then apply now!

Your activities are geared to making an impact on the policy making and execution process by integrating systems thinking / complexity science. You spend time at 3 different governmental organizations, becoming acquainted with their default way of designing campaigns and policy, and exploring and utilizing opportunities to integrate systems thinking/complexity into the practitioners’ existing frameworks. You share your experiences on working with practitioners in an academic paper, so that the wider academic community benefit from your ‘impact’ lessons.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• You act as a science ambassador. Across 2 years, spend on time on the floor with 3 different governmental organizations, acquainting yourself with their current behavior change models, stimulating colleagues at these organizations to think from a systems perspective, finding and leveraging opportunities to make their interventions more impactful by integrating complexity science.
• You also publish together with the supervisory team at POLDER. You use your experiences with practitioners as a case study for an academic paper that discusses the benefits and hurdles of translating complexity science to already existing and commonly applied behavior change models.

This is what we ask of you

• A PhD is strongly preferred, but very strong candidates without a PhD will be considered;
• You are familiar with complex systems & systems thinking;
• You are motivated to make the world a better place with insights from complexity science;
• You ideally have done research in the behavioral sciences, but at least must have a demonstrable affinity with either social psychology, communication, sociology, behavioral economics;
• You are excited about working closely with stakeholders;
• You have a proven track record of being able to write clearly and publish your findings in an academic journal.

This is what we offer you

We offer part-time (30.4 hours) employment for the period of two years with probationary period of two months, starting no later than January 1st, 2026. A full-time (38 hours) employment and/or teaching duties are possible and can be discussed during the interview. The UFO profile Onderzoeker 4 applies to this position. This position is classified in scale 10. This means a gross monthly salary between € 3,548 and € 5,536 for full-time employment (38 hours per week) excluding holiday allowance (8%) and year-end bonus (8.3%). The salary scale depends on competencies and work experience. The collective bargaining agreement of Dutch universities applies.

The UvA has an extensive package of fringe benefits, including: 29 days' holiday with full employment & extra holidays between Christmas and the New Year; Excellent work (from home) facilities; reimbursement of commuting expenses; pension accrual with ABP; In addition, the UvA offers excellent study and development opportunities and encourages employees to continue their professional development; You may participate in the open UvA lectures with which you can earn up to 30 credits per year.

This is where you will work

You will work closely with senior researchers at POLDER, the UvA’s institute for complexity science and policy change. We meet once a week at the Institute of Advanced Study. Next to that, for 1 day per week, you will be stationed at one of the 3 clients’ offices. For the remaining days, we can offer office space at the IAS but are also open to you working from home, depending on your preferences.