Closing date     9 September 2019
Level of education     Master's degree
Hours     38 hours per week
Salary indication     €2,325 to €2,972 gross per month

The Amsterdam Business School (ABS) is one of the two schools of the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Economics and Business. The ABS has almost 3,000 students and the equivalent of 120 full-time academic staff. The school’s core subjects are Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship, and Big Data / Business Analytics. Six sections (Accounting, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Finance, Leadership & Management, International Strategy & Marketing, and Operations Management) conduct top-level research published in prestigious international journals. They also provide various degree programmes including a BSc programme and six MSc programmes, a wide range of post-doctoral programmes featuring three MBAs, four accountancy programmes and Lean Six Sigma programmes, as well as an extensive portfolio of open courses and in-company projects.

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation section is looking for a PhD candidate for a research project about the impact of university-based incubation activities on the creation, growth, and performance of new startups and spinoffs as well their founders.

Project description

The main aim of this project is to study early investment in biotech entrepreneurial ventures, focusing on the signals of quality the entrepreneur and the venture can send and especially on the effects of how the entrepreneur or venture are categorized, in terms of industry, technology, goal of the product etc. - or categorize themselves.

The research will combine insights from management science, especially entrepreneurship and innovation, with those from categorisation theory, both in management science and in sociology, and apply a broad range of quantitative techniques, from network analysis to machine learning (esp. to analyse texts and images).

This PhD project is part of the recently approved ORGANOVIR project, which is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network within the EU Horizon 2020 program.

The overall project is a collaboration between researchers from the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Poland and Denmark. The lead of the overall project is with the Academic Medical Centre of the University of Amsterdam, most of these researchers are connected to (bio)medical departments who study innovative techniques and applications related to artificial organs; this subproject is the only one in management science.

The candidate is also expected to participate in some teaching activities related to innovation management and the research project.

The supervisors of this project will be Prof. Nachoem Wijnberg and Dr Balazs Szatmari.

Requirements

The candidate should not have been residing or working in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the last 3 years prior to the start of this project.

Besides the candidate should have:

• a Master’s degree in the area of management science, econometrics, economics, sociology, computer science, or a related discipline - if they can show that they have a serious interest and background, having followed relevant courses and/or minors, in management science and in quantitative methodology;
• excellent grades and a strong interest in quantitative research methods and/or statistics and/or artificial intelligence;
• the drive to publish in top-level academic journals in management science;
• well-developed analytical skills, strong organization and communication skills, an entrepreneurial mind set, and perseverance;
• the ability to work independently and to be proactive in developing the research project, sometimes in collaboration with colleagues from other countries and faculties;
• mastery of both written and spoken English.

Further information

Further information may be obtained from:

Dr Balazs Szatmari
Prof. Nachoem Wijnberg

For more information about the research policy at the Amsterdam Business School please check our website.

Appointment

You will be appointed for 36 months with a possibility to extend it for another 12 months. As part of your contract, you will spend 20% of your time on teaching. You will be classified as PhD candidate (promovendus) in the Dutch University job-ranking system (UFO), in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities.

Preferred starting date: as soon as possible.

Job application

The UvA is an equal-opportunity employer. We prioritise diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. We value a spirit of enquiry and perseverance, provide the space to keep asking questions, and promote a culture of curiosity and creativity.

Applicants should send a letter of application accompanied by a curriculum vitae via the link below. Please include job reference number 19-517. In addition, applicants should include a copy of their Master thesis.