The Department of Mathematics of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam welcomes applications for a fully-funded, 4-year PhD position in collective dynamics on networks within the Amsterdam Center for Dynamics and Computation. We are an inclusive, interdisciplinary group, and diversity and internationalism is at the heart of our research principles, as well as our teaching practice.

As a PhD student in our group, you will develop new mathematical methods to understand and predict collective motion in active oscillator networks, with the aim of finding new control strategies and design principles for active and intelligent materials. You will collaborate with Christian Bick (VU), Bob Rink (VU), Corentin Coulais (UvA), Marjolein Dijkstra (UU) and Krystal Guo (UvA).

This project is part of the consortium Emergence at all Scales (EAAS) funded by the Dutch science foundation NWO. If selected for this position, you are expected to participate in the various scientific activities, meetings and workshops of the EAAS consortium, to form interdisciplinary collaborations across fields and geographical locations within the Netherlands, and to acquire skills by active participation in science communication activities, interacting with public audiences and taking part in a pilot program where experience can be acquired in high school science teaching.

The preferred starting date is 01.09.2025 but an earlier or later starting date can be discussed.

Applications from all groups currently under-represented in academic posts are especially encouraged. We particularly welcome applications from women and people with an ethnic minority background.

Your duties

• doing research towards writing a PhD thesis
• teaching tasks (roughly 15% of your time), for instance supervising exercise classes for university students, and assisting high school teachers