Student Assistant 'Text Mining the Sustainability Implications of Commercial Space Activities'

Are you a master's student eager to gain experience with research at the intersection of Natural Language Processing, Critical Discourse Analysis and space law? We are seeking a research assistant (RA) to join a small team for a new pilot study funded by the UvA Sustainability Platform (USP) entitled, Profit Above Us: The sustainability implications of commercial space activities. Heeft u wat nodig is om te slagen? De volgende informatie dient door alle kandidaten zorgvuldig gelezen te worden. Working at the UvA The final frontier in text mining The outer space industry is rapidly evolving into a trillion-dollar sector, driven by significant investments from major tech companies. This transformation marks the beginning of the so-called 'New Space' era, characterized by the emergence of profit-oriented activities such as asteroid mining, communications, and travel. At the same time, the outer space industry significantly contributes to environmental pollution, with many satellites ultimately becoming debris orbiting Earth. This project aims to investigate how major corporate players in the commercial space industry communicate about the sustainability of their activities and the actions they take in this regard. We are looking for someone with excellent organizational skills and attention to detail who also has substantive experience with text mining and natural language processing, particularly when applied to the social sciences and humanities. The ideal candidate will be familiar with state-of-the-art text mining methodology in Python or R, particularly in the domains of law and sustainability, and will have a practical understanding of building text mining pipelines for potentially messy real-world data. Knowledge of statistical analysis and/or visualization also helps. A good salary Your salary will be determined on the basis of your experience and seniority, in accordance with the Labour agreement. Your grading and therefore the amounts mentioned are based on full employment of 38 hours per week. 232 vacation hours We also offer parental leave, partner leave and social engagement leave. Through the Employment Conditions Menu Card, there are opportunities for even more vacation hours. Financial arrangements On top of your salary, you receive holiday allowance (8%) and a year-end bonus (8.3%). You build up a good pension with ABP. And in addition, we offer many other allowances and schemes. Career development and room for growth The UvA encourages you to continue to professionalise through training courses and open UvA lectures. Family matters Relocating to the Netherlands with your family? Find out about daycare, schooling, health insurance or employment options and support for your partner or spouse. Including the IDCN-network which provides support for your spouse through various training sessions, social activities, and networking events. All About This Vacancy What are you going to do You will help to obtain and analyse textual data from online sources, primarily the websites of companies in the commercial space sector from different countries. Analysis will focus on quantitative methods that yield domain-specific topic overviews over text collections, but may also include qualitative methods such as critical discourse analysis. You will work in an interdisciplinary team that includes experts in law, discourse studies and text mining. Finding primary sources (company websites) pertaining to the topic Scraping and preprocessing textual web data using automated tools Conducting text analysis focused on sustainability and climate-related topics, including broader topic overviews and comparisons across companies from different countries, using appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods Evaluation of the quality of the analysis and reliability of results on the basis of domain expertise of collaborators in the project What Do You Have To Offer You have an interest in academic research and are familiar with text mining methodology. You have previous experience in building data processing pipelines in Python and/or R. Previous experience with web scraping is preferred. The ideal candidate enjoys working in an interdisciplinary team, and an affinity with social sciences and/or humanities topics makes you particularly suited to this project. What Do We Have To Offer A temporary contract for 8 hours a week for 16 weeks in the period of January-April 2026. Your place at the UvA You will work here You will join the "Profit Above Us" project funded by the UvA Sustainability Platform (USP). This project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between Dr. Diliara Valeeva (Social and Behavioural Data Science Centre), Dr. Julia Muraszkiewicz (Expert in Space Law), Dr. Xiaojuan Tan (Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication) and Dr. Jelke Bloem (Natural Language Processing group, ILLC). The UvA Sustainability Platform is an interdisciplinary UvA-wide community for generating knowledge on sustainability within our planetary boundaries. The project combines the political science expertise of Dr. Valeeva, legal expertise of Dr. Muraszkiewicz, critical discourse analysis expertise of Dr. Tan and text mining expertise of Dr. Bloem. In addition, other research assistants are involved in the project, and we host a student research project for the Cultural Data & AI masters programme. The UvA Sustainability Platform's activities are located at the REC (Roeterseiland) campus, while the Natural Language Processing Group of the ILLC is located in Lab42 at the SP (Science Park) campus. Meetings may take place at either of these locations. About The Faculty Of Social And Behavioural Sciences The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) is the largest educational and research institution in the field of social and behavioural sciences in Europe. Here, we explore societal and human-centered issues, driven by scientific curiosity but also with an eye for current themes. For example, the impact of media and communication on individuals and society, healthcare challenges, global urbanization, human development, the role of political institutions, understanding the human mind, growing inequality, diversity issues, and changing social relationships. In Europe and beyond, the FMG holds a leading position, thanks in part to its more than 1,300 staff members who contribute to education and research. Will you be one of them? Important to know Your application & contact Please fill in the questionnaire below, and apply via the red button no later than Dec 19, 2025. Question form Student or Research Assistant Answer the questions below to apply for the research assistant position. Personal data Name: E-mail address: Current degree programme: University where you are currently enrolled: Study plans for 2025-2026: Have you ever worked as a research assistant at the UvA before? If so, was that under the "compensation other than wages"? Motivation Why do you want to participate in this research project? Why does it seem interesting or useful to you? What do you hope to learn from it? Are there aspects of the project that particularly interest you? Relevant prior knowledge and experience What relevant prior knowledge or experience have you gained in your studies, activism or volunteer work, paid work, or personal life? What courses have you taken that are relevant to this topic? This can be about the methodology (Natural Language Processing, text mining, corpus analysis), about the content (sustainability and space law) and about your network (relevant contacts, for example with companies in the commercial space industry). Be as precise and specific as possible. Availability How many hours per week would you be able and willing to spend on this project? Are there periods in the period Jan 2026 – Apr 2026 when you are not or less available? For questions about the vacancy, you can contact: Jelke Bloem ( ) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion As an employer, the UvA maintains an equal opportunities policy. We value diversity and are fully committed to being a place where everyone feels at home. We nurture inquisitive minds and perseverance and allow room for persistent questioning. With us, curiosity and creativity are the prevailing culture. Studies show that women and members of underrepresented groups only apply for jobs if they meet 100% of the qualifications. Do you meet the educational requirements but not yet all of the requested experience? xfgnyzt The UvA encourages you to apply anyway.