Phd Candidates in Methodology and Statistics

**Tilburg University | Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences**

**On the topic of Bayesian Gaussian Processes for Nonlinear Social Research**

Department: Methodology and Statistics
Location: Tilburg
Contract size: 1.0 fte (40 hours per week)
Full-time gross monthly salary: €2.901 - €3.707
Contract duration: 12 months with a possible extension of 36 months.
Desired starting date: September 2025

Do you want to contribute to extending, applying, and disseminating flexible methodologies from the Bayesian machine learning literature to various statistical problems for nonlinear social research problems?

**Your position**
The PhD projects are part of an ERC Consolidator Project “NONLINEARSCIENCE” which will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Ir. Joris Mulder (Dept. of Methodology & Statistics) and colleagues. The PhD projects will focus on different topics such as
- Informative prior specification;
- Multivariate nonlinear modeling;
- Nonlinear relational event modeling of dynamics social networks.

Moreover, computational optimization and software development (R and JASP) are also important to allow researchers to use these techniques for their own research.

The project will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Ir. J. Mulder, Dr. U. Böhm and Prof. Dr. R. Leenders.

**Responsibilities**:

- Your research work includes literature reviews, developing and extending statistical methodologies, analyzing theoretical & practical properties, analyzing empirical data, developing statistical software, and writing research reports.
- You will prepare scientific articles to be published in international journals, present key findings at national and international scientific conferences, and write a dissertation.
- You will actively participate in the Department of Methodology and Statistics.
- You will contribute to Open Science and Team Science.
- You will contribute to education and supervision (e.g. supervising bachelor’s theses and research skills groups; not more than 10% of your time will be devoted)

Background

**Your profile**

Other requirements include:

- A (nearly) completed (research) master’s thesis in the applied/mathematical/Bayesian statistics, machine learning, sociometrics (in particular social network modeling), econometrics or the like.
- Programming skills (e.g., R, C, Stan, or others) are a must.
- Research skills and data analytical abilities.
- Communication and cooperation skills and the willingness to work in a team.
- Project management and organization skills.Interest in open science and team science.
- Proficiency in English, including academic writing.
- Interest in providing small-scale education, such as teaching working groups or bachelor thesis supervision.

**Our offer**
Tilburg University offers excellent benefits in a pleasant working environment:

- A position based on 1.0 fte (40 hours per week).
- A salary of minimum €2.901 and maximum €3.707 gross per month for full-time employment, based on UFO profile PhD and salary scale PhD. Tilburg University uses a neutral remuneration system based on relevant work experience.
- This is a vacancy for for a PhD in accordance with Article 2.3 paragraph 8 sub b CLA DU. You will initially be given a temporary contract for the duration of 12 months.
- Vacation pay of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
- Over 8 weeks of vacation leave.
- The opportunity to work partly on campus and partly from home with a home office allowance of €2 per day.
- Reimbursement for sustainable commuting: walking, cycling, and public transport.
- A monthly internet allowance of €25.
- An options model in which you exchange benefits for things such as additional leave, more pension, a bicycle or personal training at our Sports Center.
- Employees from abroad may be eligible for a tax-free allowance for extraterritorial expenses equal to 30% of taxable salary.
- A pension with ABP; the largest Dutch pension fund.
- Training in personal development, career development, leadership, education, and research. Or a language course at our Language Center.
- A work culture in which we embrace differences, everyone is welcome and given equal opportunities.
- A vibrant campus in green surroundings that is easily accessible by public transport.

For more information, see our website and the CLA Dutch Universities.
- Letter of motivation, including research area/topics of interest
- Curriculum vitae
- List of grades (transcripts)
- A sample of your academic writing (e.g. bachelor/master thesis, paper). If you are currently working on your master thesis, feel free to submit your thesis draft.

You will receive notification from us shortly after the letter selection. The first selection interviews will take place at the end of **March 2025**.

The selection committee consists of:

- Prof. Dr. Ir. Joris Mulder
- Dr. Udo Böhm
- Prof. Dr. Roger Leenders

You will ideally start working for Tilburg University on **September 1st, 2025**.

**About Tilburg University**
Tilburg University is an acade