PhD position Board - creating mutual understanding among stakeholders; fte

PhD position Getting All on Board - creating mutual understanding among stakeholders (0.8 - 1.0 fte)

Leiden University was founded in 1575 and is one of Europe’s leading international research universities.

Vacancy number: 16244
Job type:
PhD positions
Contract hours min: 30
Contract hours max: 38

Location:

The Hague
Applying is possible until: 15 February 2026

Are you passionate about how (local) governments and citizen collectives collaborate? Are you triggered to better understand (inherent) power imbalances in public-private partnerships? Are you inspired to break through boundaries and bridge governments, citizen collectives and community at large to benefit public service delivery and public policy? Then this PhD position might be of interest to you.

The Institute of Public Administration at Leiden University is looking for a full-time PhD researcher who will conduct a 4-year PhD project. The PhD project is part of the larger research consortium ECCO :
Empowering Citizen COllectives in societal transitions. The PhD researcher will actively participate in the consortium and collaborate with senior researchers, fellow PhD researchers and several stakeholders like citizen collectives and government organizations.

The research project

Citizen collectives, such as housing, care and energy cooperatives, are often seen as facilitators of inclusiveness and participation. Yet, they also regularly fail to represent citizens who are not part of the collective (non-participants) and both citizen collectives and government officials often struggle to collaborate properly with each other. As a result, citizen collectives run the risk to not fully realize the democratic potential commonly attributed to them.

This research project operates on the assumption that enhancing the relationship between citizen collectives, local governments, and non-participants, and improving the effectiveness of collectives as intermediaries, requires a deeper understanding of the underlying drivers of their collaborations and interactions. Citizen collectives, local governments, and non-participants often view one another through their own lenses, leading to communication breakdowns where they talk past each other rather than engaging constructively.

This separation can perpetuate stereotypes and exacerbate conflicts, further complicated by the inherent power imbalances in public-civil partnerships.

In the PhD project, you will study how to create mutual understanding among citizen collectives, local governments, and non-participants. What factors are driving or hindering mutual understanding among actors and under what conditions? You will apply a mixed-method design (including Q-methodology, focus groups, interviews and observations) to identify citizens’ and government officials perspectives and mechanisms that hinder inclusive and effective collaboration.

Part of the project is the development of a serious game as a tool to foster cooperation among citizen collectives, local governments, and non-participants.

For this PhD research, we are looking for a talented and passionate researcher with affinity for academic research carried out in close collaboration with citizen collectives, stakeholders within the consortium and fellow (PhD) researchers. We expect the following:

• Design and conduct academic research on the topic described above, using a mixed method design.
• Publish scientific articles in international and national academic journals, and present papers at (inter) national academic conferences.
• Participate in national and international academic research networks.
• Engage in small-scale teaching tasks within the core programmes of the Institute of Public Administration.
• Discuss and present research findings within the consortium, and present the research findings to a larger audience.
• Participate in courses to improve methodological and academic skills.
• Work independently but at the same time collaboratively within a team at the Institute of Public Administration and within the consortium of ECCO.

The mission of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA)? Contributing to society. The…