2 PhD positions "Digital Geographies of Urban Drug Markets in Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro"

Do you have experience researching everyday processes of digitalization, illicit economies and/or urban inequalities, ideally in Amsterdam or Rio de Janeiro? Please consider applying for one of the two PhD positions within the research project “Digital Geographies of Urban Drug Markets”, funded by a NWO Open Competition L grant. Both positions start May 1, 2025 and will be embedded in the UvA geography department’s Urban Geographies programme group.

Join us!
In cities across the world, drug sales are starting to resemble other forms of ultrafast delivery, as drug dealers turn to mobile, app-based communication and city-wide home delivery to expand their markets and evade the police. The everyday activities associated with illicit urban economies, and drug markets in particular, are often held to have a strong territorial basis, with supply and consumption concentrated in specific, often marginalized areas. As illicit transactions increasingly involve digital technologies, it is precisely these socio-spatial patterns that have shifted, with profound consequences for the risks experienced by drug dealers and by people who use drugs.

The PhDs in this project will study such shifts and how they connect to differentiated exposure to harm across urban spaces and populations, asking: How does the uptake of digital technologies in drug dealing transform uneven urban landscapes of risk? Focusing on micro-transactions in illicit drugs, the project aims to understand the everyday digital geographies of the illicit urban economy. Specifically, it seeks to understand how drug dealers and consumers experience unequal and shifting risks – including the risk of problematic substance use and exposure to criminal or state violence – as mobile, digitally‐enabled deliveries replace place‐based sales.

What are you going to do
As a PhD candidate, you will conduct digital and urban ethnographic research on illicit micro-transactions between consumers and low-level suppliers, and contribute to a comparative analysis of the relationship between urban inequalities and the digitalization of illicit economies. Your fieldwork will be conducted in either Amsterdam or in Rio de Janeiro. Throughout your research, you will work closely with the other members of the research team.

Your work will include:

• conducting independent field research in either Amsterdam or Rio de Janeiro;
• helping to co-design, test and finetune an interdisciplinary digital, spatial and economic methodology and ethical framework;
• writing and completing a PhD dissertation within four years;
• participating in the AISSR PhD program;
• 10% teaching;
• collaborating with supervisors and peers in research and publications;
• participating in team meetings, conferences, workshops, seminars and other scholarly activities.

What do you have to offer

• (Research) master’s degree in human geography, anthropology, urban studies or other relevant social science;
• Demonstrated passion and aptitude for research;
• Relevant fieldwork experience: ideally, ethnographic research on illicit economies, digitalization and/or urban inequalities;
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Linguistic skills relevant to the research location (Dutch for Amsterdam and Portuguese for Rio de Janeiro)
• Independent work attitude and ability and interest to work collaboratively; willingness to work within the framework of, and contribute to, a larger team project and existing research design

If this vacancy speaks to you, but you are uncertain whether you might be THE person we are looking for, please do apply. We strongly encourage applications from all qualified candidates, and specifically from people with backgrounds underrepresented in academia. In light of the department’s and the PI’s commitment to diversity, we aim to create a team of researchers who each contribute to the project in their own way – our objective is complementarity rather than homogeneity.

What else do we offer
A four-year, full-time appointment: the initial employment is for one year, and following a positive assessment, this term will be extended by an additional three years, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate.

As a PhD candidate within the Amsterdam Institute of Social Science Research (AISSR), you will be able to follow a range of courses focused on improving your academic writing, methodological and analytical skills. You will also be invited to join a diverse set of reading groups, writing groups, and various convivial activities within the programme group, the department and the AISSR.

At this department you will be working
Within the Urban Geographies group, you will be working in a position in which initiative and input are highly valued, within an enthusiastic and warm team that is open to new colleagues, and in an inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam.

Do you recognize yourself in the job profile? Then we look forward to receiving your application by March 1, 2025. You may apply online by using the link below. Applications should be submitted as a single pdf and should include:

1. a letter of motivation (max. 500 words);
2. a full CV;
3. grades obtained in the Master’s degree;
4. a research statement (max. 1000 words) outlining the candidate’s own research proposal in relation to the broader project. This proposal should include information on relevant literature, research questions and methodological strategies.

In the pdf title please specify your research preference, e.g. “Your name_Rio” or “Your name_Amsterdam”. A first round of interviews will be held online March 10 or soon thereafter. For questions please contact Rivke Jaffe at r.k.jaffe@uva.nl.

38 hours per week

Nieuwe Achtergracht 166