Data Manager / Open Science Advocate (0,6fte)

Introduction

Are you passionate about open science, research data, and connecting people across disciplines? Are you socially skilled, curious, and comfortable working with code? Join the Society, Youth and Neuroscience Connected Lab at Erasmus University Rotterdam and help researchers work with their data in ways that are organised, responsible, open, and reproducible.

Job description

You will work at the intersection of research data, technologal development, and collaboration. A central part of your role will be to help researchers with their data: from organising during data collection to documenting, storing, analysing, sharing, and preserving research data. You will provide practical advice, help researchers find solutions that fit their projects, and make data management feel accessible and manageable.

At the same time, you will help build a community: a growing group of researchers and partners who are motivated to make a positive change in science. You will bring people together, share knowledge, support colleagues who want to try new approaches, and help turn enthusiasm for open science into concrete action.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Working with data, code, and research tools to improve or automate workflows.
• Supporting researchers with organising, documenting, storing, analysing, sharing, and preserving research data.
• Helping researchers develop and implement data management plans and practical workflows.
• Sharing knowledge, organising or contributing to community activities, and helping colleagues learn from one another.
• Connecting researchers with colleagues, support services, and potential collaborators.
• Building an active community around open science and data management within the lab and across the university.
• Working together with external organisations and research infrastructure partners, such as SURF and the broader GUTS consortium.

The role can be shaped around your strengths and interests, with ample opportunity to develop your expertise. You will have the opportunity to build connections across the university and collaborate with national partners working on research data, digital infrastructure, and open science.

We offer you: 

• A varied interdisciplinary role combining data management, open science, coding, communication, community building, and collaboration.
• Extensive opportunities for professional and personal development.
• The chance to build a broad network across researchers, disciplines, university support services.
• The opportunity to contribute to collaborative projects and initiatives beyond the lab, including science communication.
• Space to develop your own expertise and contribute ideas to the lab’s open science and data management practices.
• The opportunity to make a tangible contribution to positive change in science by helping. 

Job requirements

You preferably have:

• A Bachelor or Master’s degree in psychology, neuroscience, social sciences, data science, computer science, or a related field.
• Knowledge of or strong interest in open science.
• An interest in helping others work effectively and responsibly with their research data.
• Affinity with data and technology, and a willingness to code; experience with R, Python, or similar tools is an advantage
• Excellent social and communication skills, with the ability to explain technical topics clearly to people with different levels of experience.
• The ability to build trust, bring people together, and create an inclusive and collaborative community.
• An independent, proactive, collaborative, and solution-oriented approach.
• A curious mindset and enthusiasm for learning.
• A genuine motivation to contribute to positive and lasting change in the way science is conducted and shared.

You do not need to meet every requirement. We value technical curiosity, interpersonal skills, a service-oriented attitude, and a commitment to open science. Most importantly, we are looking for someone who enjoys helping others and who can inspire and support a community of people willing to make research more open, transparent, and reproducible.

Employment conditions and benefits

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is 1 January 2027 and you will be based at Campus Woudestein - Rotterdam in Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB). This position is for 0.6 fte. The salary is dependent on your experience and knowledge and ranges from a minimum of € 3.537 to a maximum of € 4.673 gross per month Scale 8 on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is offered for a period of 1 year.

Everything else we offer you; you can find below!

- Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!

- Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME, EUR Disability Staff Network or QuEUR.

- Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.

- Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.

- Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).

- Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the Expat-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Employer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Faculty / Institute / Central service

Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB)
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB) combines various disciplines such as public administration, pedagogical sciences, psychology and sociology. In addition, the Erasmus University College is affiliated with the faculty. Within ESSB, we work in teams on education and research, emphasising interdisciplinarity, diversity, inclusion and sustainability. Together, we strive for societal and scientific impact.

ESSB distinguishes itself through inter-, multi- and transdisciplinary research, in which academics and students work together on complex social issues. Thanks to this approach, ESSB successfully attracts national and international research subsidies and funds, with which we continuously strengthen and renew our education and research.

ESSB serves almost 6,000 students annually with a wide range of bachelor's and master's programmes and has more than 600 employees. These programmes are highly rated by students and alumni. Within ESSB, developing new insights and realising positive societal impact are central, always with a focus on people and society.

Visit our website for more information about the faculty, and click here for more information about our academic teams.

Department

Developmental Neuroscience in Society

How do adolescents develop into people who contribute to society? Which circumstances help young people, and where do the challenges lie? We investigate this at the Erasmus SYNC Lab with other scientists, social partners and young people. The abbreviation SYNC stands for Society, Youth and Neuroscience Connected.

Our mission is to bridge different levels of measurement to understand how young people develop into valuable members of society. The SYNC Lab is rooted in innovative perspectives that emerge from recent insights into the dynamic development of the adolescent brain. We want to understand how young people become involved citizens in society. In our research, society, youth and neuroscience are inextricably linked.

For more information, please visit our website.

Additional information

Please visit our website for more information about the EUR via www.eur.nl. You can contact Yolijn Aarts via aarts@essb.eur.nl for more information about the position. 

Applying

Please submit your application, consisting of a motivation letter and cv, before the vacancy closing date. The selection procedure consists of two interviews.

We look forward to receiving your application. 

Erasmus University Rotterdam continuously strives to be an equitable and inclusive employer and invites all applicants, regardless of background gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, or any other aspect that makes someone unique, to apply.

Recruitment and selection agencies or headhunters: thank you for thinking along with us, but we prefer to recruit our candidates ourselves.