Research School for Economic and Social History

Author: René van Weeren

  • Vacature: 2 Student Assistenten ‘Voicing the Document’ (KNAW Humanities Cluster) – deadline 15 september 2026

    Vacature: 2 Student Assistenten ‘Voicing the Document’ (KNAW Humanities Cluster) – deadline 15 september 2026

    ~ because of required proficiency in Dutch only ~

    Het KNAW Humanities Cluster zoekt 2 student-assistenten voor het NWO-project Voicing the Document, waarin het streven is bestaande grote open weights AI machine learning modellen beter bruikbaar te maken voor de analyse van historische documenten. Het project bouwt voort op de handschriftherkenning van Loghi en wordt uitgevoerd in samenwerking met het Nationaal Archief en de Koninklijke Bibliotheek.

    De student-assistenten gaan elk zelfstandig kijken of de computer vragen over de documenten goed of fout beantwoordt en materiaal voorbereiden zodat het AI-model kan leren omgaan met het historische materiaal. De werkzaamheden kunnen plaatsvinden in een dienstverband van 15,2 uur/week voor 6 maanden, of van 7,6 uur/week voor 12 maanden.

    Deze vacatures staan open voor studenten die gedurende de gehele duur van de werkzaamheden als student bij een Nederlandse universiteit ingeschreven staan. Sollicitaties dienen uiterlijk 15 september 2026 ontvangen te zijn. De wijze van solliciteren en de link naar het KNAW sollicitatieportal zijn beschikbaar in de volledige vacaturebschrijving (via onderstaande knop).

    MEER INFO

  • Posthumus website ‘frozen’ from 18 June

    Posthumus website ‘frozen’ from 18 June

    Please note that, because of the transfer of the N.W. Posthumus Institute to the new penholder Leiden University in July 2026, this website of the N.W. Posthumus Institute will remain ‘static’ after 17 June 2026 until the transfer has been completed. This will mean that as of 18 June 2026, no additions and no changes will be made to the content of the website.

    In case you have any news you want to share, please send it via e-mail to us, we will then discuss with you how to communicate the news further.

  • Vacancy: Professor of Europe in a Global Context (University of Amsterdam) – deadline 12 August 2026

    Vacancy: Professor of Europe in a Global Context (University of Amsterdam) – deadline 12 August 2026

    The Department of History, European Studies, Religious Studies, and CEDLA-Latin American Studies of the University of Amsterdam is looking to appoint a full Professor of Europe in a Global Context.

    This professorship in European Studies focuses on Europe and its relations in a global context. This chair will strengthen the interdisciplinary profile of European Studies in the Faculty of Humanities by focusing on Europe’s connections, interdependence and post-colonial legacies with other world regions. In doing so, it will also study the long-term changes in global dynamics and their political, cultural and social consequences for Europe’s position in the global world.

    The professor will be participating in the bilingually-taught (English and Dutch) teaching programme of the BA European Studies/Europese Studies and the English taught MA European Studies, consisting of the three tracks: European Policy, Identity & Integration, and East European Studies and is able to further develop these educational BA and MA programmes in collaboration with colleagues. The chair is expected to further shape the expertise of Europe in a global context and to transfer this agenda into the teaching programmes. Importantly, the candidate has a vision on how to make the European Studies curriculum more diverse and inclusive, specifically in a global context.

    The professor is part of the Amsterdam School for Regional, Transnational and European Studies (ARTES) and initiates, stimulates and develops research that addresses Europe in a global context, specifically on the shifting power balance between Europe, former colonies and other world regions and its political, cultural and/or social consequences.

    Applications should be submitted ultimately by 12 August 2026.

    FULL INFO

  • Valedictory lecture Professor Leo Lucassen

    Valedictory lecture Professor Leo Lucassen

    On 28 September 2026, Professor Leo Lucassen, Professor of Global Labour and Migration History at the Leiden University Institute for History, director of the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam, and longstanding fellow of the N.W. Posthumus Institute, will deliver his valedictory lecture titled ‘Wat hebben we eigenlijk aan u?’ Historische migratiestudies in tijden van polarisatie’ [transl. ‘What use are you to us, really?’ Historical studies on migration in times of polarisation] at Leiden University.

    Those wanting to attend this lecture are requested to register beforehand via the registration form on the website of Leiden University (see button below).

    REGISTRATION FORM

  • Vacancy: Historical Data Specialist for research infrastructure ‘Chains of the Past’ (Radboud University) – deadline 21 June 2026

    Vacancy: Historical Data Specialist for research infrastructure ‘Chains of the Past’ (Radboud University) – deadline 21 June 2026

    The Faculty of Arts of Radboud University is looking for a Historical Data Specialist for the project ‘Chains of the Past’.

    ‘Chains of the Past’ sits at the frontier of digital historical research. By processing thousands of historical handwritten documents, this project builds a data infrastructure that will support future research into the lives of enslaved and free people in the former Dutch colonies. The data specialist will help lay the foundations for this new and innovative research landscape.

    Although the vacancy is primarily aimed at postdoc researchers, because of the specialised nature of this position, qualified candidates without a PhD are also invited to apply. Applications should be submitted ultimately 21 June 2026.

    FULL INFO

  • Posthumus alumnus Rosa Kösters winner Instituut Gak-KNAW Award 2026

    Posthumus alumnus Rosa Kösters winner Instituut Gak-KNAW Award 2026

    On 1 June 2026, Posthumus alumnus Rosa Kösters, postdoc researcher at the Interantional Institute of Social History, was awarded the Instituut Gak-KNAW Award 2026 for her research proposal ‘Van onderen! Sociale zekerheid tussen burgerinitiatief en innovatie, 1960–2025’.

    The Instituut Gak-KNAW Award is annually awarded by the Instituut Gak and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) to talented young researchers, to support their research on topics of social security and the labour market. The award consist of a 3-year appointment as postdoc researcher with one of the KNAW institutes.

    The awarded research proposal focuses on the question how citizens’ participation may contribute to the innovation and resilience of the social security system. The main focus will be on the question: for wat reason(s), in what ways and to which effects have citizens tried to innovate social security between 1906 and 2025. The aweard committee considered Rosa’s research proposal as ‘original and innovative; it includes a systematic analysis regarding important societal issues […] The researcher has shown to have achieved excellent academic reults already, and has shown to have very good communication skills.’

    The N.W. Posthumus Institute congratulates Rosa on this award!

    NEWS ITEM KNAW (IN DUTCH)

  • Call for papers and panels: MarxismNL Conference 2026: ‘Pulling the Emergency Brake’ – EXTENDED deadline 5 June 2026

    Call for papers and panels: MarxismNL Conference 2026: ‘Pulling the Emergency Brake’ – EXTENDED deadline 5 June 2026

    On 8 and 9 October 2026, MarxismNL will organise its first conference. MarxismNL is a network of Marxist students, researchers, and teachers active in the Netherlandst, promoting both academic and non-academic events such as public lectures, societal and political debates, reading groups, book launches by members or affiliated groups.

    The 2026 MarxismNL research conference offers a much-needed forum for dialogue across disciplinary boundaries, collective organising, and popularising Marxist perspectives. The organisers call for papers, presentations, or other contributions with the broadest possible reach: activists, academics, organizers, cultural critics, or thinkers of any kind whose research draws from Marxist thought. Welcome are research presentations as well as contributions that cross the boundary between theory and praxis: for example, experiences with labor organising and activism in academia (and beyond), or broader strategic questions for organizing workers.

    Paper proposals as well as panel ideas (the latter with a theme, short description and a list of speakers) can be submitted in English or Dutch and should be submitted ultimately by the EXTENDED deadline of 5 June 2026.

    FULL INFO

  • Call for applications Tresoar Fellowships 2027 – deadline 6 November 2026

    Call for applications Tresoar Fellowships 2027 – deadline 6 November 2026

    Tresoar and the Friends of Tresoar welcome applications for the Tresoar Fellowships 2027.

    Every year a stipend is made available to a young academic from home or abroad. This allows an innovative research project of up to three months to be supported. Candidates of all disciplines and nationalities are welcome.

    Selected fellows are expected:

    • to be graduate academic, graduated after 1 January 2016
    • to conduct innovative research into a (sub)topic from one of Tresoar’s main themes and actively use the Tresoar collection
    • to deliver a public lecture in Tresoar
    • to write an article about the results of the research and to offer this for publication in one of the Frisian scientific journals, such as Us Wurk or De Vrije Fries

    Applications should be submitted, either in English, Dutch, or Frysian, by 6 November 2026. Full details on how to submit are to be found on the website of Tresoar (via the button below).

    FULL INFO

  • Successful PhD Defence Posthumus alumnus Bram Hilkens

    Successful PhD Defence Posthumus alumnus Bram Hilkens

    On 22 May 2026, Posthumus alumnus Bram Hilkens successfully defended the PhD thesis ‘Living off the Land? Land Inequality in Early Modern Holland, 1543–1708’ at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Supervisors were Dr Daniel R. Curtis (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Professor Angelique Janssens (Radboud University), and Professor Paul van de Laar (Erasmus University Rotterdam).

    The N.W. Posthumus Staff congratualtes Bram with this achievement!

    MORE INFO
     

  • Call for proposals to organise ICRIH Conference in 2028 or 2029

    Call for proposals to organise ICRIH Conference in 2028 or 2029

    The Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Risk and Insurance in History (ICRIH) invites proposals to organise and host the next ICRIH in the summer of 2028 or at the latest 2029.

    The host organising committee will have the benefit of liaising with the Scientific Committee, which will offer active support and advice on the location, timing and structure of the conference, call for papers, recommendations for keynote speakers, evaluating proposals for papers and sessions, adjudicating awards for best papers etc, and seeking funding for the conference. The host organisers will also have the benefit of a dedicated website for the ICRIH, which is being developed by the University of Basel, Switzerland.

    Hosting proposals and/or enquiries should be sent by e-mail to Professor Robin Pearson, Professor Emeritus of Economic History, University of Hull, UK.

    FULL CALL (PDF)