PhD Position: Health Demography at NIDI-KNAW

Over the past century, people around the world have experienced momentous improvements in health and in life expectancy. Whether improvements in health will continue is unclear, however, as several countries have seen plateauing or even declining life expectancy in recent decades. The overarching research program (SEHealth) develops new directions to improving population health by elucidating the origins and accumulation of chronic diseases; this PhD project will focus on living environments. Indeed, much of the variation in health is attributable to living environments. The exposome is expected to be important in cardiometabolic health trajectories include climate risks such as pollutants, extreme temperatures, and access to green spaces. Emerging factors related to climate change and environmental degradation, such as microplastics and organic pollutants, have plausible causal pathways to cardiometabolic diseases and require study. Health-related behaviours connected to climate-related issues may also be important. Adding further complexity, social inequalities in climate- and pollution-related exposures likely contribute to inequalities in health.  

The focus of the PhD project will be to establish, using population-based data and novel methodology, how climate change relates to disease onset and whether green transitions can improve health. The PhD scholar will use a newly developed data infrastructure from the SoGreen Project, with population-representative major European datasets (eg. GGP, SHARE, ESS, Lifelines). The project will leverage health indicators across the lifespan, geo-spatial data on climate, and individual engagement with green transitions behaviours.

What you will be doing

In this four year project, you will:

•    Carry out cutting-edge academic research within an international team of researchers.
•    Publish national and international journal articles, resulting in a PhD thesis.
•    Participate in, and present at (inter-)national scientific meetings
•    Contribute to the project, including dissemination and communication activities aimed at policymakers, stakeholders, and the general public.

What you will be contributing

We are looking for a PhD candidate with strong quantitative research skills, experience working with large datasets, and a passion for demography. The candidate should have received a Research Masters degree in demography, sociology, economics, geography, epidemiology and should have very strong written and oral scientific English proficiency. Intellectual curiosity, engagement with research questions, creativity, and analytical rigor are central. Candidates with skills in advanced statistical methods and programming (e.g., Stata or R), experience working with longitudinal and survey data are preferred.  

What do we offer?

We offer a 1-year contract which will be extended by 3 additional years after a positive evaluation. The PhD position offers close supervision, excellent training opportunities, and a solid foundation for an academic or research-oriented career.

Your workplace 

The work climate is based on mutual respect, openness, and collaboration. The institute consists of about 80 employees of different levels of seniority.

NIDI comprises five thematic groups: (1) Families & gender, (2) Migrants & migration, (3) Demographic change and the labour market, (4) Health, ageing and mortality, (5) Data infrastructure and open science. Each group has approximately 10-15 members. 

Application procedure 

Candidates are invited to submit their application in English or Dutch. Applications must include:

•    A motivation letter.
•    A full curriculum vitae
•    Full grade list of the (research) Master and Bachelor programs of graduation.
•    One or more samples of written work (e.g., master thesis, course paper)
•    Names and contact details of two referees

The deadline for submitting your application is 9 June, 2026. You may address your application to the institute director, Prof. dr. H de Valk.

More information

For additional information, you may contact Prof. dr. Solveig Cunningham (Cunningham[at]nidi.nl). 

About NIDI
The Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) is a leading European demographic research institute. NIDI is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and affiliated with the University of Groningen. It is located in the center of The Hague providing a unique and stimulating research environment in the broad field of population studies. Currently the staff of the institute consists of about 65 employees of different levels of seniority and organized in a rather horizontal structure within five thematic research groups. The working environment is highly international and NIDI provides ample opportunities for training and development.

Terms of employment
Depending on education and experience the minimum salary is 3.059 and the maximum salary is 3.881 gross per month for a full-time appointment (scale P cao Nederlandse Universiteiten/KNAW). This is exclusive of 8% vacation allowance, 8.3% year-end bonus, travel allowance, internet allowance, home working allowance and pension accrual with ABP.

The KNAW offers its staff an excellent package of secondary benefits. A package that meets the different needs of employees depending on their stage of life, lifestyle or career ambitions. For example, by working an extra two hours a week, it is possible to increase the number of days off from 29 to 41 days a year (with full-time employment). 

For a complete overview of the terms of employment, please refer to the web page: werken bij de KNAW.

Applying for a Certificate of Good Conduct can be part of the employment procedure.

Diversity & Inclusion
The KNAW considers a working environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated of great importance. A working environment in which attention is paid to individual quality and where development opportunities are paramount. Together we strive for an inclusive culture in which we embrace differences. We would therefore like to invite candidates who want to contribute to this through their background and experience. In the event of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who thus enhances diversity within the Academy.

We will not respond to any supplier enquiries based on this job advertisement.