The post-doc will examine the emergence of distinct emotions in infants and young children across cultures using both qualitative (e.g., interviews) and quantitative methods (e.g., observations, daily diary studies, social media video analysis). The project will address a range of emotions, including envy, awe, schadenfreude, disappointment, excitement, elevation, interest and worry.

You will:

• Develop methods to study the emergence of infants’ and young children’s emotions using both subjective (e.g., caregivers’ reports) and objective methods (e.g., behavioural observations);
• Design and conduct cross-cultural and field (e.g., in daycares) studies;
• Process data and conduct a range of statistical analyses;
• Write high-quality scientific articles together with other project members and present at conferences.

As well as being hosted in the supportive research atmosphere of the Research Institute of Child Development and Education at the University of Amsterdam, the post-doc will have the opportunity to establish research connections with international collaborators.

The post-doc will conduct their research under the supervision of Dr Milica Nikolic at the University of Amsterdam and engage with her research group as part of Dr Nikolic’s ERC-funded project EMODEV: The emergence of distinct emotions in human development. Dr Nikolic’s research group is part of Developmental Psychopathology group at the Research Institute of Child Development and Education. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr Disa Sauter at Oxford University, as well as other international collaborators.

The position includes allowances for research expenses and travel and subsistence costs toward project-specific travel, including international research visits and conferences.

You are:

• Curious and eager to learn;
• Motivated to share your knowledge with academic and non-academic audiences;
• Strongly committed to methodological rigor and scientific integrity;
• Willing and able to travel internationally (costs will be covered by the project grant).

You have:

• (or are about to obtain) a PhD in Psychology, Child Development, Cognitive Science or related field;
•  expertise on early child development and/or emotions;
• demonstrated experience with designing, conducting, and publishing high-quality quantitative research;
• good programming skills (in R or similar);
• experience in and/or commitment to engage in open science;
• excellent written and spoken English;
• excellent research project management skills;
• experience with experience sampling, behavioural observations, social media analysis, computational methods, and/or cross-cultural research is advantageous.

• a position in which initiative and input are highly valued;
• an enthusiastic and warm team that is open to new colleagues;
• an inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam.