PhD candidate to conduct ethnographic research on smart farming

Job Description

Smart farming refers to the use of digital technologies to automate various agricultural practices ranging from planting to the application of fertilizers and pesticides to harvesting, and it is an increasingly important area of both public and private investment. Although smart farming is often pitched as enhancing productivity and increasing yields, anthropologists and political ecologists have recently begun to identify the role these technologies play in shifting the power relations between farm workers, farm managers, and investors, while also changing the practices of agriculture and their environmental impacts. Advances in sensor technology, robotics and artificial intelligence are leading to the datafication, digitalization, and automation of agricultural production in ways that are at once both novel and part of a much longer history of the political economy and ecology of changing agricultural technologies. 

Drawing on case studies in the Netherlands and/or Flanders, the PhD researcher will undertake in-depth ethnographic research among people involved in the development, promotion, and use of smart farming technologies, with a particular emphasis on the perspectives and experiences of farmers and their role in these interconnected processes. 

Through an analysis of the cases, the project will explore the role that digital technologies play in the spatial, temporal and cultural mediation of agricultural landscapes and the actors who inhabit them. In collaboration with the supervision team, the PhD researcher will study sustainability discourses around digital technologies in agriculture and the promises and expectations, future visions, hopes and fears attributed to them by key actors (such as farmers and farm workers, policy makers, tech companies, etc). Furthermore, this project takes an interest in how the past, present and future are (discursively) connected in the current practices of embedding digital technologies in agriculture: how may existing ways of organizing and doing agriculture ‘clash’ with new practices that follow from the embedding of digital technology, and how do people working in the agricultural sector engage with these technologies?
 

Requirements

The position is open to candidates with backgrounds in STS, anthropology and/or human geography with experience developing and carrying out qualitative research projects. Proficiency in Dutch is preferred. The PhD candidate will be supervised by Dr. Matthew Archer (primary supervisor) and Prof. Dr. Anique Hommels (promotor) and will be based in the Department of Society Studies and the Maastricht University STS (MUSTS) research group. 

The PhD candidate will be expected to design and carry out an ethnographic research project on smart farming in the Netherlands and/or Belgium, which will form the basis of the dissertation.

What we offer
As a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, you will be employed by the most international university in the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you:

• Good employment conditions. The position is graded according to UFO profile PhD, with corresponding salary from €2901,00 in the first year and €3707,00 gross per month in the fourth year (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week). In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus apply.
• An employment contract for a period of 12 months with a scope of 1,0 FTE. Upon a positive evaluation, an extension of 3 years will follow. 
• At Maastricht University, the well-being of our employees is of utmost importance, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model. 
• As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students. 
• Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as 'acknowledge and appreciate'. 
   

The terms of employment at Maastricht University are largely set out in the collective labor agreement of Dutch Universities. In addition, local provisions specific to UM apply. For more information, click here.

Maastricht University
Why work at Maastricht University?
At Maastricht University (UM), everything revolves around the future. The future of our students, as we work to equip them with a solid, broad-based foundation for the rest of their lives. And the future of society, as we seek solutions through our research to issues from all around the world. Our six faculties combined provide a comprehensive package of study programmes and research.

In our teaching, we use the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method. Students work in small groups, looking for solutions to problems themselves. By discussing issues and working together to draw conclusions, formulate answers and present them to their peers, students develop essential skills for their future careers.

With over 22,300 students and more than 5,000 employees from all over the world, UM is home to a vibrant and inspiring international community.

Are you drawn to an international setting focused on education, science and scholarship? Are you keen to contribute however your skills and qualities allow? Our door is open to you! As a young European university, we value your talent and look forward to creating the future together.

Click here for more information about UM. 

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences FASoS is a close-knit community of approximately 250 staff members and 2100 students. During breaks and before meetings, you can often find us at our favourite local coffee spot Bandito Espresso.  
 

Communication lines within our faculty are short and colleagues are always ready to assist each other. FASoS consists of a highly international student population and a significant part of our staff comes from abroad. Our faculty offers four bachelor programs, eight masters programs and two research master programs that are all characterized by their interdisciplinary approach.
 

Our research institute studies societies and cultures as they have developed in the modern and contemporary periods. We adopt a radically interdisciplinary approach, analysing the interconnections between Europeanization, globalization, scientific and technological advancement, political change, and cultural innovation. 
 

In addition to teaching and research, our colleagues enjoy expressing themselves creatively. They create podcasts, write poetry as well as fiction. 
 

Working at FASoS means working in a challenging yet informal environment. We believe in crafting your own career path and are always ready to help you in making the most of your job. For more information about FASoS, you can visit our website FASoS
 

Department
The Department of Society Studies plays a key role in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences as a provider of knowledge and expertise in the interdisciplinary fields of Science, Technology and Society studies (STS) and Globalisation, Transnationalism and Development research. We combine insights from different disciplines to develop a better understanding of the key challenges of today’s societies.

About the research group 
The research program Maastricht University – Science, Technology and Society Studies (MUSTS) draws on a combination of philosophical, historical, sociological and anthropological approaches. The general question is how modern societies are constituted by science and technology, and how, vice versa, social and cultural conditions shape technological and scientific developments. The research focuses on the 20th and 21st centuries, with attention to the historical roots in the 17th-19th centuries.
 

Curious?
Are you interested in this exciting position but still have questions? Feel free to contact Matthew Archer via m.archer@maastrichtuniversity.nl for more information.

Applying?
Or are you already convinced and ready to become our new PhD candidate? Apply now, no later than 4 May 2025, for this position.

Please submit your motivation letter (max. 2 pages) and CV.

In addition, please include a one-page research proposal in which you outline your ethnographic research on smart farming. What are your ideas about possible research questions, methods, potential cases, and relevant theories?

The interviews will take place in the first week of June 2025 and a start date ideally in September 2025.

The vacancy is open for internal and external candidates. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be prioritized.

Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM, and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students. We encourage you to apply for this position.