Public sector innovation through collaboration: opportunity for PhD Candidates

For the inter-university research project ‘Public sector innovation through collaboration (PSI-CO)’ we are looking for

Three PhD candidates

for research into

Public Sector Innovation through Collaboration

Confronted with major budgetary pressures and grand societal challenges, governments increasingly engage and set-up collaborative interaction within and across governmental levels and with societal actors. These cooperation forms are used to stimulate innovation in policy and service delivery, which in turn can be viewed as a means to deal with the budgetary pressures and social challenges.

The interuniversity consortium ‘Public Sector Innovation through Collaboration’ (2016-2020), coordinated by Professor Koen Verhoest (UAntwerpen) consists of four Belgian universities and one Dutch university and is funded by the BRAIN program. The partners will work together and study how specific collaborative arrangements can lead to innovation and how the Belgian federal government and other governments can support and enhance these collaborations. Both Belgian and foreign collaborative practices in different policy domains will be investigated, using case studies, surveys and action research (Living Labs methodology). The research aims to generate both fundamental/scientific insights (PhDs and publications) and policy-oriented insights (recommendations for Belgian federal government and/or other governments).

Within the PSI-CO interuniversity consortium we have three vacancies for doctoral researchers (PhD scholarships):

•       The research group ‘Public Administration & Management’ (Prof. dr. Koen Verhoest – University of Antwerp, Department of Political Sciences) is looking for a doctoral researcher to analyse how collaboration by public organizations within and across governmental levels can lead to innovations in policy and service delivery, and how a government can facilitate, govern and improve such collaborative arrangements. Link to vacancy – deadline 22 January 2016:
  https://www.uantwerpen.be/nl/jobs/vacatures/ap/2015bapfswef316/
•       The ‘Public Governance Institute’ (Prof. dr. Trui Steen – KULeuven) is looking for a doctoral researcher to analyse how coproduction with external stakeholders (citizens, non-profit organizations, companies) can lead to innovations in policy and service delivery, and which organizational conditions are crucial for governments to facilitate this. Link to vacancy - deadline 22 January 2016: https://icts.kuleuven.be/apps/jobsite/vacatures/53584419
•       The research group ‘Centre Montesquieu d’étude de l’action publique’ (Prof.dr. David Aubin - ‘Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Institut de sciences politiques Louvain-Europe’) is looking for a doctoral researcher to analyse how the individual policy officers and public managers behave and learn in collaborative arrangements, and how their skills and attitudes can stimulate innovation in policy and service delivery in such arrangements. Link to vacancy – deadline 11 January 2016: https://www.uclouvain.be/481550.html

There are two other partners involved in the research. SPIRAL (prof.dr. Cathérine Fallon, Université de Liège, department Political Sciences) will be coordinating the action research through the Living Lab methodology. Erasmus University Rotterdom (prof.dr. Victor Bekkers and Dr. Lars Tummers) will provide an international benchmark of the research findings.

Applications are to be submitted online by 11 January 2016 in  case of the application for the Louvain-La-Neuve position, and by 22 January 2016 in case of the application for the UAntwerpen and KULeuven positions. If desired, candidates are allowed to apply to more than one vacancy. For more information please look at the separate vacancies on the websites of the three universities. Specific application requirements, job descriptions, profile requirements and what we offer can be read here as well. 

Please pay attention to the language requirements: candidates are assumed to have knowledge of Dutch or French (depending on the vacant post they apply for).

Please forward this to any interested potential candidates - also candidates who aim to finalise their master in June-July 2016 might apply.

The research team,

Koen Verhoest, Trui Steen, David Aubin, Cathérine Fallon, Victors Bekkers en Lars Tummers