Join us!
Leadership in today’s organizations takes place in complex and uncertain environments, where followers constantly interpret what leaders say—and what they do not say—as signals about trust, competence, and intent.
In this PhD project, we examine how leaders influence follower outcomes through the way they regulate information. While transparency is widely seen as beneficial, too much or poorly timed openness can create confusion, overload, and reduced credibility. At the same time, silence is not neutral: when leaders withhold information, followers actively interpret the absence of communication, often increasing uncertainty and speculation.
We bring these perspectives together in a unified framework of leader information regulation, ranging from silence to transparency. Central to this project is the concept of calibrated transparency: the ability of leaders to adapt the timing, amount, and framing of communication to what followers need in a given situation.
We will investigate when transparency helps or hurts, when silence becomes a meaningful signal, and how leaders can best calibrate their communication to support trust, psychological safety, and performance. Using diverse (quantitative) methods, we will study both the mechanisms and boundary conditions of these effects.
The result is a new understanding of leadership information regulation: not as a matter of more or less information, but as a question of how leaders shape meaning in conditions of uncertainty.
This is what you will be doing
You will be appointed by the Amsterdam Business School and your main task is to pursue and complete a PhD thesis within the appointed duration of four years.
Main duties and responsibilities:
- Follow PhD level coursework;
- Actively collaborate with the researchers from the Amsterdam Business School;
- Present research findings at international conferences;
- Submit your work to prestigious management science journals;
- Assist in teaching activities, such as tutorials and MSc thesis supervision.
This is what we ask of you
Formal requirements:
- Masters’ degree in the area of business (business studies, business administration, management, HRM) or applied psychology (work and organizational psychology) with excellent grades and a demonstrable interest in the area of organizational behaviour and/or human resources management.
Task-related requirements:
- Interest (and preferably experience) in field research, including studies focusing on organisations;
- Well-developed analytical skills, creativity, precision, and perseverance;
- The drive to publish in top-level academic journals in the field of management and organizational behaviour;
- Excellent Mastery of both written and spoken English.
Additional requirements:
- Strong motivation to pursue an international career as a leading scholar;
- Ability to balance academic contributions, managerial relevance, and scientific integrity;
- Intellectual curiosity, eagerness to learn, and openness to feedback.
This is what we offer you
- A role in which your own initiative and input is strongly valued;
- An expert supervisory team with experience in supervising PhD students and publishing in top tier journals;
- A truly international context and participation in a project with high academic and societal impact;
- An enthusiastic, welcoming, and supportive department of faculty and PhD students;
- A vibrant, international work environment in the centre of Amsterdam.
A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years).This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis).
The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and ranges between €3,059 (1st year) to €3,881 (last year), scale P. This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The UFO profile Promovendus is applicable. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.
ThecollectivebargainingagreementofDutchuniversitiesapplies.
The UvA has an extensive package of fringe benefits, including:
- 29 days' holiday with full employment & extra holidays between Christmas and the New Year;
- Excellent work (from home) facilities;
- reimbursement of commuting expenses;
- pension accrual with ABP;
- In addition, the UvA offers excellent study and development opportunities and encourages employees to continue their professional development;
- You may participate in the open UvA lectures with which you can earn up to 30 credits per year.
This is where you’ll be working
Education and research at UvA Economics and Business (EB) covers a wide range of fields that includes economics, data science, business administration, business analytics, accountancy, control, econometrics, finance and entrepreneurship. This is organised in 2 Schools: the Amsterdam Business School (ABS) and the Amsterdam School of Economics (ASE). Over 7,000 students are enrolled in our UvA Economics and Business programmes and around 500 employees provide education and support.
Find more information about Economics and Business on uva.nl/eb.
Find more information about the Amsterdam Business School on abs.uva.nl.
Find more information about the Amsterdam School of Economics on ase.uva.nl.
The offered position is within the section Leadership & Management, which is currently home to around 25 faculty members, in addition to a number of PhD candidates and affiliated faculty. ABS has excellent corporate contacts within and outside of Amsterdam and utilizes these contacts in research and curricular activities. The section also offers the opportunity to be associated with its research and impact centres, such as ARLead (responsible leadership) and APAC (people analytics). In addition, ABS has its own behavioural research laboratory.
Are you interested in academic research and looking to make an impact on how leadership is understood and practiced in organizations? Do you enjoy developing theory-driven, empirical research that helps explain how leaders influence follower trust, uncertainty, and performance? Would you like to be part of a vibrant research community in Amsterdam? Then we have the right position for you!
Join us!
Leadership in today’s organizations takes place in complex and uncertain environments, where followers constantly interpret what leaders say—and what they do not say—as signals about trust, competence, and intent.
In this PhD project, we examine how leaders influence follower outcomes through the way they regulate information. While transparency is widely seen as beneficial, too much or poorly timed openness can create confusion, overload, and reduced credibility. At the same time, silence is not neutral: when leaders withhold information, followers actively interpret the absence of communication, often increasing uncertainty and speculation.
We bring these perspectives together in a unified framework of leader information regulation, ranging from silence to transparency. Central to this project is the concept of calibrated transparency: the ability of leaders to adapt the timing, amount, and framing of communication to what followers need in a given situation.
We will investigate when transparency helps or hurts, when silence becomes a meaningful signal, and how leaders can best calibrate their communication to support trust, psychological safety, and performance. Using diverse (quantitative) methods, we will study both the mechanisms and boundary conditions of these effects.
The result is a new understanding of leadership information regulation: not as a matter of more or less information, but as a question of how leaders shape meaning in conditions of uncertainty.
This is what you will be doing
You will be appointed by the Amsterdam Business School and your main task is to pursue and complete a PhD thesis within the appointed duration of four years.
Main duties and responsibilities:
- Follow PhD level coursework;
- Actively collaborate with the researchers from the Amsterdam Business School;
- Present research findings at international conferences;
- Submit your work to prestigious management science journals;
- Assist in teaching activities, such as tutorials and MSc thesis supervision.
This is what we ask of you
Formal requirements:
- Masters’ degree in the area of business (business studies, business administration, management, HRM) or applied psychology (work and organizational psychology) with excellent grades and a demonstrable interest in the area of organizational behaviour and/or human resources management.
Task-related requirements:
- Interest (and preferably experience) in field research, including studies focusing on organisations;
- Well-developed analytical skills, creativity, precision, and perseverance;
- The drive to publish in top-level academic journals in the field of management and organizational behaviour;
- Excellent Mastery of both written and spoken English.
Additional requirements:
- Strong motivation to pursue an international career as a leading scholar;
- Ability to balance academic contributions, managerial relevance, and scientific integrity;
- Intellectual curiosity, eagerness to learn, and openness to feedback.
This is what we offer you
- A role in which your own initiative and input is strongly valued;
- An expert supervisory team with experience in supervising PhD students and publishing in top tier journals;
- A truly international context and participation in a project with high academic and societal impact;
- An enthusiastic, welcoming, and supportive department of faculty and PhD students;
- A vibrant, international work environment in the centre of Amsterdam.
A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years).This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis).
The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and ranges between €3,059 (1st year) to €3,881 (last year), scale P. This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The UFO profile Promovendus is applicable. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.
ThecollectivebargainingagreementofDutchuniversitiesapplies.
The UvA has an extensive package of fringe benefits, including:
- 29 days' holiday with full employment & extra holidays between Christmas and the New Year;
- Excellent work (from home) facilities;
- reimbursement of commuting expenses;
- pension accrual with ABP;
- In addition, the UvA offers excellent study and development opportunities and encourages employees to continue their professional development;
- You may participate in the open UvA lectures with which you can earn up to 30 credits per year.
This is where you’ll be working
Education and research at UvA Economics and Business (EB) covers a wide range of fields that includes economics, data science, business administration, business analytics, accountancy, control, econometrics, finance and entrepreneurship. This is organised in 2 Schools: the Amsterdam Business School (ABS) and the Amsterdam School of Economics (ASE). Over 7,000 students are enrolled in our UvA Economics and Business programmes and around 500 employees provide education and support.
Find more information about Economics and Business on uva.nl/eb.
Find more information about the Amsterdam Business School on abs.uva.nl.
Find more information about the Amsterdam School of Economics on ase.uva.nl.
The offered position is within the section Leadership & Management, which is currently home to around 25 faculty members, in addition to a number of PhD candidates and affiliated faculty. ABS has excellent corporate contacts within and outside of Amsterdam and utilizes these contacts in research and curricular activities. The section also offers the opportunity to be associated with its research and impact centres, such as ARLead (responsible leadership) and APAC (people analytics). In addition, ABS has its own behavioural research laboratory.
Do you recognize yourself in the profile and are you interested in the position? We are curious to hear from you and look forward to receiving your cover letter and resume.
For questions about the position please contact Emma van Gerven, e.j.g.vangerven@uva.nl
Also important!
- We would like to receive a cover letter and resume as a pdf file.
- The response period closes on May 22, 2026. Applications that we receive after the response deadline, that are not sent through the link, or are not complete, we unfortunately cannot consider.
- The first round of interviews will take place June 5 and in the week of June 8, 2026.
