Job opportunity: Student Assistant—Text as Data for Chinese Policy Research
For the Reading China Better project, we (Dr. Rogier Creemers and Mr. Vincent Brussee) are looking for a student assistant to help research how text as data methods can be used for the analysis of Chinese law, policy, and governance.
We offer the following opportunity:

• To contribute to an interdisciplinary project on contemporary China.
• To apply and develop skills conducting research on policy and governance in contemporary China, and specifically the ability to work with primary sources.
• Learn more about text-as-data methods and their use in China Studies.

Tasks will depend on the profile of the successful applicant, but may include:

• Conducting background research for the project, which can include identifying relevant (primary) sources and conducting literature reviews.
• Data management tasks, such as conducting data quality assessments.
• Testing digital tools and brainstorming ideas for improvement.
• Assisting with programming work, such as coding scrapers.
• Assisting with event management.

Requirements:

• Current master’s student or in the final stages of a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field. Relevant fields may include (but are not limited to): China Studies, political science, law, or digital humanities.
• A demonstrated interest in conducting research and in digital methods like web scraping and digital text analysis. Experience in programming is not required.
• Good Chinese language skills. Specifically: the ability to independently read and contextualize primary sources like official government documents.
• Available for 8 hours per week starting approx. January 2025 for min. half a year.
• Applicants must be permitted to work in the Netherlands. The position requires regular in-person presence in Leiden.

Advantages:

• Experience working with the specific sources used in this project: Chinese-language official documents, such as policy documents and legal texts.
• Programming experience, such as web scraping experience in Python.

Our Organization
Leiden Institute for Area Studies (https://www.hum.leiden.edu/lias/) is comprised of a School of Asian, a School of Middle-Eastern Studies and a School of Religious Studies, with international staff and student populations. The institute is committed to a present-day vision of area studies, integrating disciplinary and regional-historical perspectives on a solid foundation of excellent language skills. Current staff in LIAS has expertise in the fields of Anthropology, Archaeology, Art Studies, Buddhist Studies, Film Studies, History, International Relations, Language Pedagogy, Law, Linguistics, Literary Studies, Material Culture Studies, Performance Studies, Philology, Philosophy, Political Economy, Religious Studies, Sociology, and Visual Culture Studies

The Faculty of Humanities is rich in expertise in fields such as philosophy, religious studies, history, art history, literature, linguistics and area studies covering nearly every region of the world. With its staff of 995, the faculty provides 27 master’s and 25 bachelor’s programmes for over 7,000 students based at locations in Leiden and in The Hague. For more information: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/humanities.

Terms and Conditions
We offer a 0,2 fte position (7,6 hours per week) starting 1 January 2025 (6-12 months). The salary ranges from € 2.826.- gross per month for a BA3 student to €2.951 gross per month for an MA student, based on fulltime employment, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.
Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses (8.3 %).
Diversity
Fostering an inclusive community is a central element of the values and vision of Leiden University. Leiden University is committed to becoming an inclusive community which enables all students and staff to feel valued and respected and to develop their full potential. Diversity in experiences and perspectives enriches our teaching and strengthens our research. High quality teaching and research is inclusive.
Application:
We look forward to receiving your CV and a concise motivation letter as one PDF file by 30 November 2024. You can submit your application via the blue button in our application system.

For any questions, please contact Vincent Brussee at v.w.d.brussee@hum.leidenuniv.nl.