PhD Position on "Mental disorders as harmful stable states"

PhD Position on “Mental disorders as harmful stable states”

The departments Clinical Psychology and Methodology & Statistics, at the Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, invite applications for a

PhD Position in the context of the NWO Zwaartekracht consortium New Science of Mental Disorders: Mental disorders as harmful stable states (1 fte, 4 years)

The PhD candidate will be working within the NWO-funded Zwaartekracht consortium “New Science of Mental Disorders”, and supervised by Prof. Dr. Eiko Fried (Clinical Psychology and Methodology & Statistics, Leiden University) and Prof. Dr. Janna Cousijn (School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam). Co-supervisors are Dr. Jonas Haslbeck (Psychological Methods, University of Amsterdam) and Dr. Bart Verkuil (Clinical Psychology, Leiden University). The appointment will start around November 2026.

The overall project

The NSMD consortium studies mental disorders as dynamical systems. In its current phase, NSMD focuses on developing and testing network-informed treatment for individuals with mental health problems. This is done in many single-case experimental designs (SCEDs). The program aims to translate network theory, intensive longitudinal methods, complexity science, and clinical expertise into more personalized and effective forms of intervention.

The PhD position

This research project, embedded within a large interdisciplinary team, investigates a central claim of network theory: that mental health problems may become self-maintaining, harmful attractor states, in which symptoms, behaviours, and contextual factors reinforce each other over time. This idea of harmful attractors has been a central tenet in the field, but direct empirical tests remain scarce. This speaks to crucial aspects of the phenomenology of mental illness broadly. The project will use existing intensive longitudinal patient data from NSMD and other projects to identify recurring within-person mental health states, study their persistence and transitions, and examine whether such attractor states predict clinically relevant outcomes such as relapse, comorbidity burden, symptom severity, and functioning. In the final part of the project, the PhD candidate will use NSMD SCED data currently being collected to investigate whether we can improve the effects of network-informed interventions by leveraging information on attractor states. There will also be room for creative input from the candidate to shape the project.

Key responsibilities

• Investigating attractor states in time-series data of patients with a variety of mental health problems; characterizing these states; analyzing if they predict clinically relevant outcomes, and if they can improve treatments
• Completing a PhD thesis in English within 4 years
• Putting together and analyzing a database of time-series data of people diagnosed with mental disorders
• Participation in regular meetings of the research group and associated departments
• Working collaboratively to achieve joint research projects within the research group
• Publication of several articles in peer-reviewed journals
• Presenting these papers at conferences, both in the Netherlands and internationally
• Participation in the Graduate School at our faculty, and, if of interest, participation in either the (more clinical) Dutch-Belgian Research School Experimental Psychopathology or the (more statistical) Interuniversity Graduate School of Psychometrics and Sociometrics
• Participation in the NSMD consortium and other initiatives the supervisory team is involved in, offering lots of opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange in the domains of mental health science, network science, time-series analyses, and complexity science

Where you will work

What you bring

What you bring (required)

• Master’s degree and excellent track record in Clinical Psychology, Quantitative Psychology, Statistics, Data Science, or a related study program
• Strong analytic and statistical skills, ideally with time-series data
• Strong statistical programming skills
• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Interpersonal and communication skills to effectively collaborate and communicate in academia

What you bring (desired)

• Experience with collecting and analyzing ecological momentary assessment data
• Experience with interdisciplinary research between mental health science and statistics
• Experience with network models, systems science, or complexity science
• Experience with open science practices (e.g. data and code sharing)

What we offer

We also offer:

• We offer a full-time 1-year term position for initially one year. After a positive evaluation of the progress of the thesis, personal capabilities and compatibility, the appointment will be extended by a further three years. This contract falls under the CLA of Dutch Universities
• A salary between €3059 - €3881 gross per month, based on a full-time appointment (38 hours) (PhD student);
• A holiday allowance (8%), an end-of-year bonus (8,3%), and an attractive pension scheme at ABP;
• Full reimbursement of public transport commuting costs for home-to-work travel;
• Flexible working hours: as a standard, you are entitled to a minimum of 29 leave days on the basis of a full-time working week of 38 hours; you can also save for extra leave, for example by working 40 hours a week, and in this way accrue an extra 96 leave hours, or exchange 96 leave hours for a 36-hour week.
• If your work allows it, hybrid working is possible within the Netherlands;
• A home-working allowance (day and internet allowance) and attention for good workplaces. The University will also provide you with a laptop and a mobile telephone.

What we value

Diversity and inclusion are integral to the future of psychological science. Those from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in science are especially encouraged to apply.  

Want to apply or find out more?

• In choosing between candidates, in case of equal suitability, preference will be given to internal candidates, women, the occupationally disabled and employees with a migration background.
• You live and are officially registered as resident in The Netherlands or are willing to relocate upon starting the position.
• A pre-employment screening (references, diplomas, certificate of good conduct (VOG)) may be part of the selection procedure.
• Acquisition in response to this vacancy is not appreciated. If you nevertheless choose to send us CVs, no rights can be derived from this. #LI-Hybrid