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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Historical Data Specialist - **Company:** Radboud Universiteit - **Location:** Nijmegen, Netherlands (Remote available) - **Contract:** Temporary contract - **Skills:** Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Data Infrastructure, Data Mining, Python (Programming Language), Linked Data, Technical Data Management Systems, Programming Languages - **Published:** May 21, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.careerjet.nl/jobad/nleb7ebbda6a87d7613f6cbe8502889b61 ## About the Role * You hold a Master's degree in Data Science, History, Demography, or a related discipline. * You are able to read Dutch historical sources or are willing to obtain this skill. * You are familiar with programming languages such as R or Python, or a willing to obtain this skill. * You have knowledge of Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) programmes will be considered an advantage (e.g. Transkribus, Loghi). * You have knowledge of the generation of persistent identifiers (PIDs) and Linked Open Data (LOD) will be considered an advantage. * You are curious and eager to increase your skill set. * You thrive in a collaborative and interdisciplinary academic environment. You can work both independently and together with your project colleagues. * You have a good command of both Dutch and English. ## Description Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No Offer Description Help as a historical data scientist and researcher to reconstruct the life histories of enslaved and free people in the former Dutch colonies. In the Chains of the Past project, we build a large-scale data infrastructure that connects historical sources to transform our understanding of the colonial past and enable new scientific and genealogical research. Preferably as a postdoc, but due to the specialized nature of this position, we also invite qualified candidates without a PhD to apply. 'Chains of the Past' sits at the frontier of digital historical research. By processing thousands of historical handwritten documents, this project builds a data infrastructure that will support future research into the lives of enslaved and free people in the former Dutch colonies. As a data specialist, you will help lay the foundations for this new and innovative research landscape. Applying already existing technical data extraction methods to colonial archives requires creativity and critical thinking. Historical sources are fragmented, shaped by colonial power relations, and often difficult to interpret computationally. Your role is to bridge the worlds of programming and historical interpretation: developing robust entity recognition methods while remaining attentive to the historical context that gives meaning to the data. We therefore seek someone who is eager to learn and likes working in interdisciplinary teams and settings. If desired, we are happy to support you to develop your own research ideas. Using and further developing existing data extraction models in R and/or Python, you will help connect individual observations from different sources, enabling the reconstruction of life histories of both enslaved and free people in the colonial context. Together with key stakeholders such as the Dutch Digital Heritage Network (NDE) and the National Archives of the Netherlands, Suriname and Curaçao, you will also develop a strategy to generate sustainable and persistent identifiers (PIDs) for historical person reconstructions. These identifiers will make it possible to easily follow people across multiple archival sources and colonial contexts. To support this work, you will develop and publish Linked Open Data (LOD) that ensures the data can be reused and connected within the wider digital heritage ecosystem. 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