[DATAGOV Core] update: hiring South African case

[Stefania Milan]

how cool. sorry for my confusion. do you know what contract he is in? would he have time for us?
Of course, any way to vet people before hand (since they will work from afar) is very valuable.. sometimes CV doesn’t say much.

From: Jonas Breuer <j.a.breuer at uva.nl>
Date: Wednesday, 8 July 2026 at 11:01
To: Stefania Milan <S.Milan at uva.nl>; Core Datagov <core at lists.datagovlab.net>
Subject: Re: update: hiring South African case

Of course. This guy, Wouter, is based in Cape Town.
He’s leading a “living lab” there and has a joint phd Cape Town/Brussels.





From: Stefania Milan <S.Milan at uva.nl>
Date: Wednesday, 8 July 2026 at 10:51
To: Jonas Breuer <j.a.breuer at uva.nl>; Core Datagov <core at lists.datagovlab.net>
Subject: Re: update: hiring South African case

Thanks. Remember the person will have to be based in SA.

From: Core <core-bounces at lists.datagovlab.net> on behalf of Jonas Breuer via Core <core at lists.datagovlab.net>
Date: Wednesday, 8 July 2026 at 10:49
To: Core Datagov <core at lists.datagovlab.net>
Subject: Re: [DATAGOV Core] update: hiring South African case

I “know” this guy from my research center at VUB: https://www.linkedin.com/in/woutergrove/

As far as I remember, he was very friendly and professional. I am not sure if he himself (too innovation/industry driven?) would be an interesting candidate but we could ask him for contacts.

I’ll think more.





From: Core <core-bounces at lists.datagovlab.net> on behalf of Stefania Milan via Core <core at lists.datagovlab.net>
Date: Wednesday, 8 July 2026 at 03:32
To: Core Datagov <core at lists.datagovlab.net>
Subject: [DATAGOV Core] update: hiring South African case

Dear all

After many meetings, the UvA kindly agrees with me, that hiring a postdoc locally to do work in SA is not a desirable proposition.
We are therefore allowed to recruit a postdoc who will work from SA, on a deliverable basis (in ERC language, this is subcontracting). It allows us to involve someone for a longer stretch of time.
Now, this will happen from January 2027, but we need to already start thinking about WHOM that person might be.
Many of the practicalities are still being worked out (duration, budget, etc) but I would like to already ask you to think along and send my name potential names of great people to work with: people who can work independently, who are enthusiastic and willing to collaborate with a remote team, and above all, fine human beings. Probably there will be no public call (still to be decided). We should also start thinking about potential interesting development to be studied in SA, although of course the expectation is that someone on the ground will have better insights (but we know the potential comparisons and synergies…)

Keep your eyes open!
Cheers, st.
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