Published: [contact details available in the full listing] Vacancy ID: 4056
Job description
The Earth Systems and Global Change Group at Wageningen University and Research invites applications for a PhD position (4 years) in a challenging project titled: “Modelling impacts of agricultural practices on soil ecosystem services across Europe”.
Preserving and restoring agricultural sustainability in Europe requires a monitoring framework quantifying how single and combined agricultural management practices affect European soil ecosystem services. The project aims to develop site specific recommendations for the implementation of agricultural practices in arable farming systems that enhance their contribution to a sustainable environment. The project is part of an ongoing European research project with 17 research partners. By finetuning and extending existing regional soil health assessment frameworks to assess the integrative contribution of crop, soil, nutrient and water management practices, this project will deliver new knowledge to enable farmers and policy makers to improve the ecosystem services the soil supplies, and to enable decision-makers to explore scenario outcomes, assess impacts and incorporate the results into soil quality related policy recommendations at national and EU level.
Your duties and responsibilities include:
As a PhD researcher, you will expand and improve an existing modelling framework to assess carbon and nutrient flows, and soil functions contributing to multiple ecosystem services, and the impact of management measures on regional level, assembling empirical and process-based algorithms considering agronomic and environmental impacts. You contribute to the following activities:
- Develop a model to simulate and upscale impact of the combinations of farming practices on soil ecosystem services for regional / EU level
- Perform an integrated spatial assessment of soil ecosystem services and adoption of farming practices, identifying synergies and trade off among arable farming practices in view of multiple ecosystem services
- Assess the impact of co-created adoption policies / measurement packages at farm system level
You will work here
The research is embedded within the chair Earth Systems and Global Change Group, which is led by Prof. dr. Hannah van Zanten and Prof. dr. Nynke Hofstra. You will be supervised by Dr. Gerard Ros, Dr. Mengru Wang and Prof. dr. Hannah van Zanten from Wageningen University, and Prof Dr. Erik Meers from Ghent University.
Requirements
You are/have the following:
- knowledge of soil health, nutrient and/or agrochemical cycles in agriculture;
- experience in quantitative modeling and programming (e.g., R, python);
- excellent scientific writing skills in English;
- experience with publishing peer-reviewed academic journals is appreciated;
- good organizational and intercultural communication skills;
- willingness to travel across Europe.
You also possess:
- a successfully completed MSc degree in environmental sciences, agricultural studies, or similar with a strong quantitative background;
- enthusiasm for collaborating with an interdisciplinary team of researchers with diverse backgrounds and disciplines;
- the entry requirements of the WUR PhD programme;
- enthusiasm to do a PhD project at Wageningen University for four years.
For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language.
Conditions of employment
Fixed-term contract: 4 years.
Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:
- Partially paid parental leave;
- working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
- there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
- a fixed year-end bonus of 8.3%;
- excellent pension scheme.
In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.
The gross salary for the first year is € 3,204,- per month rising to € 4,051,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.
We encourage development and internal mobility within our organisation. Our recruitment and selection policy sets out the conditions that apply specifically to you as a (former) employee. If you have any questions, we are happy to help.
You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment.
Employer
Wageningen University & Research
The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.
Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below to get an idea of our green campus!
We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.
Additional information
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.
Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.
Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account, dual career programs or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.
Join us and come work at WUR
At Wageningen University & Research, you work at improving the quality of life. Together with your colleagues, you seek to answer the challenges within our domain 'healthy food and living environment.'
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