PhD Position in Economics

VU University of Amsterdam

Your function

The Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) has a new position for a PhD student in the field of environmental economics. As PhD student you will become part of the new interdisciplinary Horizon Europe project ‘Management of Coastal Networks Nurtured through Ecosystem assessment, Collaboration and Technology’ (m-CONNECT). It focuses on interconnected coastal seascapes (CMS-metasystems), i.e. coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses, and their role in supporting ecosystem services and climate resilience. The project aims to better understand how different forms of ecological connectivity influence services like fisheries, coastal protection and carbon storage. Working with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, the project will develop science-based, locally informed guidelines for conserving and restoring these systems across islands in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific.

The main tasks for you as PhD within the project are to:

• Design and apply economic valuation methods to assess the value of ecosystem services provided by coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses, including tourism, fisheries, coastal protection, carbon storage, and biodiversity.
• Conduct empirical research in selected case study sites using stated preference methods (e.g. discrete choice experiments) to derive non-marketed benefits among local communities.
• Support approaches to extrapolate local natural capital valuations to broader spatial scales, supporting regional policy applications.
• Apply societal cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to evaluate the economic viability, trade-offs, and distributional impacts of different conservation and restoration strategies across stakeholders.
• Compile and analyse global data on restoration costs and financing instruments through systematic literature review and stakeholder engagement.
• Design and assess innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms to support long-term conservation and restoration.

You will work closely with ecologists, social scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. An interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary mindset, as well as strong communication skills, are therefore essential.

Your duties

• You publish research results in international peer-reviewed journals
• You teach for 0.1 FTE in Bachelor and/or Master’s educational programmes and supervise Bachelor and Master students
• You contribute to project tasks, meetings and activities
• You present your research findings, for example at international conferences

Your profile

• You have an MSc degree in (environmental) economics, environmental science or a related discipline
• You possess quantitative statistical and/or econometric skills
• You have excellent writing and verbal communication skills in English
• You have organizational, communicative and connective skills that allow you to collaborate with a wide variety of academic and societal actors
• You are interested in doing cutting-edge scientific research

Nice to have

• Affinity with environmental sustainability-related topics
• Experience with socio-economic experiment and/or survey design

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

What do we offer?

An interesting position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• a salary of € 3.059,00 (PhD scale 85.0) and maximum € 3.881,00 (PhD scale 85.3) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment.
• an employment contract of initially 1 year. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and arrangements. Some examples:

• a full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• solid pension scheme (ABP)
• contribution to commuting expenses
• optional model for designing a personalised benefits package

Additionally, we also offer a PhD education programme including training for teaching assistants and courses that are part of the SENSE graduate school.

Interested

Are you interested in this position and do you believe that your experience will contribute to the further development of our university? In that case, we encourage you to submit your application.

IMPORTANT: Motivation letter should be limited to 1 page, resumés to 2 pages. Motivation letters generated with ChatGPT or other AI language tools will not be considered.

Submitting a diploma and a reference check are part of the application process.

Reference letters can either be uploaded with your application, or you can list the contact information of two references in your CV or cover letter.

Applications received by e-mail will not be considered.

Acquisition in response to this advertisement is not appreciated.

Questions about the vacancy?

Please contact

Dr. Peter Robinson
Assistant Professor

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