"PhD Position Incentives, Biodiversity and Food System Resilience at Meso-Scale"

Are you interested in researching how economic incentives, human behaviour, and land-use decisions shape biodiversity protection and sustainable food systems? Apply now for this PhD position at the Institute for Environmental Studies (VU).

Deadline: 9 Sep ’25

Published on: 21 Aug ’25

Vacancy ID: 5018

The twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss pose urgent challenges for sustainability, both regarding actions on the ground as well as how they add up to reach global targets. The way people manage land lies at the heart of these crises: they determine how ecosystems are managed, how biodiversity and ecosystem services are affected, and to what extent human demands are met.

Large-scale economic and land-use models have helped us understand global market dynamics and policy impacts. Yet, they often rely on assumptions of rational decision-making and overlook the diversity of behavioral drivers—such as institutional contexts, perceptions of risk and social norms—that strongly shape land-use outcomes and the ecosystem services they provide. In contrast, highly detailed local studies often fail to connect with broader feedbacks and system dynamics. The meso-scale (e.g., river basins or landscapes) is where these processes intersect, yet, this scale remains underexplored in sustainability science.

This PhD project will investigate how economic incentives and behavioural drivers interact to shape land-use decisions and their consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Using real-world cases, the selected candidate will investigate how economic incentives interact with behavioral and social drivers to shape land-use decisions at meso-scale. This research will help identify which policies and incentives can foster effective nature restoration, strengthen ecosystem resilience, and support sustainable food systems.

The work will be carried out at the IVM, at the departments of Environmental Geography and Environmental Economics. The PhD candidate will publish relevant results in peer-reviewed journals and participate in scientific conferences and workshops.

Your duties

• Conduct innovative research on the interactions between economic incentives, behavioural drivers, and land-use decisions at the meso-scale (e.g. river basins or regions), using clear case studies.
• Develop and apply modelling approaches that bridge global macro-economic models with high-resolution ecological models.
• Analyse the consequences of land-use decisions for biodiversity, ecosystem services, and sustainable food systems.
• Identify and assess policy instruments and incentives that can foster effective nature restoration and enhance ecosystem resilience.
• Collaborate with researchers from the Environmental Geography and Environmental Economics departments at IVM, as well as external partners.
• Publish research findings in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals and present at international scientific conferences and workshops.

Requirements

• You have a master’s degree in agriculture, environmental or ecological economics, environmental science, sustainability science, geography, or a related field.
• You have experience with quantitative research methodologies, including mathematical programming or scenario modelling.
• You have experience with spatial analysis and data processing, preferably ArcGIS or QGIS.
• You have a strong interest in biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the climate–nature-people nexus.
• You have affinity with interdisciplinary research and willingness to engage with both natural and social science perspectives.
• You have good communication skills in English (spoken and written).

Conditions of employment

Fixed-term contract: 1 year. A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world.

A salary of minimum € 3.059,00 (PhD salary scale 85.0) and maximum € 3.881,00 (PhD salary scale 85.3) gross per month, on a full-time basis. The exact salary depends on your education and experience. A position for 1 FTE. Your employment contract will initially last 1 year. Afterwards, the possibility of expansion for 3 years exists.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and regulations. 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. Contribution to commuting expenses. A wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge. Solid pension scheme (ABP). Additionally, we also offer a PhD education programme including training for teaching assistants and courses that are part of the SENSE graduate school.