Assistant/Associate Professor Wildlife Conservation (Tenure Track)

Updated: about 1 year ago
Deadline: The position may have been removed or expired!

Your job

Are you a dedicated emerging scholar in the field of wildlife ecology and conservation? Do you have a PhD in ecology or a related field? Do you have a demonstrated interest in human – wildlife interactions in the light of changes in land use or climate? Do you think you would be a good fit in the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group at Wageningen University? If yes, then we invite you to apply for a tenure track position to join us. 

In this position, you will focus on broad research questions on wildlife conservation, such as the advancement of scientific understanding that facilitates the conservation of biodiversity in the Anthropocene. You will develop, supervise and carry out high-quality research in collaboration with your existing international networks, your new Wildlife Ecology and Conservation colleagues, and colleagues from other chair groups in the Environmental Sciences Group and other departments at Wageningen University. You will also be dedicated to acquiring funding from a mix of government, EU and private sources. You will publish your research results in leading international academic journals as well as reach out to wide audiences that need your results, i.e., science for impact. In your new position, you will be stimulated to develop an individual research grant application to the Dutch Innovational Research Incentives Scheme (VENI-VIDI-VICI) or to the European Research Council. 

You will also contribute to the teaching programmes at our university that are strongly internationally oriented. At the beginning, you will support and coordinate existing courses taught in the BSc and MSc programmes of Forest and Nature Conservation, Biology, and Animal Sciences. Over the longer term, opportunities will emerge to develop your own courses and contribute to the design and quality of education programmes at the University. 

Tenure Track is a career path for scientists who pursue to excel in education and research. We seek to attract scientific talent and to stimulate and support their development.
Given the current gender balance in our group, we specifically encourage female candidates to apply for this position. In case of equal suitability of candidates, preference will be given to female candidates.


Your qualities
  • a PhD degree in ecology or a related field; 
  • a focus on conservation and human – wildlife interactions; 
  • experience in acquiring funding and leading internationally oriented research projects; 
  • experience in working in multi-disciplinary research teams including social sciences; 
  • experience in delivering high quality education, including supervising BSc and MSc students; 
  • experience in supervising PhD students; 
  • excellent research qualities, as shown by a publication record in international peer-reviewed journals and proceedings of renowned conferences; 
  • Function well as a team player; 
  • Demonstrate cross-cultural sensitivity and are committed to an inclusive working environment; 
  • Have a good command of spoken and written English (C1 level). 

We offer you

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment . A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

  • sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
  • working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
  • the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
  • 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 December bonus of 8.3%;
  • excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will be offered a fixed-term, 7 year contract which, upon positive evaluation based on criteria elaborated in the University's Tenure Track policy, can lead to a permanent employment contract as professor. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between € 3974 and € 6181 for a full-time working week of 38 hours in accordance with the

Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU)

(scale 11 or 12).

Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.
You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University ” in the Netherlands for the 18th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
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.

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 and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling. For instance, under the "30% rule", certain categories of international staff can receive tax exemption on approximately 30% of their gross salary.


Do you want more information?

For more information about this function, please contact Prof. Frank van Langevelde (Email: [email protected] , phone: +31 317 484750).

For more information about the procedure please reach out to Noorien Abbas, Corporate Recruiter, Email:[email protected].  

Please apply online at our website and make sure your application includes (1) a cover letter summarizing your motivation to apply, (2) your CV, (3) a one A4 research vision that also describes your fit in the group, and (4) a one A4 teaching vision that also describes potential contribution to the courses of the group.  
This vacancy is open until 19th Mar ‘23. The first job interviews are expected to take place in last week of March ’23.

Equal opportunities
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) employs a large number of people with very different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We want every talent to feel at home in our organisation and be offered the same career opportunities. We therefore especially welcome applications from people who are underrepresented at WUR. For more information please go to our inclusivity page . A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment .


We are

The Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group at Wageningen University & Research is working to understand how changing environments affect wildlife densities, distributions, and interactions. We study how humans influence wildlife by examining both direct mechanisms and mechanisms that are more indirect and that are part of larger-scale processes. The group embraces observational, comparative, experimental, and theoretical studies, which typically have a large field component. Investigations focus on a range of study systems, spanning from the individual level to the ecosystem level.

Check out the page of our group for all our group members, latest research and our bachelor and masters programmes.

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, 7,200 employees (6,400 fte) and 13,200 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 this video 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.



Similar Positions