Full Professor and Chair of Law

Your job

Wageningen University is recruiting an inspiring professor to lead the Law chair group. The Law Group focusses on legal solutions to societal problems, including those studied in life sciences domains. 

In order to help provide workable answers to urgent societal questions, the Law Group hosts a wide range of legal expertise. This includes EU law, food law, environmental law, international law, WTO law, intellectual property law, private law and human rights law. The group’s research and education is strongly international and interdisciplinary, which makes it uniquely positioned to learn from, and contribute to, the work undertaken by other social science and life science disciplines at WUR and beyond. 

Further information on the group’s research and educational plans can be found in the 2021-2025 Chair plan . 

The chair group has strong expertise in law relevant to the domains of Wageningen University & Research and specialises in environmental law, food law, and business and human rights. Moving forward, it wants to further strengthen its expertise, and extend to, related areas including marine law, climate law, health law, trade law, and law and technology. 

The new chair holder will safeguard the group’s vibrant academic climate, provide a supportive working environment for academics, and help maintain the group’s good track record in publications, acquisitions, education, and societal impact. 

The chair holder will enable the group's research ambitions by further strengthening its position in national and international networks, strategically develop collaborations within and outside Wageningen University & Research and strengthen the established research lines as well as pursuing novel ideas. We are interested in expanding and deepening collaborations, including with partners in the global South. Strengthening the acquisition of external funding for research and interacting with societal partners are key elements of the chair holder’s responsibilities. Our ambition is to make our faculty more inclusive and diverse. 

The successful applicant will play an active role in the group’s education programme, develop educational strategies for all study programmes of Wageningen University and initiate courses in law with experts from life and social sciences. The group provides a range of bachelor and masters courses (almost exclusively in English), in interdisciplinary programmes. Those programmes include the MSc specialization Food Law and Regulatory Affairs within the MSc Food Safety and the MSc Governance of Sustainability Transformations. It also participates in the BSc Marine Sciences, the BSc Business and Consumer Studies (BBC) and the BSc minor programme Freedom from Hunger. Specific courses in these programmes cover topics such as international and EU environmental law, food law, transnational (environmental) law, trade law, intellectual property rights, business and human rights, consumer law and introduction to law for the life and social sciences. 

Take a look at the group’s website to learn more about our ground-breaking research projects, education and outreach activities. And take a virtual tour on our green and sustainable campus here . 

Your qualities

As a successful candidate, you: 

• Have a strong background in legal scholarship, with a PhD degree in law or a closely related field.
• Are a renowned legal scholar with a specialization in environmental law; or related fields, such as marine law, climate law, health law, law and technology, and trade law.
• Have an interest in sustainability or environmental issues and strong affinity with interdisciplinary research and education.
• Have an impressive track record of scientific publications of recognized relevant international quality.
• Enjoy leading a vibrant academic chair group.
• Have experience in leading academic professionals with an inspiring, supportive, and inclusive leadership style and proven financial and operational management skills.
• Are an inspiring teacher and supervisor for students of diverse backgrounds, with proven ability to develop courses at Bachelor, Master, and PhD level, and an interest, vision, and capacity to innovate teaching methods.
• Possess a proven capacity of acquiring, leading, and managing externally funded research projects.
• Have the ability to effectively interact with professionals and societal partners in the development of research and education.
• Are creative in communicating findings and vision on how lawyers can contribute to societal impact. 

If you recognize yourself in the majority of this profile, have demonstrable affinity and relevant experience, and are open to further develop yourself, we invite you to apply. 

We offer you

You will be working for an inspiring international organisation actively engaged in a large number of interdisciplinary projects all over the world. The scientific quality of Wageningen University & Research is affirmed by the prominent position we occupy in international rankings and citation indices.

We offer you a position as Full Professor and Chair of the Law chair group. Besides a competitive salary (maximum gross salary for starting chair holders is € 9,680 per month), we offer a number of additional benefits, such as an end-of-year extra month’s salary, a holiday allowance and a pension plan with the Dutch pension fund for government and education. International candidates moving to the Netherlands may benefit from a special tax relief, by which a part of their salary is exempt from tax for several years. 

Working hours can be discussed to optimize the work-life balance (32-38 hours per week). 

Coming from abroad

We are a globally leading university in the life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world. Wageningen University, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. 

The university’s highly qualified team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family. For partners we have a dual career program to help them find work in the Netherlands. Furthermore, we can assist you in finding schools for your children and assist you with finding housing in the region or elsewhere in the Netherlands. 

Do you want more information?

Further information about the position can be acquired from Prof. Simon Bush, Chair of the Appointment Advisory Committee, email [email protected],  tel: +31317483310 . 

More detailed information on the profile and the LAW Group is available upon request via the executive secretary of the Committee, Ir. Coco van der Wolk, [email protected] . 

Application

You are encouraged to upload your complete application via the respond button on top of this page. Please include in separate documents (pdf) an (1) application letter, (2) curriculum vitae and a (3) list of publications. 

Applications can be sent until and including April 8th, 2024. 

Selected candidates will be interviewed for this position on May 15th, 2024. In case you are short-listed for a second day of interviews the Committee will also invite you for a trial lecture on May 29th, 2024.

WUR’s policy is to increase the number of female professors. Therefore, all female candidates matching the profile are especially invited to apply, and we want at least one of the final candidates to be female. 

Equal opportunities

Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is home to people with very different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We embrace different kinds of talent and offer tailored career opportunities. We therefore especially welcome applications from people who are underrepresented at WUR. For more information, please go to our inclusivity page . Examples of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be found on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment . 

We are

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! 

The LAW Group is currently composed of 2 associate professors, 2 assistant professors, 7 lecturers, 2 postdocs and support staff. The Group also hosts 15 PhD candidates. The Group is part of the Department of Social Sciences within Wageningen University. The LAW Group is embedded in the section ‘Sustainability Governance’ together with Public Administration and Policy, Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles, and Environmental Policy. These chair groups work closely together in providing bachelor and master education and in developing joint research initiatives. Together with the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group (part of the Environmental Sciences department), the section has also created the Wageningen Centre of Sustainability Governance through which they collaborate across departments. 

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves and do not appreciate being contacted by agencies. However, sharing in your network is much appreciated.