Postdoc researcher: Governing offshore aquaculture innovation in the North Sea

Your job

Are you a highly motivated researcher with a passion for sustainable aquaculture and circular food production? Do you want to contribute to the development of innovative solutions for nature-positive aquaculture practices?
The this may be the perfect opportunity for you!

The Environmental Policy Group at Wageningen University and Research is looking for a Postdoc researcher to manage and conduct research through the NWO funded project ‘Regional innovation for circular low trophic aquaculture production in the Dutch North Sea’ (CircAqua). You will specifically be responsible for conducting independent research that will lead to the development of Blue Food Vision and Strategy for nature inclusive circular low trophic aquaculture.

CircAqua is an interdisciplinary project that brings together social and natural sciences to explore innovation pathways for low trophic mussel and seaweed aquaculture to deliver circular food and nature-positive impacts on the marine environment. This involves the design and organisation of mussel and seaweed farms, enabling them to develop within the social and environmental carrying capacity of coastal and offshore areas on the North Sea. The Blue Food Vision and Strategy is central to the project, providing a basis to discuss different innovation scenarios and the strategies needed to realize them. This vision will be developed with project partners from the mussel and seaweed industries, as well as those representing policy and regulation, finance and assurance. The postdoc will be responsible for developing the Blue Food Vision and Strategy to enable the mussel and seaweed sectors to innovate their production technologies and farm organisation, facilitating scaling up of nature-positive circular production.

The postdoc will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team consisting of social scientists providing input on the governance of transition pathways, and on indicators for policy, finance and market assurance, as well as natural scientists providing expertise on aquaculture production systems and wider principles of circularity. In addition, the vision will receive input from stakeholders involved in existing platforms such as the newly established Delta Knowledge Centre Zeeland, and the Community of Practice in the North Sea.

The position is for a duration of 4 years. The main field work will consist of visits to partners and collaborators in the Netherlands. The postdoc will also engage and visit the international advisory board in China, Chile and Sweden to enable comparative research and dissemination of results. Finally, the postdoc and supervisors will coordinate the final dissemination event around the launch of the Blue Food Vision and Strategy and general communication throughout the course of the project.

Your qualities

The ideal candidate must have:

• A PhD in sociology, human geography, political sciences, science and technology studies;
• A demonstrated interest in systemic (food or technology) innovation and/or marine governance will be considered favourably;
• Knowledge of the aquaculture sector is desirable, but not necessary;
• Experience in conducting empirical research in a multi-sector or actor setting;
• Experience with both qualitative and quantitative research designs and methods;
• Experience in project administration is desirable;
• A demonstrated record in publishing in international peer reviewed journals;
• Demonstrated interest or ability to work in an interdisciplinary research environment;
• Excellent academic level written and oral skills in English; Dutch language skills are highly desirable;

For

this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level .Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognized Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here .
We offer you

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

• 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;
• 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 of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between € 2960 and € 4670 for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the

Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU)

(scale 10).This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 12 months for 1.0 FTE which will be extended for another 3 years after a positive evaluation.

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 position, please contact Prof. Simon Bush, by email:[email protected]

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, Corporate Recruiter, by email:[email protected]

Do you want to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval. Please address your online application, including a cover letter with your motivation and your CV to Prof. Simon Bush.

This vacancy will be listed up to and including  3rd July 2023. Shortlisted candidates will be notified by the Friday the 7th of July. The first round of interviews will take place in the week of the 7th of August.

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

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!

About ENP
The Environmental Policy Group at Wageningen University and Research has a strong international profile in the area of environmental social science and policy research and education. Our 22 staff and over 60 PhD students focus on topics associated with sustainable consumption and production, sustainable natural resource use and global environmental change. Our research has a strong international orientation, being conducted at the global level as well as in number of countries across Europe, Africa and Asia. For further details see here.

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.