Postdoc researcher Tipping the balance in dietary change

We are looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic and pro-active scientist with agent based modelling experience, as postdoc in the NWO funded project 'Tipping the balance in dietary change: behavioural aftereffects of designing healthy and sustainable food environments’. This interdisciplinary project aims to co-create healthier and more sustainable food environments employing research-through-design approaches and unravel the complex network of aftereffects together with WUR, Waag, Reinwardt Academy Amsterdam University of Arts, BeBright, RIVM, Municipality Utrecht, Municipality Amersfoort and Province Utrecht.

We invite applications from ambitious candidates with relevant research experience and a passion to contribute to a more healthy and sustainable diet!

As post-doctoral candidate you will be responsible for modelling the impact of findings by three PhD candidates in the project in local settings and small scale research to the national scale. Therefore you will be expected to:

• further develop and apply an agent based model to estimate the impact of food environment interventions on food consumption
• further develop and apply tools to estimate the impact of dietary changes on health and climate indicators

You will work closely with the PhD candidates and project teams at Wageningen University and Research and the National Institute for Health and the Environment (RIVM).

• Relevant PhD with experience in agent based modeling
• Experience and strong skills in working in a multidisciplinary team
• Experience in computational behavioural or nutritional research is a plus
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
• Knowledge of Dutch language is a plus since part of the data is in Dutch

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.

• We offer you a temporary contract for 0.8 FTE for a period of 24 months (preferred start 1 January 2023). There is a possibility to extend your contract to 1.0fte with teaching-related activities contributing to the new MSc program Data Science for Food and Health. According to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10) starting by € 2.960,-. This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours.
• You will work for 0.4-0.6 fte at Wageningen University (chairgroup Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles), Wageningen and for 0.4fte at RIVM (department Nutrition and Health), Bilthoven. Employment is 100% WUR.

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 17th 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. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for a special tax relief , known as the 30% ruling. 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, and other issues.

You can apply directly by uploading your CV and motivation letter, using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval.

This vacancy will be listed up to and including October 31, 2022. We plan to schedule the first job interviews in the week of 6 November. Second round of interviews is in the week of 13 November. The preferred starting date for this position is Januari 1, 2023.

This is open up to and including the 31 October, 2022. Please upload your application through the online system. The application should include a motivation letter and cv

For more information about this position, please contact Emely de Vet, email: [email protected]
For more information about the procedure, please contact Jouke van Oostenbrugge, Corporate recruiter email [email protected] , or Tanja Schultz, Assistent recruiter email [email protected] .

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.

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!

This position will be part of Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles chair group . This is a young and ambitious chair group keen to unravel the origins of healthy and sustainable consumption and lifestyle practices. These behavioural insights are used to design, evaluate and implement strategies to enable healthy and sustainable lifestyles. These strategies include upstream environmental and downstream behavioural interventions acknowledging that individual behaviour is socially embedded and arises in specific times and places. The work of the group is characterized by an inter- and transdisciplinary approach where different academic disciplines (e.g., sociology, psychology, public health, epidemiology and geography) and professional fields (policy, practice) collaborate.

RIVM
At RIVM, more than 2,200 colleagues committed to health and sustainability work together every day. See www.rivm.nl for more information. Within the Centre Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services (VPZ) you will work in the Nutrition and Health (V&G) department. This department conducts research that supports food and nutrition policy in relation to health and sustainability. Moreover, within RIVM, agent-based models are developed and used for research on a range of topics. You will participate in meetings with other modeler for knowledge exchange and sharing of experiences.

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