Vacant PhD position within the field of Sustainable Food Consumption

Vacant PhD position within the field of Sustainable Food Consumption

The Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC) at Copenhagen Business School invites applications for a PhD position within the field of Sustainable Food Consumption.

The PhD position is part of the EU-project ‘VISIONARY - Food Provision through Sustainable Farming Systems and Value Chains’ funded by the European Commission. The project aims to improve the sustainability of the food system by promoting sustainable practices in food production and consumption, helping to remove the barriers to their adoption. The project consortium includes 13 institutions from 8 European countries: https://visionary-project.eu/

• We are particularly interested in applicants who have a strong affinity to working at the intersection between consumer behaviour, food policy, food marketing, and agriculture.
• We invite interested candidates from marketing, (agricultural and environmental) economics, food sciences, and psychology to apply but also candidates from other disciplines are encouraged to apply.

The open PhD position will be linked to the consumer research part of the project which is led by CBS Associate Professor Meike Janssen. Food consumption in Europe is contributing to a large number of environmental problems (climate, biodiversity, land use, etc.). Consumers need to change the types of food they eat (e.g. reduce meat consumption) and choose foods that are produced with more environmentally friendly methods. However, our understanding of how to foster behaviour change in food consumption is limited. More knowledge is needed on potential measures for inducing behaviour change that would work in the real world. The PhD candidate will work in close collaboration with the project team at CBS consisting of Associate Professor Meike Janssen and student assistants as well as project partners from other countries. Candidates should enjoy working in collaboration with partners from different academic and non-academic backgrounds in the agri-food sector.

The candidate is expected to:

• Tackle research gaps in overcoming the barriers to environmentally sustainable food consumption, and testing policy measures (private and public) in hypothetical settings (survey research) as well as field experiments with supermarkets in different European countries.
• Have a passion for generating evidence on sustainable food consumption based on quantitative consumer research, and contributing to an EU-project that aims to inform decision-makers in the European agri-food sector.
• Be fluent in English (writing and speaking); a good proficiency in at least one other European language relevant for the project would be beneficial (i.e. Danish, German, Polish, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, or Romanian).

MSC carries out multidisciplinary research on the relationship between business and society. Its faculty explore the conditions and practices of responsible management, organisation and governance in a globalising world, sharing a particular concern with culture, communication and context as lenses to understand the interaction and interdependencies of business and society. MSC’s contribution to the study of responsible business and governance is organised around various research environments. Further information is available here: https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/departments-and-centres/department-of-management-society-and-communication/research/research-environments

Because of our Department’s commitment to ensuring an environment of diversity and inclusion, we seek candidates who demonstrate a commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and the promotion of a respectful and collaborative learning and working environment.

General information

The three-year PhD programme at CBS gives you the opportunity to conduct research under the supervision of CBS’s associate professors and professors, supported by research related PhD courses. The programme is highly international, and you are expected to participate in international research conferences and to spend time at another research institution as a visiting PhD student. See the CBS homepage for more information about the PhD programme: https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/phd-programme .  

CBS PhD graduates are held in high esteem not only in academia and research institutions but also in government and business where their research qualifications are in high demand.

CBS is committed to ensuring excellence, transformative and relevant teaching and research. Candidates who wish to join us should be interested in working in an organisation of this type and it is expected that the applicant shows an interest in joining the department's research environments. You can read more about the department’s research here: www.cbs.dk/msc

Application and admission requirements

The Department will give priority to applicants with

• high grades from their universities. For enrolment in the PhD School, applicants must have received a grade 10 or higher on the Danish 7-point grading scale on their master’s thesis (see info on equivalents: http://eng.uvm.dk/general-overview/7-point-grading-scale ). They must have a weighted grade point average of at least 8.2 on the Danish 7-point grading scale for the bachelor's and master's degree combined, or alternatively a weighted grade point average of at least 9.5 for the master's degree.
• an interest in joining (at least one of) the Department’s research environments
• master academic English at a high level in writing and speaking

The application (see link below) must include a five-page project description. The project description must include:

• a presentation of an original research question
• a description of the initial theoretical framework and method
• a presentation of the proposed empirical material
• a work plan for the three years

More information can be found here: https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/phd-programmes/admission

In addition to the project description, copies of the following must be included:

• diploma for bachelor's and master's degree or other certificates at an equivalent level
• grade transcripts
• documentation for being in the top 40% of the class (if grade requirements are not met)
• a concise curriculum vitae (CV)
• a list of articles and publications (if applicable)
• one example of a selected written work (e.g. master's thesis)

The PhD student is enrolled in the CBS PhD School. Further information about PhD scholarships and the PhD programme can be found at https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/phd-programme .

Employment and salary
A PhD scholarship runs for a period of three years, and includes teaching obligations equivalent to six months’ work (840 work hours). The scholarships are fully salaried positions, according to the national Danish collective agreement, depending on seniority and a pension contribution totalling 17.1%. The scholarship includes tuition fees, office space, course and travel costs (according to the current CBS agreement). 

Salary level and employment take place in accordance with the Ministry of Finance's agreement with the Academics' Central Organization.

Recruitment procedure 

The Recruitment Committee shortlists at least 2-5 applicants to be assessed by the Assessment Committee. Applicants are informed whether their application has proceeded for assessment.

Applicants selected for assessment will be notified about the composition of the Assessment Committee and will receive their personal assessment later. Selected applicants will be invited for an interview. Please note that a positive assessment does not automatically result in an interview. Once the recruitment process is completed each applicant will be notified of the outcome of their application. 

The application should be sent via the online link below. 

Copenhagen Business School must receive all application material, including all appendices (see above), by the application deadline.

Forfurther information

For further information regarding the position please contact Head of Department Dorte Salskov-Iversen, e-mail [email protected]

For further information regarding the employment process please contact HR-coordinator Rikke Petersen rpe.msc@ cbs.dk

Information about the department can be found at www.cbs.dk/msc . 

Closing date: 19 February 2023.

Apply online

CBS is a globally recognised business school with deep roots in the Nordic socio-economic model. We have a broad focus on business and societal challenges of the 21st century. As such we have a full portfolio of high-quality disciplinary and interdisciplinary research and education that has equipped generations of professionals and leaders in the private sector and beyond.

Located at Frederiksberg, Denmark, the school has approx. 21.000 full and part-time students, 760 full-time faculty members, 210 PhD students and 680 administrative staff, and a full portfolio of Bachelor, Master’s, MBA/EMBA, PhD and Executive programmes delivered in English and Danish.

Our global profile carries the obligation to develop the transformational capabilities of students, graduates and business leaders via our educational activities and opportunities for lifelong learning. Complex challenges call for joint action, and therefore our strategy focuses on strengthening current and starting new partnerships with other sciences, the business community, authorities and civil society.

CBS is working continuously on becoming a diverse and inclusive organization, and we encourage all regardless of gender identity and expression, ethnicity, religious beliefs, LGBT+ status, cultural background etc. to apply.
Reach out to us if you need assistance in the application or recruitment process, if there is something we should know, or if as a person with disability you wish to make use of your preferential access.