Two PhD positions - FLY (Food-related Lifestyles in Youth) project (1.0 FTE)

Are you passionate about ensuring the sustainability of our environment and planet? Dou you want to contribute to more sustainable lifestyles for all? Then this project might be of interest to you! We offer a warm welcome and provide a joint introduction for our new colleagues. As part of this we will facilitate you getting to know the organization and show you around our faculty and university.
Transitioning to more sustainable food-related lifestyles is urgently needed to decrease greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. This transition can only be successful if we all change our behaviours. Thus far, most behavioural science research focuses on people’s motivation for sustainable food-related lifestyles and is less concerned with their capabilities and opportunities to change to more sustainable food-related lifestyles. Also, most research thus far focuses on people of higher socio-economic backgrounds, whereas more disadvantaged socio-economic groups are known to lag in the transition to more sustainable food-related lifestyles.
In our FLY-project, we aim to investigate motivations, capabilities, and opportunities related to sustainable food-related lifestyles in socio-economically disadvantaged groups. We especially focus on youth in vocational education, both because adolescence is a formative phase in life and because young people can act as effective agents of change. We study how more sustainable food-related lifestyles and underlying factors develop in early adolescence and how these disseminate in social networks, focusing not only on individuals’ behaviours but also on the diffusion of more sustainable food-related lifestyles. We also develop intervention strategies to promote the transition to more sustainable food-related lifestyles in young people, by innovatively focusing on building community-level capabilities, opportunities, and motivation to adopt (more) sustainable behaviours.
In our research we use a mixed-method approach, combining focus group discussions with a cohort study and behavioural/communication science experimental studies in which intervention components are piloted and evaluated, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Parts of the intervention components are co-created with young people. In combination, this ensures a rich and in-depth knowledge of the barriers and facilitators of the transition to more sustainable food-related lifestyles in youth and enables the development of effective interventions strategies. To ensure our research makes a difference in practice, we work with the Netherlands Nutrition Centre to develop a multi-component toolkit for use in schools to promote the transition to more sustainable food-related lifestyles.
We envisage that one of the PhD candidates will conduct the focus groups and intervention components pilot-testing. Another PhD candidate will conduct the cohort survey and survey data analyses. Both PhD candidates will contribute to the development of the multicomponent intervention toolkit.
This is an inter- and transdisciplinary project, and as a PhD candidate you will work with team members in several academic departments and societal partners who bring various types and expertise and experience to the project. You will be embedded in the Department Interdisciplinary Social Science, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, and work closely with team members in the Department of Media and Culture Studies, Faculty of Humanities, the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Geosciences, and the Netherlands Nutrition Centre. You will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team, consisting of Dr. Marijn Stok and Dr. Michèlle Bal (Interdisciplinary Social Science, daily supervisors, in Dutch: co-promotores), and Prof. dr. John de Wit (Interdisciplinary Social Science) and Prof. Dr. Eggo Müller (Media and Culture Studies), who will be main supervisors promotors (in Dutch: promotors).

We are looking for colleagues (m/f/x) who share our passion to undertake sound research that makes a social impact. We also look for colleagues who contribute to the diversity of our team and the broader organization through their unique background and perspective.
We are especially looking for you if you meet the following requirements:

• You have an academic or research master’s degree in a behavioural science, social science, communication science or related domain.
• You have an interest in topic relevant to the FLY project, including sustainability behaviours and transitions, food-related practises and lifestyles, young people, and the contemporary issues they face, and/or intervention development and evaluation.
• You are aware that undertaking a PhD entails a strong focus on academic research and you look forward to the opportunity to dedicate yourself to doing research for an extended period.
• You have experience in developing, undertaking, and reporting empirical research, at least to the extent required by your degree programme and preferably more extensively and independently.
• You have experience with data collection and data-analysis for qualitative research, survey research and/or experimental research, and you are familiar with common qualitative and/or quantitative data analysis software. You preferably have experience with mixed methods research as relevant to the envisaged focus of one or both of the two envisaged PhD positions.
• You have sufficient command of the Dutch language to enable you to collect data in Dutch from young people, including through focus group discussions, surveys, and behavioural science experiments
• You have good verbal and written communication skills in academic English and are willing to continuously improve, as this is critical for the presentation and publication of research findings.
• You can work well independently, as well as in a team, and you are proactive and take initiative.
• You recognize the importance of good social relations at work, with peers, supervisors, support staff and other co-workers and can communicate in inclusive and sensitive ways.

We offer a temporary position (0.9 - 1. FTE) for one year in an international working environment. Contingent on a positive assessment of the first year, you will be given an extension of your employment for the specific purpose of completing your doctorate within the full period of employment. Based on full-time employment, your employment can be extended to a maximum duration of four years. If you work part-time, the duration of the extension can be longer. The gross salary - depending on previous qualifications and experience ranges between €2.541 and €3.247 (scale P according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) per month for a full-time employment. Salaries are supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3% per year.

In addition, Utrecht University offers excellent secondary conditions , including an attractive retirement scheme, (partly paid) parental leave and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). For more information, please visit working at Utrecht University .

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in undertaking their research and teaching. At Utrecht University , experts from various disciplines collaborate closely around major societal issues. Our project is aligned with the University’s strategic themes Dynamics of Youth and Pathways to Sustainability. Other strategic themes are Institutions for Open Societies and Life Sciences.
The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences  undertakes research and teaching in a broad range of domains, including cultural anthropology, educational sciences, interdisciplinary social science, pedagogical sciences, psychology, and sociology. We are a faculty at the heart of society and one which cooperates closely with other academic and societal partners. Our community includes around 6,000 students who are enrolled in a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programmes. Our approximately 900 faculty and staff members work closely with others across disciplines to educate and train emerging professionals and to study and find solutions to scientific and societal issues.
The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences aspires to have a diverse body of staff and students and strives to create and sustain a safe and inclusive environment for everyone, in line with Utrecht University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy .

For additional information, please contact Marijn Stok (Assistant Professor) via [email protected]  or John de Wit (Professor) via [email protected] .
Note that international candidates needing a visa/work permit for the Netherlands require at least four months processing time after selection and acceptance. This will be arranged with help of the International Service Desk (ISD) of our university. Finding appropriate housing in or near Utrecht is your own responsibility, but the ISD may be able to advise you therewith. For general questions that you might have about working and living in The Netherlands, please consult the Dutch Mobility Portal where much information can be found.

Everyone deserves to feel at home at our university. We welcome employees with a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives. 
To apply, please send your curriculum vitae, including a motivation letter, via the ‘apply’ button.
Interviews will take place in the week of November 14(first round) and  second round week of November 28.
If you know someone who you think would be suitable for this position, please feel free to share this job opening with them. Acquisition in response to this job opening is not appreciated.