As a PhD Candidate you will conduct research in the project ‘Animals and biodiversity conservation: Enhancing synergies through Integrative Governance’. Your task will be to conduct research, write scientific articles, and complete a PhD thesis in time. You will also participate in conferences, workshops and other scholarly activities and collaborate with societal partners.

The project aims to advance our understanding of the relationships between animal governance and biodiversity governance. At first glance, the relationship between the issues of animal welfare and biodiversity conservation might seem synergistic, but when taking a second look, this relationship is much more complex. However, a generic debate about, and a thorough empirical analysis of, the synergies and trade-offs between animal governance and biodiversity governance are still lacking. The research contributes to debates on Integrative Governance (IG), defined as the theories and practices that focus on the relationships between governance instruments and/or systems. The research will apply the IG framework, which has been designed to enable explanatory analyses of the relationships between, and the performance of, governance systems. The project will utilise a multi-level governance perspective, including global, regional, national, and sub-national levels. Geographically, the research will focus on important locations for studying the relationship between animal governance and biodiversity governance, namely the European Union, including Germany and the Netherlands, and the African Union, with Kenya and South Africa as country cases. The project will be organised around three case studies, focused on the most important issues relevant for both animal and biodiversity governance: protecting ecosystems and species, hunting, and invasive alien species. Qualitative research methods to be applied include interviews and participatory/non-participatory observation.

• A Master's degree in Environmental Social Sciences or a related social science discipline.
• Academic excellence, as demonstrated by grade transcripts and CV.
• A solid understanding of both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English.
• The ability to work both independently and as a team player.
• The ability to finish your PhD thesis in time, i.e. strong skills in project management, flexibility, proactive behaviour and excellent academic writing skills.
• Experience with, knowledge of and affinity for animal rights and welfare perspectives and sustainable development issues.

Fixed-term contract: You will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4 year contract).

• Employment: 40 hours per week.
• The gross starting salary amounts to €2,325 per month, and will increase to €2,972 in the fourth year (P scale).
• In addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• Duration of the contract: You will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4 year contract).
• The intended start date is 1 January 2020.
• You will be able to make use of our Dual Career Service: our Dual Career Officer will assist with family-related support, such as child care, and help your partner prepare for the local labour market and with finding an occupation.
• Are you interested in our excellent employment conditions?

We want to get the best out of science, others and ourselves. Why? Because this is what the world around us desperately needs. Leading research and education make an indispensable contribution to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. This is what unites the more than 22,000 students and 5,000 employees at Radboud University. And this requires even more talent and collaboration. You have a part to play!

Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen

The Nijmegen School of Management (NSM) is an academic centre of research and higher education at Radboud University (Nijmegen, Netherlands), focusing on institutional and managerial issues concerning complex organisations in both the public and private domains. It covers seven disciplines: business administration, public administration, political science, economics and business economics, environmental studies, human geography, and spatial planning. The NSM strives for a multidisciplinary approach whenever possible. The NSM employs 265 FTEs, 75% of whom are academics. The NSM currently has approximately 4,500 students.

The chair group of Environmental Governance and Politics (EGP) is a team of social science researchers that aim to contribute to the debate on sustainability transformations through research, teaching and collaboration with societal partners. We aim to develop useful insights into the why and how of societal transformations that can serve to enable, accelerate, deepen and broaden the transformation towards a global sustainable society. We are specialised in the relationships between agriculture, animal, biodiversity, climate change, energy and freshwater governance. Since the chair group is embedded in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, we often approach sustainability issues from a spatial perspective. We focus on transdisciplinary research, incorporate futures studies, and mostly apply qualitative methods and comparative analyses.

Research activities fall under the responsibility of the interdisciplinary Institute for Management Research (IMR). Under the motto Creating Knowledge for Society, IMR focuses on academic research into the development, design and effectiveness of the public and private structures that regulate, govern or manage human interactions.