We are looking for
The Business Economics Group (BEC) at Wageningen University (NL) has a vacancy for a PhD project on the economic value of precision dairy technologies in the dairy food supply chain. Precision dairy technologies generate Big Data which can be used to improve the economic value of actors in the food supply chain. This project will explore the value of precision dairy technology in the food supply chain with an emphasis on bio-economic modelling. The project should result in publishable research output and input for a new academic course to be developed on the aforementioned topic.

What we are looking for:
We are looking for a candidate with the following qualifications:

• A MSc degree in a discipline relevant to the PhD project
• Experience with bio-economic modelling
• Excellent oral and writing communication skills in English
• Passionate about doing research
• Affinity with dairy farming is an advantage

Conditions:
In principle this is a 48 month PhD position. We offer you a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended with 30 months if you perform well. Salary will increase from € 2,266 gross per month in the first year up to € 2,972 in the last year, based on full-time employment (38 hours a week). Next to a variety of secundairy labour conditions, we offer a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-the-year bonus of 8.3% of your annual salary.

Wageningen University & Research

We are
BEC holds a strong position in interdisciplinary research with key areas, such as food supply chain economics, bio-economic modelling, and economics of animal health, food safety and plant health. We are also active in measuring and modelling performance and risk management of agro-supply chains and farms. Research is commissioned and funded by the Dutch government, the EU, non-governmental organisations, food processors, wholesalers, feed companies, pharmaceutical companies as well as banks, insurance companies and agricultural accountants.
BEC is part of the Wageningen University and Research (Wageningen UR). Wageningen UR aims to deliver a substantial contribution to the quality of life by searching for answers to issues affecting society - such as sustainable food production, climate change and alternative energy. Every day, 6,500 people work on 'the quality of life', turning ideas into reality.

Background
Precision dairy farming is, for a large part, based on collection of data of individual animals using sensor technology. This is expected to improve animal health and welfare as well as the farm's economic performance. Besides, it can have economic value for actors downstream or upstream in the dairy food supply chain.

The aim of this PhD project is to study the value of precision farming in the dairy food supply chain. The main emphasis of this PhD project lies on bio-economic modelling of production diseases as well as value chain management. Over the last decade we as a group have gained experience with bio-economic modelling of dairy production diseases and precision dairy technologies, and further want to developed these skills with more advanced modelling techniques. Additionally, you will focus in this PhD project on the other actors in the dairy food supply chain resulting in development of a method to measure value of animal health and welfare data in the dairy food supply chain.