A hardworking research and teaching assistant to contribute to several projects of the water systems and global change group(WSG). Currently, we are starting several new projects with a focus on water systems under global change in Asia and Africa. As a research assistant you will help project leaders to run their projects and you will assist with research activities.

You are a recent graduate (BSc or MSc) in a field related environmental sciences, in international land and water management, geography, ecology or a related field. You have a passion for water and climate projects and international development. Preferably, you have worked or studied in Asia or Africa. You like to work with a diverse group of people and you are interested in capacity building and teaching.

One of your main responsibilities will be the day to day management of the Climate Smart Agriculture for a resilient Coastal Bangladesh project. The aim of this Nuffic funded project is the development of a Climate Smart Agriculture institute at the Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh. This institute will include the three pillars of CSA: sustainably increasing productivity & incomes, adapting and building resilience to climate change and reducing carbon emissions. Your main role in this project will be organising trainings and research activities, travel, management meetings, reporting and act as the main contact point between Wageningen University and our partner university in Bangladesh.

In addition, your tasks will be to support the management of other research projects. This involves activities related to the planning, budget, reporting, organisation of meetings, communication with external partners and support of fund raising. In addition, you will support the teaching staff or the group by managing Brightspace (our electronic learning environment), drafting course guides and assisting course coordinators.

• MSc/BSc (in Dutch: WO/HBO) I Hydrology, Ecology, Climate, Agricultural or Environmental Sciences or similar field;
• Excellent English communication skills;
• Willingness to travel;
• Ability to engage with partners, clients and colleagues as required for successful project management;
• Willingness to work as part of a diverse multidisciplinary team;
• Able to work under time pressure;
• Preferably some experience in Africa and/or Asia;
• Interest and /or background in development co-operation;
• Experience and/or interest in project management;
• Flexibility to adjust your work based on feedback of Clients and Partners;
• Preferably some teaching experience but mainly a willingness to teach and contribute to our teaching program.

A challenging position with, depending on your experience, a competitive salary from a minimum of € 2835,- to a maximum of € 3895,- for a full working week of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (scale 9).

In addition, we offer:

• 8% holiday allowance;
• a structural year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent training opportunities and secondary employment conditions;
• flexible working hours and holidays can possibly be determined in consultation so that an optimal balance between work and private life is possible;
• excellent pension plan through ABP;
• 232 vacation hours, the option to purchase extra and good supplementary leave schemes;
• a flexible working time: the possibility to work a maximum of 2 hours per week extra and thereby to build up extra leave;
• a choice model to put together part of your employment conditions yourself, such as a bicycle plan;
• a lively workplace where you can easily make contacts and where many activities are organized on the Wageningen Campus. A place where education, research and business are represented;
• use the sports facilities on campus for a small fee

Our university stimulates internal career opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are ample opportunities for own initiative in a learning environment. We offer a versatile job in an international environment with varied activities in a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

Wageningen University & Research

The mission of our University is to explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life. Nine specialised research institutes from the Wageningen Research Foundation and Wageningen University have joined forces to help answer the most important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment.

With approximately 30 locations, 6,500 employees, and 12,000 students, it is one of the leading organisations in its domain worldwide. A coordinated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of the outstanding approach of Wageningen.

The Water Systems and Global Change (WSG) group is a solution oriented multidisciplinary research group where staff and students can develop new skills and excel in their science. In our research, we analyse and assess the impacts of changes in climate and population growth on water systems and propose and test adaptation strategies. We use simulation models, earth system observations, scenario analysis and field studies.

We actively invite students from different backgrounds and interests to take part in our courses and research. Furthermore, our staff also comes from a range of different backgrounds. Currently our group has 12 staff members, 7 post-docs and more than 30 PhD students. The group currently has as an excellent funding base with lots of external grants and projects from a broad range of funding organisations. Research of the group has a strong international focus, with projects at global scale as well as a strong focus on Africa and Asia.

Our teaching focusses on three different Master Programmes: International Land and Water Management, Climate Studies and Environmental Sciences. Within these programmes we provide outstanding Master courses related to Global change impacts on water resources and climate change impacts. Furthermore, we teach in a number of BSc minor courses. A growing number of students is interested in the work of our group and last year we had about 70 MSc students doing their Master thesis at our group.

Equal opportunities employer
We encourage applications from all qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age. Furthermore, given our active policy to be as inclusive as possible as employer, we explicitly invite women and international candidates to apply