An Early Stage Researcher (ESR) - The role of sweet taste in food preferences and intake in young children (2-year position).
Edulia program: Are you an ambitious junior researcher and do you want to be part of an international research consortium working on barriers for children's healthy eating and how to tackle them?
The ITN Marie Curie project Edulia (www.edulia.eu) responds to the urgent need of the EU society to find new ways to tackle the escalating issue of obesity, through promoting healthier eating from childhood, within the context of choice. Based on the relations between sensory perception, pleasure, food choice and food behaviour, Edulia looks for new approaches to drive children to like and actively choose healthy foods, developing healthier dietary habits. The overall aim of the research program is to better understand how multiple factors act as barriers for children's healthy eating and how to tackle them, bringing together leading scientists in the Food Choice arena in a collaborative network that will transcend the limits of this project and strengthen European research.
The program is part of an ITN-ETN Marie Curie Training Network, funded by the EU through Horizon 2020. Edulia started in 2018 and is a multi-disciplinary and inter-sectorial European Training and Research Network with a global reach. Our network trains young innovative and adaptable researchers in high-level skills across complementary fields through studying children's food choices, in order to build strong career development paths. The training program includes multidisciplinary scientific training within both natural and social sciences, secondments in academic and non-academic organisations, and courses in transferable skills, promoting science communication and outreach.
Research partners: Nofima (Norway), INRA and the Institute Paul Bocuse Research Center (France), University of Florence (Italy), Wageningen University and Research (Netherlands), University of Aarhus (Denmark) and Universidad de la República (Uruguay)
About the position:
Wageningen University and Research in The Netherlands has a 2-year ESR position (junior researcher, no PhD position) available within the ITN Marie Curie Project. The rise in childhood obesity is a worrying trend, also in relation to its concomitant increase in rates of associated non-communicable diseases. There is a need for understanding the role sensory signals in overeating. Numerous studies in adults have shown that taste has a major role in development of food preferences and intake patterns.
Whereas the role of taste in preferences and consumption patterns has been extensively studied in adults; this has been studied far less in children (pre-schoolers and primary school children). This is interesting, as in adults, taste effects may be learned or partly due to cognitive factors, whereas this is unlikely in the case of young children. Studying this phenomenon in young children therefore focuses on the sensory processes involved in preferences and intake patterns.
The key objective of this 2 year research project involves the study of sweet taste exposure, and it's role in the generation of food pleasure (liking) and sweet food intake patterns in children. The role of duration and intensity of repeated exposure to sweet taste on children's preferences and liking for sweet tasting foods and drinks will be explored. In addition, we will explore the role of parents concerning restriction rules for the consumption of sweet foods/drinks by their children and children's liking, preferences and consumption pattern for sugary foods.
We are looking for a motivated candidate who can work independently as well as a part of an international team. The work place will be at Wageningen University and Research (The Netherlands), but the candidate will spend a 2-month secondment in Dijon, France.

• Eligibility to transnational mobility rules;
• the candidates can be of any nationality; however, ITN programs require undertaking transnational mobility when taking up their appointment. The eligibility is determined by the date of recruitment: at the time of appointment, candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in The Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment;
• Early stage researcher;
• at the date of recruitment the candidate should be in the first years of their research careers (fulltime equivalent research experience) and have not been awarded a doctoral degree. 'Full-time equivalent research experience' is measured from the date when the researcher obtained their MSc degree entitling to embark on an ESR position.

Qualifications:

• A university degree (MSc) in a eating behaviour field (e.g. nutrition, sensory science, psychology);
• affinity and demonstrable experience with experimental studies on eating behaviour;
• good communication, social and organizational skills and an interest to work with children;
• a major part of the success of the project depends on the willingness of parents of young children to provide information and/or let their children participate in these studies. Good communication skills are essential, and the ability to speak Dutch is a plus in this context;
• openness and willingness to collaborate with partners from other European countries and scientific disciplines;
• being able to work and make thoughtful decisions independently;
• availability and willingness to travel and work in different places in the world;
• clear scientific ambition in the conduct and publication of research work;
• good control of English (both verbally and written) is essential. The ability to speak and write in Dutch is a plus;
• a group-social, critical and positive learning attitude towards achieving excellence.

A challenging position as junior researcher with, depending on your experience, a competitive salary from a minimum of € 2790,00 to a maximum of € 3061,00 for a full working week of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement Dutch Universities (scale 10).

The position is within the Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour (SSEB) group, that is part of the Division of Human Nutrition and Health of Wageningen University.

The Edulia consortium, that started in 2018, consists of ten PhD students and academic partners from across Europe, all working on the better understanding of how multiple factors act as barriers for children's healthy eating and how to tackle them. As a junior researcher, you will work closely with these PhD students as an opportunity to develop your European academic network. There will also be opportunities to present your work on conferences and through scientific publications.

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 take place on the Wageningen Campus. A place where education, research and business are represented;
• use the sports facilities on campus.

Wageningen University & Research stimulates internal career opportunities and mobility with our internal recruitment policy. There are ample opportunities for personal initiative in a learning environment. With us you get a versatile job in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

Wageningen University & Research

The Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour group is a sensory science group focused on the role/meaning of sensory signals in health and wellbeing. Our mission is to make the healthy choice the happy choice.
General information about the Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour group and the Division of Human Nutrition and Health can be found on: https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Chair-groups/Agrotechnology-and-Food-Sciences/Human-Nutrition-and-Health/About-us.htm.

The mission of our University is to explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life. Within Wageningen University & Research, 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.

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