Do you want to do field work in supporting the transition of agriculture to more sustainable ecology-based production systems? Do you enjoy working with young scientists in data collection across farms in the Netherlands? Are you enthusiastic about farmland biodiversity? Then you might be the candidate we are looking for!

What are you going to do?

Together with a team of young scientists, you will study how crop mixture production systems affect crop disease, weeds, pests and biodiversity. You will measure plant traits, crop damage and yield, soil characteristics, as well as arthropod and small vertebrate biodiversity. The team of technicians will closely collaborate and visit the sampling network of farms across the Netherlands as well as perform intensive sampling on crop systems experiments in Wageningen and Lelystad. Outside the growing season, you will analyse insect samples for taxonomic diversity, participate in greenhouse experiments and help PhDs and post-docs with data preparation and management. You will be part of a large consortium with exposure to arable farmers, government agencies, crop protection organisations, breeders, nature conservation organisations, banks, food chain partners, and environmental education.

CropMix

The research programme CropMix is a Dutch Research Agenda initiative of a large interdisciplinary research team joining forces with the agricultural sector to achieve a breakthrough in the transition to sustainable arable farming. We study how crop diversity in the field can benefit from ecological processes to partly replace pesticides and artificial fertilisers. Crop mixtures, strip cropping and rotation of crops over time enhances pest and disease suppression, and can ensure more efficient use of nutrients and sunlight to promote plant growth. Sustainable crop production with crop mixtures also contributes to reaching biodiversity goals. Understanding biodiversity restoration is not only important for estimating when natural pest control can effectively replace pesticides, but also how measures to increase general biodiversity can be factored into the price of products or into farm subsidies. CropMix also investigates which societal and institutional changes in the food system are needed to enable and accelerate the transition to sustainable mixed crop production. This is done by assuming a diversity of possible transition paths, such as short local chains or adaptation of existing national and international chains.

• You are an enthusiastic and team-oriented (agro-)ecologist holding a higher education degree (HBO or University) in life sciences.
• You are a communicative person who feels responsible for organisation of experiments, accuracy of data collection and data storage.
• You particularly enjoy field work with plants, insects and small vertebrates, laboratory experiments on plants and insects and the taxonomical sorting of insect samples.
• You have coordinator skills, can work independently and you are flexible in switching between tasks.
• Knowledge of arthropod, small vertebrate and/or plant taxonomy is considered an advantage, not a necessity.
• We expect proficiency in the English language. Proficiency in Dutch is considered a pre.
• A driver's license is required

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between € 2.818,- and € 3.764,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 8). We offer a position for five years (0.8 or 1.0 fte) as technician in ecological research.
Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the "Best University" in the Netherlands for the 17th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for a special tax relief, known as the 30% ruling. Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.
Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling, and other issues.

Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen University & Research
The mission of Wageningen University & Research is "To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life". Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,200 employees (6,400 fte) and 13,200 students and over 150.000 participants to WUR's Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Laboratory of Entomology and Farm Systems Ecology
The Laboratory of Entomology and the Farm Systems Ecology group are part of the Plant Sciences Group of the Wageningen University & Research. The positions are in the team of Prof. Dr. Erik Poelman of Entomology and Dr. Dirk van Apeldoorn of Farm Systems Ecology.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch this video to get an idea of our green campus!

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.