Interested in using computational methods to study health outcomes? As a research assistant at the Health and Society group at WUR, you will help to shed new light on why social processes might be related to health outcomes.

You will contribute to two projects, with your time divided between the two: one examining lockdowns' experiences of health outcomes, and one examining the diffusion of planetary diets (think vegetarianism!) through social networks. While these projects are very different in terms of topic, they employ similar methods. Both will use agent-based modelling to explore these relationships.

Within the team, you will be responsible for helping to develop these models, and for contributing to scientific articles. You will work with a small interdisciplinary team based in the Health and Society department of Wageningen University.

This position is ideally suited for someone who has recently finished an M.Sc. related to data science, and is looking to gain research experience.

You possess:

• An M.Sc. degree in data science, computer science, health informatics, or a related field;
• experience with agent-based modelling;
• an affinity for social science applications of data science techniques;
• interest in health-related topics;
• enthusiasm for working with researchers from different backgrounds;
• an excellent knowledge of English, both spoken and written.

In our international working environment there is an increasing amount of communication in English. For this position it is about language level B2. If you do not yet have this level, we will of course help you and you can go to our language center Wageningen in'to Language
You can see that there are plenty of challenges ahead of you. These challenges can also be seen as development opportunities. So if you do not yet have the track-record required in the vacancy, but do have solid work experience, we would also like to invite you to apply.

You will work at Health and Society
The group is part of the Department of Social Sciences at Wageningen University & Research. Our research focuses on the sociological study of public health, health promotion and health protection, in resource poor and research rich contexts, with emphasis on (1) the social, natural and built environment, and (2) the role of actors and social institutions in advancing health and wellbeing. More information about Health and Society can be found at wur.eu/hso.

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 € 2.471,- and € 3.336,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 7). Additionally, a contract for 0.8 FTE can be discussed. This is a temporary position until December 31st, 2023.

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 18th consecutive time.

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.

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.