Are you an ambitious scholar in the field of social sciences and/or inter-disciplinary environmental and natural resource studies? Do you have a specific focus on quantitative methods, and experience with large scale data processing? Are you enthusiastic about working with students and in interdisciplinary teams? Then this could be the ideal career option for you!

The Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group at Wageningen University and Research is looking for a social scientist with a research profile ideally focusing on forest (landscapes) and their ecosystem services; a strong quantitative methodological profile and experience with large scale data processing in relevant programming environments, and demonstrated ability to work in teams with other methodological approaches (mixed, qualitative and/or spatial) and natural sciences.

As assistant/associate professor you will coordinate and teach courses, and supervise thesis students, primarily in the Bsc and MSc Forest and Nature Conservation programs. You will be expected to develop your own strong research and education profile in line with the thematic framework set for the position and the research themes of the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group outlined below. You will also contribute to the scientific mission of the group and the department, through research projects and supervision of PhD candidates, and will have the opportunity to join and/or develop PhD level courses. You will dedicate approximately 40-50% of your time to teaching, 40-50% to research, and about 10% to management.

The position is within the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group in the Department of Environmental Sciences of Wageningen University, which provides fundamental research and academic education on our living environment. The chair group focuses on the political, socio-cultural and economic dimensions of forests and nature. Our research program includes three interrelated themes: 1 Forest and nature policy and governance, 2 Value chains and markets for ecosystem services, 3 Nature-society interactions. FNP is a member of the Wageningen School of Social Sciences (WASS) and of the Wageningen Centre for Sustainability Governance.

The ideal candidate must:

• Hold a PhD in a field relevant to the position;
• Have a profile in line with the description above, connected to a demonstrated interest and research experience in at least one of the three themes of the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group’s research program, including (an interest in) multi- and interdisciplinary research;
• Have a good scientific/publications track record;
• Have experience in teaching at BSc and MSc levels in the social sciences and/or for interdisciplinary audiences connected to natural resource studies;
• Have high potential for or experience in acquiring research funding and managing research projects;
• Have good communicative and writing skills;
• Are a good team-player and are willing to contribute to general tasks and activities of the chair group;
• Have the ambition to obtain a tenured personal professorship in the future;

Tenure Track is a career path for scientists who pursue to excel in education and research. We seek to attract scientific talent and to stimulate and support their development.

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 be offered a fixed-term, 7 year contract which, upon positive evaluation based on criteria elaborated in the University's Tenure Track policy, can lead to a permanent employment contract as professor. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between € 3.974 and € 6.702 for a full-time working week of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale11 - 13 ).

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 the Netherlands, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University” in the Netherlands for the 18th 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.

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. For instance under the "30% rule", certain categories of international staff can receive tax exemption on approximately 30% of their gross salary.

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.

Wageningen University and Research is constantly ranked high in international rankings, inter alia it is globally ranked as the number 1 university in the field of agriculture and forestry and between number 1 and 3 in the field of environmental science and/or ecology in several international rankings.

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.