The Project Manager works directly with the scientific leader of the project (the principal investigator, "PI"). They are in regular contact with the 10 PhD students, their supervisors and host institutions. Furthermore, the Project Manager regularly engages with EU officials in Brussels, with members of the Supervisory Board and Advisory Board and their home institutes, with partner organisations, officials in the research region and other stakeholders. At peaks in workload, the Project Manager can draw on capacities within Naturalis’ Research Coordination Office (RCO) for clerical support and financial and legal advice.

The Project Manager will provide coordination of the programme with regards to all administrative, logistics, contractual and financial matters relating to the EU-funded Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Network project BioacAI. The main tasks and responsibilities are: 

• Manage, check and monitor implementation of the Grant and Consortium Agreements concluded with the European Union and between the beneficiaries of EU funding, respectively; 
• manage the financial, administrative and contractual issues relating to the programme according to the budget as determined by the EU and the supervisory board;
• take care of the day-to-day management of the project together with the principal investigator;
• act as a contact point for the PhD researchers;
• act as interface between EU, principal investigator, programme director, executive board, supervisory board, scientific advisory board, supervisors and PhD researchers;
• maintain the project website, upload information and data provided by project participants. 

• At least 1-3 years work experience in research project management;
• proactive, cooperative and able to deal with a wide range of people;
• good command of the English language (written and verbal);
• a completed master’s degree;
• experience in other international research projects, ideally EU-funded research projects;
• as the job involves travel to research and event sites, the Project Manager should be able and willing to spend times abroad several times per year, from short 1 or 2 day trips to networking and training events of up to two weeks.

Fixed-term contract: Maximum of 4 years.

The successful candidate will be employed by Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden. The position is for 18 hours per week (50% of full-time equivalent). We offer a contract for a maximum of 4 years, with an initial probationary period. The gross monthly salary for a full time (36 hours) position would be in the range of € 3,468.- to € 4,506.- based on relevant experience. You also receive holiday allowance (8%) and year-end bonus (3.4%) as standard (following the Dutch Museum Collective Labour Agreement), plus an allowance for travel expenses. The planned start date is 1st September 2023.

Naturalis is a beautiful museum in Leiden, with an inspiring working atmosphere, plus the buzzing scientific atmosphere of the city of Leiden. Naturalis was proud to receive the European Museum of the Year award in 2021. Our institute promotes gender equality and wants to enhance the diversity of staff members.

Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Naturalis Biodiversity Center is the Dutch national research institute for biodiversity and systematics, in the city of Leiden. With our collection of 42 million specimens, one of the world's largest natural history collections, and our state-of-the-art research facilities we offer the (inter)national research infrastructure for species identification and monitoring (for example in the projects ARISE, DiSSCo and Xeno Canto). We closely collaborate with many Dutch universities, research institutes, industry, and government. We host over 120 researchers including 16 academia embedded professors and 40 PhD students. We present the history of our planet, and the diversity of life on Earth, through permanent and temporary museum exhibitions, educational programmes, and online presence, with more than 400,000 visitors per year. All in all, a unique combination of science and culture in the Netherlands and in the world!

Bioacoustic AI for Wildlife Protection

Naturalis Biodiversity Center is leading a new Doctoral Network funded by the EU's Marie Sklodovska-Curie scheme, entitled "Bioacoustic AI for Wildlife Protection (BioacAI)". With a €2.7M budget, the network is focussed on 10 PhD projects supported by a network of institutions around Europe: Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, UK, Czechia, Finland, and Italy. The 10 PhD students and the participating institutes will contribute to a four-year research programme to develop AI methods for the monitoring of wildlife through sound. Researchers will be developing new technology while also contributing to the protection of biodiversity. Naturalis is the coordinator of the Doctoral Network, responsible for the overall project - including a programme of training events and symposia, and international placements for the PhD students.