Do you have a passion for unearthing the secrets of soil chemistry? Are you ready to lead, inspire, and make a lasting impact? Then this may be the perfect opportunity for you!
The Soil Chemistry and Chemical Soil Quality Group at Wageningen University and Research is looking for a passionate individual ready to complement and enrich our dynamic team. With the depth of your research, you will extend our knowledge, diving deep into soil chemical processes that influence environmental change.

Your workplace:
The chair group Soil Chemistry and Chemical Soil Quality (SOC) is engaged in fundamental soil chemical research and education. We aim to develop a generic understanding of soil chemical processes at the molecular scale and nanoscale, in relation to ecosystem services such as soil fertility, carbon sequestration, and sustainment of soil and groundwater quality. In addition, we focus on how these underlying processes and functions are influenced by closing material cycles and an increasing use of residual/waste materials in the soil environment. We follow a research strategy based on novel experimental/analytical techniques and geochemical model development and application. The chair group includes a large state-of-the-art chemical laboratory and WEPAL, a world-leading organiser of proficiency testing programmes for soil, sediment, plants and organic waste.

Your role:

• Collaborative Excellence: Engage with a supportive team, where your insights will complement our existing knowledge of soil chemical processes and cutting-edge numerical and mechanistic research approaches.
• Research with Impact: Play a pivotal role in advancing research that shapes our understanding of soil chemical processes, where your contribution will particularly focus on how the chemical speciation of both nutritional elements and potentially hazardous substances drive their environmental availability and human health.
• Educate: Inspire and mentor students in our bachelor's and master's programs to raise their eagerness to learn and make a difference.

This position is part of Wageningen University's commitment to the new "Sector Plan Earth and Environmental Sciences" (AMW) which has been developed to perform research that can contribute to solutions for societal challenges in the field of climate, energy, food, raw materials, and environment and sustainability. With this new position the Soil Chemistry and Chemical Soil Quality Group will particularly contribute to the theme (soil) health and environment.

We value the strength that diverse backgrounds bring, and we encourage applicants who can offer a unique perspective in this exciting field.

The expected start date of the position is March 1st 2024.

• A PhD in soil chemistry, (bio)geochemistry, or environmental chemistry;
• A minimum of 2 years of experience as a post-doctoral researcher;
• Proficiency in, or a demonstrable affinity towards, soil science, organic geochemistry, and surface complexation modelling of environmental processes;
• inspiring vision on and experience in academic teaching. A University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) is desirable. If you haven’t acquired it yet, we trust in your commitment to achieve this within 3 years of joining our team
• Proven experience in mentoring BSc and MSc students and in developing novel research initiatives;
• Your commitment to academic excellence, backed by a robust portfolio of high-impact scientific publications;
• A collaborative network within the domain of soil chemistry or related fields;
• Ability to inspire students and peers alike through lectures, laboratory sessions, and field activities.

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

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and 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 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 € 4.332,- and € 6.737,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 11-12).

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 and for managerial positions actively work towards a specific WUR leadership profile. 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 16th 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. And we have a Dual Career Center to support the growing number of international employees and their families joining WUR.

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.. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of Wageningen’s unique approach. WUR has been named Best Employer in the Education category for 2019-2020.

These are the points our employees list as good reasons to come work at WUR: read the 5 reasons to come work at WUR

About SSC
The chair group Soil Chemistry and Chemical Soil Quality is part of the Department of Environmental Sciences of Wageningen University. The department’s fundamental research and education concern our living environment: nature, landscape, land use, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, water management, and various competing claims on space. We are increasingly joining forces in research and teaching among the four soil chair groups in the department united in the Soil Science Cluster to advance and disseminate our understanding of interplaying soil chemical, biological, physical and geographical drivers in land-use and ecosystem services.

Our main research themes are:

• Soil fertility: soil chemical controls on the bioavailability of nutrients, and their coupling to biological processes, in support of sustainable nutrient management and food security
• Environmental geochemistry: identifying and quantifying processes that control soil and groundwater quality; new challenges arising from increasing recycling of materials (“circular economy”) and behaviour of emerging contaminants
• Soil carbon: biogeochemical processes controlling carbon sequestration and nutrient availability; analytical characterization and modelling of soil carbon in light of its multiple roles in soil functioning

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