Post-doc Food Waste: Transition from Excess to Enough

Project description
The food system aims at providing large amounts of food anywhere, anytime, at the expense of extensive food waste. This project investigates changes in the food system to obtain a transition from having excess to having enough, specifically focusing on the demand side. The large amount of food wasted indicates that consumers have trouble predicting their consumption levels because of preference changes and unexpected events throughout the week. A mindset shift on the side of the consumer is needed from "fear of too little" to "concern about too much". We investigate how this can be accomplished and what it entails for the way households manage their food. Do you want to contribute to a transformation in food management practices and food retailing to reduce food waste?

The postdoc position
This postdoc position is funded by NWO and can last from 16 months (100% research) for up to two years (if the candidate is willing to do some teaching as well). The project is interdisciplinary, at the interface between consumer behavior, marketing, and design. Partners in the project are the Wageningen University & Research (Marketing and Consumer Behavior Group) and Delft University of Technology (industrial design), and we collaborate with various public and private partners such as Voedingscentrum, the Foundation United Against Food Waste, Hello Fresh, and others. More information about the project can be found here https://www.marketingandconsumerbehaviour.nl/new-project-food-waste-from-excess-to-enough/. This offers major advantages for the candidate in terms of opportunities to collect high-quality data, additional funds for travelling, and close interactions and discussions enhancing the quality and relevancy of the research projects. The project is supervised by prof. Jenny van Doorn and prof. Koert van Ittersum.

Faculty of Economics and Business
The Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) empowers and connects students, academics and external stakeholders to have a joint positive impact on regional, national and global economic and business challenges in science and society. It is our mission to offer excellent education and to execute excellent and impactful research. We therefore aim to attract talented staff and invest in them by providing clear career paths.

Department of Marketing
The Department of Marketing is one of the highly regarded and productive marketing groups in Europe. The department is responsible for courses in marketing for students in Bachelor and Master programs – in particular on Marketing Management, and Marketing Analytics & Data Science – at the Faculty of Economics and Business. In addition, the department participates in the Research Master program, a challenging 2-year Master program intended for students aiming at a PhD.
The quality and productivity of the department is evidenced by the very high ratings it consistently obtains in research evaluations. The RUG Customer Insights Center and the Groningen Digital Business Center that are affiliated with the department form a bridge between science and practice, translating into collaboration and data collection opportunities for department members.

To qualify, you:

- have a PhD degree in Marketing or a related discipline
- are an excellent researcher and have the ambition to publish in leading scientific journals
- are skilled in performing experiments, or are willing to develop this skill
- have excellent skills in communication and persuasion
- have good interpersonal skills and are motivated to collaborate in an interdisciplinary team.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

- a salary depending on qualifications and work experience, starting from a minimum of € 3,226 gross per month to a maximum of € 5,090 gross per month (salary scale 10) for a fulltime position
- a holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income and an 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance, as well as participation in a pension scheme for employees. For employees moving to The Netherlands, a fiscal facility pertaining to extraterritorial costs, the 30% facility, may be applicable if the rules of Dutch tax law permit this. Finally, a fulltime position will entitle you to 328 hours of leave per year
- a temporary appointment. The duration is variable from 16 months (1.0 FTE, 100% research) for up to two years (if the candidate is willing to do some teaching as well or wishes to work part-time).

Starting date: as soon as possible