PhD position: Transforming Dutch Agriculture

Do you want to engage with farmers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to find solutions to the Dutch agri-environmental challenges? Are you eager to learn from practice and theory, and see your insights applied in a significant transition program? If this sounds intriguing, you’re in luck – we’re hiring a PhD candidate for an exciting position at Utrecht University!

Your job
Dutch agriculture is under enormous pressure to change. While the sector has been successful in producing large volumes of food over the past two generations, it struggles to meet its modern challenges: it drives biodiversity decline, contributes to climate change, puts pressure on water quality and quantity, and consumes too many scarce resources and fossil fuels. Farmers in this system struggle to earn a decent livelihood for their families and face increasing regulatory constraints and societal expectations. This situation is created by institutional, economic and political lock-ins.

Regenerative agriculture is a new paradigm that aims to create a farming sector with positive externalities. By creating farming systems in balance with local soil, landscapes and communities, regenerative agriculture can restore healthy relations between farmer, nature and society. In the Netherlands, the National Growth Fund program ReGeNL has been launched to transform 1,000 Dutch conventional farms into regenerative farms over the next seven years.

A core ambition of our research project is to work towards better conditions to enable this transformation. Currently, governance arrangements, administrations, organizational and finance models are not designed to facilitate this transformation, even though transitions theory indicates that the pressures mentioned above should precipitate such changes. Decision makers and policymakers struggle to implement regulations and incentives structures to support farmers. Moreover, research on agency in agri-food transitions has tended to neglect these key non-farmer actors. Changing all this requires evidence for new institutions and business models, a mindset shift to let go of what no longer works, and novel conceptual insights. This is where you come in!

The aim of this PhD is to understand how Dutch farming can be transformed into a regenerative sector, and to co-create solutions with local stakeholders in “living labs” to make this a reality. You will be working in a transdisciplinary team of researchers and practitioners who you will support with your insights, and who will support you in designing and carrying out your research. Specific topics include an inventory of success factors and barriers for regenerative farming business models; designing transition pathways that match diverse farm types; and a transition plan to redesign the Dutch agricultural system towards regenerative outcomes.

Your tasks as a PhD candidate are to:

• design a research plan in line with the aims and key topics of the ReGeNL program;
• carry out desk and field research;
• engage and learn with a variety of stakeholders in the Dutch agricultural system;
• write a dissertation composed of publishable scientific work.

We are looking for the following characteristics and qualifications in a suitable candidate:

• proven affinity for food system transformation;
• curiosity about complex societal change processes;
• a proactive attitude and good time management skills;
• good interpersonal and stakeholder engagement skills;
• Master’s degree in a relevant social science or interdisciplinary program. Examples include but are not limited to Sustainable Development, Environmental Policy, Rural Sociology, Innovation Science, Human Geography;
• experience with qualitative research methods, preferably in a similar setting (rural communities and/or agriculture);
• fluency in English (at least C1);
• good command of Dutch (at least B2), or willingness to master the language within one year through intensive study paid for by the university;
• good academic writing skills.

If you meet some, but not all, of the above criteria, we still encourage you to apply.

We offer:

• a position (0.8-1 FTE) for 1 year, with an extension to a total of four years upon a successful assessment in the first year, and with the specific intent that it results in a doctorate within this period;
• a working week of 32 - 40 hours and a gross monthly salary between € 3.059 and €3.881 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University also offers a range of its own schemes for employees. This includes arrangements for professional development, various types of leave, and options for sports and cultural activities. You can also tailor your employment conditions through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage you to keep investing in your personal and professional development. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

Utrecht University’s Faculty of Geosciences studies the Earth: from the Earth’s core to its surface, including man’s spatial and material utilisation of the Earth – always with a focus on sustainability and innovation. With 3,400 students (BSc and MSc) and 720 staff, the faculty is a strong and challenging organisation. The Faculty of Geosciences is organised in four Departments: Earth Sciences, Human Geography & Spatial Planning, Physical Geography, and Sustainable Development.

The Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development wants to have a positive impact on the transition to a sustainable society, which includes a focus on both the climate and nature challenges and how they interrelate. We do this by developing excellent and relevant knowledge in interdisciplinary teams and by educating the change agents of the future. The Copernicus Institute has had an excellent research evaluation in 2021 and the institute takes pride in maintaining its leading position in national and international sustainability research, and by developing new, internationally oriented teaching programmes. The institute consists of five research groups (sections): Innovation Studies, Environmental Governance, Environmental Sciences, Energy and Resources, and the Utrecht Futures Studio. This PhD-project will be embedded in the Innovation Studies group.