Postdoc on food marketing, framing an misinformation

Full-time postdoctoral researcher on food marketing, framing an misinformation (as part of the European FutureFoodS FOOD-FRAMES project)

Are you motivated to investigate how food marketing, public narratives, and mis/disinformation are prevalent within our (online) food information environment? Do you want to investigate how strategies and policy actions can mitigate harmful food marketing and mis/disinformation, and examine the conditions, potential backlash, and policymaker responses that shape their implementation? And do you want to identify evidence-based strategies to challenge the persistent, societally embedded belief that healthy eating is solely an individual responsibility?

As a Postdoctoral Researcher within the FutureFoodS FOOD-FRAMES project (FutureFoodS), you will contribute to innovative research that examines the food information environment.
Our current food system contributes to major environmental challenges and rising diet-related chronic diseases. Enabling healthy and sustainable diets requires food environments that actively support better choices, yet today’s food information environment often does the opposite. Pervasive food marketing and mis- and disinformation distort public understanding, amplify politicized narratives, and place responsibility unfairly on individuals, making it difficult for people to make healthy and sustainable food choices.
FOOD-FRAMES brings together European universities and societal partners across Europe to study these systemic drivers and co-create evidence-based policy solutions. In this Postdoctoral role, you will contribute to advancing scientific knowledge on how food marketing, public framing, and information flows shape food policy, public debate, and stakeholder perspectives in the Netherlands and across Europe. You will work at the forefront of a collaborative, interdisciplinary consortium aiming to support a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable food future.

Within the FOOD-FRAMES project, you particularly…

• Support in the mapping and analysis of food-related mis- and disinformation within the Dutch food information environment. e.g., contributing to the collection and organisation of data on public exposure to such information and supporting the interpretation of how these information dynamics may influence consumer understanding and behaviours related to healthy and sustainable diets. This work will contribute to broader data-collection efforts in the project.
• Contribute to deepening the understanding of systemic drivers shaping food information environments across Europe and multi-level policy solutions.
• To explore how Dutch stakeholders perceive and negotiate values and trade-offs in outdoor food marketing policies, using an existing immersive virtual reality food environment to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and public legitimacy of different policy directions.
• To examine dominant narratives about responsibility for healthy diets within the Dutch food information environment, and to co-develop more systems-oriented communication approaches that enhance support for structural interventions in the Netherlands.
• Contribute to educational tasks (e.g., Bsc, Msc thesis supervision within the FOOD-FRAMES project)
• Availability to attend the FOOD-FRAMES kick-off meeting on 20–21 May 2026 in the Netherlands is required.

• Advanced scientific understanding of the role of food marketing and communication within food environments, including how these influences affect policy discussions, stakeholder positions, and collective choices around healthy and sustainable diets.
• Strong empirical research skills relevant to the position (e.g. content analysis, participatory approaches)
• A strong drive to advance academic research and contribute to high-quality publications in international peer-reviewed journals.
• Excellent command of both English and Dutch, enabling effective collaboration with stakeholders and research partners. For both Dutch and English this position requires language level C1.

You also possess:

• A PhD in a relevant field (e.g. public health nutrition, political communication science, behavioural or social sciences, design research, or related disciplines).
• Capacity to translate complex research findings into actionable outputs such as policy briefs, tools, or guidelines. Or experienced engaging with societal stakeholders and/or working in policy-relevant research contexts.
• Collaboration and communication skills for effective contribution to interdisciplinary, multi-country research teams. With the ability to work proactively within structured work packages and lead assigned tasks autonomously.

You will work here
The chair group Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles studies consumption and lifestyles of individuals and groups from an interdisciplinary perspective. The chair group embeds these insights in the design, evaluation and implementation of interventions to enable healthy and sustainable behaviors.

Your team
You will join a dynamic, interdisciplinary team based at the Chair Group Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles at Wageningen University, working closely with colleagues specializing in public health nutrition, behavioural science, communication, food policy research and sociology. You will also collaborate with research partners from seven other European countries (based in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Norway) as well as a range of societal stakeholders. As part of the Dutch coordinating team, you will also contribute to the coordination and organisational support of consortium activities. This international environment offers excellent opportunities for joint learning, scientific exchange, and professional development within a vibrant, multi-country European project.

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;
• 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 year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between € 3.378,- and € 5.331,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10). As for your contract, we initially offer a one-year contract that can be extended for 2 years - if possible within (company) organizational circumstances - on good performance. Of course, we are happy to have a conversation with you if you have any questions about this.

Wageningen University & Research offers plenty of opportunities for growth and development, with a strong internal recruitment policy and excellent training programmes.

You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment. For 20 consecutive years, we have been voted the "best university" in the Netherlands! A place to be proud of.

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, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 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.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below 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.

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.
Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands 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 coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account, dual career programs or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.