Are you that enthusiastic social scientist who wants to contribute to a more animal-friendly food system using new technology? A PhD with expertise in marketing and/or consumer behaviour?

Than we are looking for you!

You will work in the European Union H2020 Clearfarm consortium to explore the potential of Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) in the market. You will design and conduct focus groups and quantitative studies targeting consumers and farmers in several European countries. You will present your ideas and results to project partners in a stimulating international environment and include their feedback into your research.

In the Clearfarm project you will work directly with the project leader in the MCB group. You will also maintain strong contacts with project partners in other EU countries, active in the same work package of the project. Together with them you will design focus group studies that will be conducted in two countries, on how PLF can be used in animal-based consumer products such as meat and dairy. You will responsible for the focus groups in the Netherlands and will contribute to the analyses and the reporting of the results in a report, a scientific article and a workshop with other partners. The workshop will generate more concrete ideas for the incorporation of new products that include PLF features. You will further refine these products in quantitative studies for which you will coordinate the data collection in several European countries. You will also design quantitative studies that examine the acceptance of PLF among farmers to examine the feasibility of the product ideas in the supply chain.

• You have a PhD degree in the Social Sciences, preferably marketing or consumer behaviour;
• You have affinity with food and agriculture, in particular livestock farming;
• You are an independent and creative researcher with strong quantitative market research skills and some experience with qualitative research such as focus group research;
• You see the synergy between scientific research and concrete applications in collaborative projects with companies and other organizations;
• You are a hardworking networker who loves to work in a team in an international context.

This position requires an excellent English language proficiency (a mininum of CEFR C1 level). For more information about this proficiency level, please visit our special language page.

We offer you a meaningful job for a period of 18 months (first 1 year and upon positive evaluation an extension for another 6 months) at an international leading organization at the Marketing & Consumer Behaviour group. The organization has good and flexible employment conditions, including good education and training facilities.

A challenging position with, depending on your experience, a competitive salary from a minimum of € 2.709 to a maximum of € 4.274 for a full working week of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement Dutch Universities (scale 10). You also have the opportunity to work 40 hours a week with additional holidays.

In addition, we offer:

• 8% holiday allowance;
• a structural year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent training opportunities and secondary employment conditions;
• flexible working hours and holidays can possibly be determined in consultation so that an optimal balance between work and private life is possible;
• excellent pension plan through ABP;
• 232 vacation hours, the option to purchase extra and good supplementary leave schemes;
• a flexible working time: the possibility to work a maximum of 2 hours per week extra and thereby to build up extra leave;
• a choice model to put together part of your employment conditions yourself, such as a bicycle plan;
• a lively workplace where you can easily make contacts and where many activities take place on the Wageningen Campus. A place where education, research and business are represented;
• use the sports facilities on campus

Wageningen University & Research stimulates internal career opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are ample opportunities for own initiative in a learning environment.

We offer a versatile job in an international environment with varied activities in a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

Wageningen University & Research

The mission of Wageningen University & Research is "To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life". Within Wageningen University & Research, nine specialised research institutes from the Wageningen Research Foundation and Wageningen University have joined forces to help answer the most important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment.

With approximately 30 locations, 5,000 employees, and 10,000 students, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain worldwide. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of the unique approach of Wageningen.

For further information about working at Wageningen University & Research, take a look at thespecial career site.

The Wageningen University Marketing and Consumer Behaviour (MCB) group is one of the leading research groups in the fields of agriculture and food worldwide. Our group is unique in making essential theoretical contributions in the top journals of Marketing, Consumer Behavior, Agricultural Economics, Food Sciences, and Psychology.

We are a cohesive team that consists of ambitious, hardworking, collaborative scientists. This field is currently going through a fundamental transition. Your specialization on PLF will help you to get prepared for a career as a leading researcher in this domain.