Are you the ambitious researcher who wants to investigate the sustainability transition of Business Sciences in the food & agribusiness? Do you like to collaborate with other researchers from different scientific fields and countries?

Project description of the 3 available PhD's
The Section Business Science of the Social Sciences Group (SSG) is making a joint effort by combining 5 PhD positions around the theme 'Business Science for Sustainability'. Looking from different perspectives leverages the scope of your research. All PhDs will be based in a different group of the Business Science section: Business Economics, Business Management & Organisation, Information Technology, Marketing and Consumer Behaviour or Operations Research & Logistics. 2 PhD positions have been filled already. We are still looking for good candidates for the following 3 positions:

• 1. PhD 'Ownership structure, supplier relations and sustainability in food chains'
  The transition towards a more sustainable society requires different coordination mechanisms, different contracting arrangements and different financial mechanisms. The PhD project will critically asses current ownership structures and current supplier-buyer relationships in their ability to support the sustainability transition.
• 2. PhD 'Understanding and quantifying complementarity and substitution in food consumption baskets with respect to sustainability and healthiness'
  To stay relevant within current reality of studying health and sustainable choice behaviour, the field needs to move from consumer choice behaviour at the individual-product level as the focal criterion to the level of product portfolios, or shopping baskets. Within such portfolios it is important to understand how different consumer segments make decisions based on substitutability and complementarity between products and options within product categories, also in the long run. Therefore the aim of this project is to develop a set of sophisticated research tools and methodologies to advance the understanding of product portfolios/shopping baskets in terms of (a) how they are best quantified, (b) what determines their composition, (c) how they can be affected, and (d) implications for marketing/logistics.
• 3. PhD 'Designing sustainable agricultural systems using agent-based optimization models'
  Farmers face increasing pressure from society to adopt alternative agricultural systems that promote sustainability and resilience. Regional optimization models help determine the optimal resource exchanges between farms and enable assessing alternative landscape configurations and farm structural changes that promote e.g. biodiversity. Before evaluating various interventions, such as a policy change, these optimization models will be made "agent-based", which entails enriching the individual decision-making process and context, e.g. by modelling behavioural heterogeneity and social interactions.

More information about each PhD you can find here.

General requirements:

• a university degree (MSc) in a discipline relevant to the PhD project of your preference (e.g. agricultural economics, industrial engineering, operations research, econometrics, supply chain management, sustainability studies, management studies);
• openness and willingness to collaborate with people from other scientific disciplines;
• clear scientific ambition in the conduct and publication of research work;
• good control of English (both verbally and written);
• a social, critical and positive learning attitude towards achieving excellence;
• available at short term notice.

For the 2nd PhD position we are looking for:

• background in consumer behaviour (e.g. consumer science, marketing, social psychology, behavioural economics) or applied data science.

For the 2nd and 3rd PhD position we are looking for:

• a high level and interest in advanced quantitative data analysis/data science applied to marketing/consumer behaviour or operations research;
• experience preferably with R, and/or Python or (alternatively) other programming languages such as C++/C#.

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 receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.
The gross salary for the first year is € 2.395,- per month rising to € 3.061,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

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. 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.

Wageningen University & Research

The mission of Wageningen University and 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, 6.500 employees and 12.500 students, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. 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