Background: In the current project, you will examine the role of various cognitive processes that influence acceptance of fruit and vegetables. These include the multisensory perception of foods, formation of mental representations of foods and prediction of tastes, decision making and cognitive biases in processing food related information. You will take the lead in a longitudinal study, with the aim to investigate the development of these cognitive processes and relate them to the development of food acceptance. This will show us which cognitive processes are crucial, when they are crucial, and how they interact with food acceptance.

Challenges and tasks: In close collaboration with a PhD student and the research team ‘Learning to like vegetables’, you will develop cognitive tasks or adjusted them for the target group (children of 3 - 5 year). Participants need to be recruited and tested. In addition, you will analyze data and disseminate result findings.

• You have a PhD degree in (developmental/cognitive psychology), pedagogy or health science.
• Proven affinity with research in the field of cognition, development or eating behavior.
• You are able to initiate, develop, and carry out high quality research.
• Experience with advanced longitudinal data analysis.
• Strong proactive, collaborative, and creative working approach.
• Excellent communication (oral and written) skills in Dutch and English.
• Preferably you hold a Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO), or are willing to acquire this qualification in the near future.
• A promising publication track record of fundamental research, and documented or ambitions to attract own funding.

Fixed-term contract: 5 years.

You are offered a fixed-term employment contract for 0.8 fte -1.0 with a period of 5 years. 

The salary will be set in scale 10 (between € 2.790 and € 4.402 gross per month) depending on education and relevant work experience. On top of this, there is an 8% holiday and an 8.3% year-end allowance. 

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees.

Maastricht University

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 20,000 students and 4,700 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts 6 faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.
For more information, visit www.maastrichtuniversity.nl.