Do you see yourself as the new generation of professionals in urban health? Do you want to be part of a unique, creative and single training network of 15 young researchers working on an improved understanding of the urban health system? Do you want to follow a high quality interdisciplinary and intersectoral training? Are you passionate about co-design and healthy lifestyle in youth?

The position is part of the SURREAL project. SURREAL (Systems approach of URban enviRonmEnts and heALth) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) action funded by the European Commission,. The network has employed 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) for high quality interdisciplinary and intersectoral early career training. The aim of SURREAL is to deliver a unique, creative and single training network for 15 ESRs working on an improved understanding of the urban health system's complexity, and on co-designing and applying adequate interventions in the system. The project draws upon interactions between academic disciplines such as epidemiology, public health, human movement science, psychology, sociology, geography, and urban planning and a wide range of entities such as medical centres, public authorities, firms, and NGOs as well as citizens. Equipped with this expertise and supported by innovative training formats, such as Collaborative Learning in Practice (CLiP), SURREAL trains the next generation of professionals in urban health.

You will be working on an existing research project in which health interventions will be co-designed and evaluated together with adolescents from diverse ethnic backgrounds (e.g., Moroccan-Dutch) living in a deprived urban neighbourhood. To inform the design of the interventions, until now participatory methods have been applied to collect data from adolescents about their social (organizational) networks (e.g. their significant others), and health related behaviors and exposures to urban environments. Your main tasks will involve:

• managing day-to-day communication with stakeholders (e.g. adolescents, schools, neighborhood workers);
• expanding previous research findings by engaging in further participatory action research for the purpose of co-creating and co-evaluating interventions;
• analysing qualitative and quantitative research data;
• reporting and communicating results through e.g. scientific papers and presentations.

This position will be placed in the chair group Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles.

For this interdisciplinary project we are looking for a teammate with:

• a (soon to be) completed master's degree (preferably a research master) in Health Promotion, Sociology, Anthropology or a related discipline. Students in their last year of study may apply but can only be recruited upon successful graduation;
• experience or interest in youth and health;
• experience or affinity with co-design, intervention development and evaluation;
• experience or affinity with participatory research methods;
• a collaborative and creative mind set with excellent organizational skills
• A people's person with outstanding social skills and eagerness to communicate with youth and adults from diverse backgrounds

For this position, it is necessary to communicate a significant amount in Dutch or Moroccan Arab and it is therefore important that you have a good command of the Dutch language (at least C2 level) or Moroccan Arab, in combination with a good command of English If you do not meet this language requirement, you cannot be considered for the position.

Eligibility: If you are interested in this ESR project, you are required to:

• be working exclusively for this project; AND
• not have resided AND not have carried out your main activity (work, studies) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date; AND
• be - at the date of recruitment - in the first four years of your research career and not have a doctoral degree. Considered is: time spent as FTE research experience, measured from the date when you obtained the degree entitling you to embark on a doctorate even if a doctorate was never started or envisaged.

• a temporary contract for 18 months;
• An exciting, multi-disciplinary and international research environment with ample opportunities for exchange with scholars from related disciplines at the universities and research institutes in the consortium, as well as with the local partner organizations and local stakeholders;
• a creative, entrepreneurial, innovative and holistic training environment consisting of :
  • Individual Research Projects (IRP), providing excellent supervision and mentoring with academics and non-academics;
  • structured local training programs, comprising specific training courses in research-related skills and well as training in complementary skills, offered on the basis of a Personal Career Development Plan;
  • network-wide activities, i.e. upcoming Network Schools in Paris and Barcelona;
  • inter-sectoral secondments;
  • collaborative learning in practice (CLiP), allowing to engage continuously with and learn from working in real urban health intervention situations;
  • career development modules, i.c. the use of Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF) and how to effectively employ the RDF Planner as basis for a Personal Career Development Plan (PCDP);
• additional training and networking opportunities through participation in international conferences.

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 of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of maximum € 2.960,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

Wageningen University & Research

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, 7,200 employees (6,400 fte) and 13,200 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 this video 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.

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.

GDPR consent statement
By submitting your application via the email address or platform indicated in the project(s), you consent to the following:

• Your personal records and application files are kept at the institution(s) to which you submitted them, until 5 years after the end date of the project, i.c. 31.12.2029.
• Any additional GDPR/data protection notices for recruitment applicable at the institution to which you submit your application.
• In the event you are shortlisted in view of potential recruitment, your personal records and application files are additionally kept at the Network Coordinator institute, i.c. LISER - Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, until 5 years after the end date of the project, i.c. 31.12.2029;
• Your personal records and application files may also be shared with the recruitment committees of other projects in the consortium, in particular if such sharing increases your chances of being recruited;