Are you interested in the impact of climate change and the melting of snowpacks and glaciers in High Mountain Asia on food production downstream? And do you like working with numerical models? Then this may be a good opportunity for you!

The Earth Systems and Global Change Group is looking for a Postdoc researcher (3 years) who is interested in the High Mountains of Asia and their link to the food producing regions that receive water from those mountains. This position is part of the ERC project 3POLE2SEA. The overall goal of the 3POLE2SEA project is to increase the understanding of the links between the water stored in the High Mountains of Asia and the water- and food security of the 1.9 billion people living in the areas downstream of those mountains, now and in the future, and use this understanding to support adaptation design. Together with 2 PhD students, another Postdoc and technical support, you will work on the design of adaptation strategies to make agriculture in one of the largest food producing areas in the world more resilient to changes in the mountains.

As a postdoc, you will take the lead in setting up a cryosphere-hydrology-crop model for the entire study region, consisting of High Mountain Asia and 12 big river basins originating from it. You will couple a mountain hydrology model (SPHY) to a hydrology-crop production model (LPJmL), prepare all input data and develop some new features in the model.

Secondly, you will develop a tracking algorithm in this model to trace water from its origin to its place of use. This will allow us to determine for the 12 river basins to what extent water availability depends on mountain water. The new model system will be used to derive upstream-downstream profiles for the 12 basins and study their differences.

You will publish your research findings in high-ranking scientific journals.

Finally, you will be involved in the supervision of the PhD students who will start few months after you, and of MSc students that work on their thesis projects.

Applications can only be submitted via our institutional website (vacancies at WUR) and should include (no more than) a cover letter and CV, both uploaded as a pdf.

You are/ You have:

• a PhD degree (or about to obtain) in the field of Hydrology, Crop Science, Earth System Science, Environmental Science, or a related field;
• demonstrated enthusiasm and ability to work with large datasets and large-scale numerical modelling in context of global change;
• excellent scripting and programming skills, most preferably C and R and eventually Phyton or Matlab;
• creativity in communication and visualisation of model results in maps and figures.
• advanced experience with numerical modelling on High Performance Computing Platforms;
• an excellent academic and publication record;
• willingness to work in multidisciplinary teams and the ability to work with PhD and MSc students in an advisory role;
• a high level of English (C1 level), both oral and written.

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;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / 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 between €3.226 and €5.090 for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10). Initially, we offer you a one-year contract, which will then be extended with two years if there is mutual enthusiasm. Of course, we would be happy to discuss this with you if you have any questions.
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 19th 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.

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 for example helping your partner to find a job, housing, 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.

Wageningen University & Research

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, 7,600 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.

For more information about this position, please contact please contact dr. Hester Biemans (PI 3POLE2SEA project), telephone +31 317 486455 or by e-mail: hester.biemans@wur.nl , or Dr. Ronald Hutjes by e-mail: ronald.hutjes@wur.nl.

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, Corporate Recruiter, noorien.abbas@wur.nl

Do you want to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval.

This vacancy will be listed up to and including 27 May 2024 . We hope to schedule the first job interviews soon after the closing date.

Equal opportunities
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) employs a large number of people with very different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We want every talent to feel at home in our organisation and be offered the same career opportunities. We therefore especially welcome applications from people who are underrepresented at WUR. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment.