We are looking for an enthusiastic and ambitious academic to strengthen our group and take on a tenure-track position of associate or assistant professor. While excellence in research and teaching is the main selection criterion, complementarity in research networks and experience will be an important consideration as well.

The successful candidate:

• Holds a PhD in a relevant social science or humanities discipline.
• Has an excellent fit with the FNP research program and a good scientific track record in social studies about or related to forest and nature, as evidenced by a substantive list of high-quality, peer-reviewed publications.
• Has strong didactic skills and experience with teaching at BSc and MSc levels in the social sciences and for interdisciplinary audiences.
• Has a proven track record in acquiring research funding and in managing complex research projects (for associate professor level) or has a proven potential to acquire research funding and managing research projects (for assistant professor level).
• Has a strong international academic reputation and network, as evidenced by reviewing and editing experience, international invited lectures or conference presentations, collaborative research activities and joint publications as well as strong networks with relevant professional and societal organizations both in Europe and other global regions.
• Has a long-term vision on the field with regard to research and teaching and is able to innovate accordingly.
• Has excellent communicative and writing skills, is able to communicate clearly to multiple audiences, and can successfully interact with academics, professionals, and lay audiences.
• Is able and willing to contribute to general tasks and activities of the chair group, the university and the academic community at large.
• Has the ambition to obtain a personal professorship in the future.

We offer a position for an Assistant or Associate Professor for at least 0.8 fte (30.4 hours per week). Evaluation on job performance is every 3 or 4 years, and a positive outcome will continue in a permanent position after 7 years. Salary depends on knowledge and experience. Gross salary per month from € 3.637,- to € 4.978,- (assistant professor position) and from € 5.039,- to € 6.133,- (associate professor position) based on full time employment.
We offer you a career trajectory called Tenure Track. From the position of Assistant or Associate Professor we can provide a great environment for you to grow, excel and work within the department to make a difference in our field and develop towards a Professor holding a Personal Chair; including the chance to build up your own research line and research group. Training and coaching are provided an as well as opportunities to work part-time.

Wageningen University & Research

The Forest and Nature Conservation Policy (FNP) chair group at Wageningen University in the Netherlands focuses on the political, social and cultural dimensions of forests, nature and biodiversity in teaching and research activities. The group covers various regions in the world (the Netherlands, Europe, Tropics) and various spatial and administrative scales (from the global to the local).
The FNP research program builds upon social and political theory and qualitative research approaches, with a special focus on practice-based research. This focus takes 'social-ecological practices' as an entry point for research and generates critical, theory informed and empirically grounded accounts of forest and nature practices across the globe and at multiple levels and scales. Topics include community-based conservation, forest management, landscape approaches, participation and citizen science, certification and traceability of forest-risk commodities, accounting for forest carbon stocks, as well as the politics of environmental knowledge and science-policy-society interfaces for biodiversity.
The strategic focus of the FNP research program includes three interrelated themes that apply practice-based research approaches to specific empirical domains: (1) the politics of forest and nature governance; (2) human-nature interactions; and (3) management, value chains, and markets.