Are you interested in sustainable food and farming systems, and would you like to join an interdisciplinary project on improving plant protein production in
Europe? Please apply at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
 
Location: AMSTERDAM
FTE: 1.0
 
Increasing domestic production of grain legumes is considered an important strategy for improving Europe’s food security and can be a pathway towards more sustainable food systems. Legume production in Europe might have significant co-benefits, such as increasing resilience of European farming systems and reducing fertilizer use, pesticide use and greenhouse gas emissions (climate-smart agriculture). What is the potential for expanding plant grain legume production in Europe? How large are the co-benefits and who are the beneficiaries? What are impacts and trade-offs on the environment, land use and value chain? How can increased grain legume production contribute to increasing sustainability of European farming systems?

The postdoc will contribute to the interdisciplinary project LegumeGAP, that explores scenarios of increasing production and sustainability of plant protein production in Europe. LegumeGAP is an interdisciplinary project that unites among others agronomists, economists, plant breeders and spatial ecologists from eight European countries. The position will not only research a societally relevant topic, involve a mix of both quantitative and qualitative methods, offer opportunities for participation in an international research consortium, but it will also require close collaboration with stakeholders to ensure research relevance and impact.
The postdoc position will be part of the Environmental Geography group at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at VU, which provides a stimulating, highly interdisciplinary research environment studying complex sustainability challenges.

Your duties:

• Building scenarios that explore windows of opportunity for legume production in Europe
• Impact assessment and analysis of trade-offs of legume production at EU and global level
• Contribute to various cross-partner tasks, including an European-level farmers survey, EU scale modelling of potential crop yields and yield gaps, analysis and mapping of different yield gap components and drivers for it

Requirements:

• PhD degree in geography, agronomy, environmental sciences or similar background
• solid experience with large-scale spatial analysis, and proven interest in interdisciplinary research
• experience with quantitative research, modelling, and qualitative research
• command of Dutch is an advantage

A challenging position in a socially involved organization. On full-time basis the remuneration amounts to a minimum gross monthly salary of €3,123 (scale 10) and a maximum €4,274 (scale 10), depending on your education and experience. The job profile is based on the university job ranking system and is vacant for 1 FTE.

The initial employment contract will affect a period of 1 year, with the possibility of extension to in total 3 years.

Additionally, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam offers excellent fringe benefits and various schemes and regulations to promote a good work/life balance, such as:

• a maximum of 41 days of annual leave based on full-time employment
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• solid pension scheme (ABP)
• contribution to commuting allowance based on public transport

http://www.vu.nl/en/index.asp

The ambition of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is clear: to contribute to a better world through outstanding education and ground-breaking research. And to be a university where personal education and societal involvement play a leading role. Where people from different disciplines and backgrounds work together on innovations and on generating new knowledge. Our teaching and research embrace the whole spectrum of science – from the humanities, the social sciences and the pure sciences through to the life sciences and the medical sciences.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is home to more than 23,000 students. We employ more than 4,500 individuals. The VU campus is easily accessible, located in the heart of Amsterdam’s Zuidas district, a truly inspiring environment for teaching and research.

Diversity is one of our university’s core values. We are an inclusive community, and we believe that diversity and international activities enhance the quality of education and research. We are always looking for people who can enhance diversity on our campus thanks to their background and experience.

 

The Faculty of Science inspires researchers and students to find sustainable solutions for complex societal issues. From forest fires to big data, from obesity to medicines and from molecules to the moon: our teaching and research programmes cover the full spectrum of the natural sciences. We share knowledge and experience with leading research institutes and industries, both here in the Netherlands and abroad.
Working at the Faculty of Science means working with students, PhD candidates and researchers, all with a clear focus on their field and a broad view of the world. We employ more than 1,250 staff members, and we are home to around 6,000 students.

The Environmental Geography group of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) aims to contribute to the design of solutions to mitigate and adapt to global environmental change. The group has a leading role in international networks in these fields. In its research, the group has a strong interdisciplinary focus. We develop and apply methods to better understand, model and communicate spatial dynamics of human‐environment systems with special emphasis on land systems and ecosystem services.