Postdoc position: Economic values of nature-based solutions for climate change risk

The Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) has a new position for a postdoctoral (PD) researcher in the field of environmental economics. The PD will become part of a new 4year interdisciplinary research program (ARCADIA) funded by Horizon Europe, which aims to develop change-pathways to increase climate-resilience of EU regions by means of implementing nature-based solutions.

The PD project will closely collaborate and be supervised by Prof. Wouter Botzen and Dr Mark Koetse, and will also be involved in supervision and collaboration with a PhD candidate who will be recruited for this project. Your main tasks are:

1. together with the PhD candidate and regional parners, develop a survey and a choice experiment in 5 EU regions to elicit economic values and preferences for nature-based solutions among various stakeholder groups (with a focus on citizens and businesses)
2. analyse survey and choice experiment data, with a focus on testing economic/behavioural theories and/or assessing key methodological issues with respect to conducting choice experimentation and choice modelling

An important part of the project is co-design of research and co-creation of knowledge with a wide variety of consortium partners from various EU regions. An inter- or multidisciplinary background and good communication skills are therefore important assets.

Your duties

• publish research results in international peer-reviewed journals and policy-oriented journals
• teach in Bachelor and/or Master’s educational programmes and supervise Bachelor and Master students
• contribute to project tasks, milestones and deliverables, and contribute to project management, meetings and activities (e.g., workshop organisation)

A challenging position in a socially involved organisation.The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel and amounts to €3,720 per month (scale 10.3) to €4,494 per month (scale 10.8) depending on experience and expertise and based on a full-time employment. The job profile is based on the university job ranking system and is vacant for 1 FTE.

The appointment will initially be for 1 year. After a satisfactory evaluation of the initial appointment, the contract will be extended for a duration of 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 expenses
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package

The ambition of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is clear: to contribute to a better world through outstanding education and ground-breaking research. We strive to be a university where personal development and commitment to society play a leading role. A university where people from different disciplines and backgrounds collaborate to achieve innovations and to generate new knowledge. Our teaching and research encompass the entire spectrum of academic endeavor – from the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences through to the life sciences and the medical sciences.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is home to more than 31,000 students. We employ over 5,000 individuals. The VU campus is easily accessible and located in the heart of Amsterdam’s Zuidas district, a truly inspiring environment for teaching and research.

Diversity
We are an inclusive university community. Diversity is one of our most important values. We believe that engaging in international activities and welcoming students and staff from a wide variety of backgrounds enhances the quality of our education and research. We are always looking for people who can enrich our world with their own unique perspectives and experiences.

The Faculty of Science
Working at the Faculty of Science means working together with students, PhD candidates and scientists who are focused on their discipline, yet also have a broad view of the world. We are proud of the collegial working environment within the faculty, which is characterised by an ambitious and pragmatic attitude with commitment to the bigger picture. At the Faculty of Science, scientists and students work on fundamental and complex social issues for a sustainable and healthy future. From forest fires to big data, from obesity to malnutrition, from genetics to pharmaceuticals and from molecules to the moon: our teaching and research cover the full breadth of the natural sciences. Scientific teaching and research is highly experimental, technical, computational and interdisciplinary in nature. This is why we collaborate extensively with leading research institutes and industry. The faculty has over 11,000 students studying across 40 educational programmes and employs over 1,600 staff spread over 10 scientific departments, making us the largest science faculty in the Netherlands.
About the institute
Established in 1971, IVM is a leading environmental research institute that is internationally recognised for its high-quality research output in a range of environmental disciplines, as well as for its interdisciplinary work. The mission of the institute is to contribute to sustainable development and care for the environment through scientific research and teaching. IVM aims to do excellent problem-oriented research that is useful to a wide range of stakeholders in the Netherlands and internationally. A unique strength of our research is to understand sustainability problems in their social and economic context. IVM’s research community works within four departments: Environmental Economics; Environmental Geography, Environmental Policy Analysis; and Water and Climate Risk. Since 2001 IVM has been part of the Faculty of Science at VU Amsterdam (legal name Stichting VU).

The department of Environmental Economics (EE) leads the institute’s efforts in improving insights into the interaction between the environment and the economy. The department is one of the main groups of environmental economists in Europe, consisting of around 35 scientific staff and PhD researchers. The department strategy is to consolidate and further strengthen its position as a major player in the European field of environmental economics. Important fields of application include climate change, energy, circular economy, water, ecosystem services, and environmental and natural resource management. The philosophy of the EE department is to closely integrate its research projects with its teaching programme and to initiate and conduct research jointly with stakeholders and collaborating institutes. In the coming years, the EE department will further explore new research fields related to climate economics, economics of sustainable energy, and economics of natural capital.