Are you passionate about contributing to sustainable food systems globally and are you committed to advancing and facilitating informed discussions about how the food system can become sustainable, resilient, just, and ultimately “good”? Within WUR we offer a position at the crossroads of research, knowledge activation, and dialogue. The position is based @WUR, but strongly connected to TABLE Debates (a collaboration of the University of Oxford, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Wageningen University & Research).
The position has two components: (i) conducting a research project on food systems and (ii) being a knowledge activator.
(i) Research project on food systems (50% time)
As a Postdoc, your role involves co-formulating and conducting research on the resilience of food systems in the Global South. These systems face multiple crises such as climate change, biodiversity loss, geopolitical issues, and inequality. Amid these challenges, informal responses emerge to ensure access to sufficient, healthy, and culturally acceptable food. These responses play a crucial role in maintaining community and food system resilience.
Your research aims to identify and analyze these spontaneous responses to shocks and stresses. This involves understanding their significance, exploring various forms of self-organization during food crises, assessing their impact on resilience at different levels, identifying factors that support or hinder such responses, and examining how different types of knowledge (indigenous, scientific, experiential) can enhance these efforts.
By shedding light on these dynamics, your research contributes to enhancing the effectiveness of scientific knowledge in supporting grassroots efforts to bolster food system resilience. Additionally, it promotes awareness of the diverse values and knowledge sources involved in achieving more just and transformative food systems.
(ii) Knowledge activator role (50% time)
As a knowledge activator, your role involves understanding and integrating diverse knowledge, perspectives, and values related to food systems and sustainability. You'll focus on connecting current TABLE networks with practitioner networks in the Global South engaged in food systems transformation. This includes examining the dynamics between food systems in the Global South and Global North, considering interactions, balance, dilemmas, and trade-offs.
Your responsibilities include facilitating diverse stakeholders in exploring perspectives and alternative actions, allowing for reflection on uncertainties and conflicting values. As an intermediary, you'll be attentive to external priorities beyond WUR and TABLE communities.
You'll also play a pivotal role in strengthening the relationship between TABLE Debates and WUR Dialogues by leveraging collaborators' work within WUR and TABLE. This involves enhancing WUR colleagues' contributions to TABLE debates and identifying opportunities for TABLE to amplify WUR colleagues' impact.
Your role involves:
- Expanding and connecting TABLE and WUR communities, collaborating closely with both to integrate dialogue-focused groups with research institutes.
- Mapping stakeholders and perspectives impartially, identifying opportunities for dialogue, and facilitating discussions.
- Providing a balanced overview of complex food systems issues, presenting diverse viewpoints.
- Creating tangible outputs like explainers and blog posts to share insights and perspectives with stakeholders, promoting understanding of values and trade-offs.
Your qualities
- An early career scientists that approaches issues/questions in a project-oriented way with a clear start and end point, while being open to whatever comes on its way.
- Relevant PhD
- Driven to explore contested issues from multiple perspectives. Capable of approaching complex issues in an open way, including different angles, values and assumptions
- Background or interest in the food system and science-policy-society interactions
- Background or interest in combining science and technology studies with social sciences
- Committed to enhancing dialogue within and beyond the scientific community
- Committed to working collaboratively with the wider TABLE team at Oxford and SLU
- Extensive experience of WUR research and researchers, and a commitment to drawing them into TABLE debates
- A generalist that can delve into a topic, but also highly capable of synthesising large and diverse sources of information into forms accessible to non-specialists.
We offer you
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;
- Available time: 1 FTE for 2 years;
- A dynamic community: TABLE Debates is a network of connected, committed scientists and institutions eager to contribute to an active network;
- Opportunity to rapidly build new connections with networks in the Global South;
- Part of a close-knit team of active researchers and communicators across multiple institutions.
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 € 3226 and € 5929 for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10 or 11). Additionally, a contract for 0.8 FTE can be discussed.
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 18th 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 helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling. For instance under the "30% rule", certain categories of international staff can receive tax exemption on approximately 30% of their gross salary.
Do you want more information?
For more information about this position, please contact Sigrid Wertheim-Heck, Associate Professor Environmental Policy; email address sigrid.wertheim-heck@wur.nl; +31 633876825
For more information about the procedure, please contact Corporate Recruiter Jouke van Oostenbrugge, email address recruitment.ssg@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 28-8-2023.
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. For more information please go to our inclusivity page. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment.
We are
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!
More information about the role and the collaboration between ENP, WCDI, TABLE and Wageningen Dialogues
This role involves collaboration between WUR’s Environmental Policy Group (ENP), the Wageningen Dialogues program, and Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation (WCDI). You'll work closely with ENP and WCDI, bridging interests in robust food system knowledge and practical application through dynamic dialogue. ENP addresses global food system challenges by researching sustainability integration in food production, consumption, and innovative governance. WCDI translates knowledge into action in partnership with the Global South to foster inclusive food systems and planetary health. Wageningen Dialogues' promotes dialogue among staff, students, and stakeholders to address societal challenges and polarization. Your role as a knowledge broker will contribute to these dialogue programs.
This is closely linked to TABLE, a global platform for discussing critical food-related concerns, with the mission is to facilitate nuanced, self-reflective dialogue on food systems. This PD positions feeds into TABLE’s activities that foster informed discussions on sustainable, just, and resilient food systems, aligning with SDGs and revealing the evidence, assumptions, and values shaping food system debates.
We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.
Apply now
The full description of the vacancies in Dutch can be found on the
Dutch vacancy page.
- Published on August 8, 2023
| Location | Wageningen |
|---|---|
| End date | Mon 28 August 2023 |
| Respond | Click here to respond |
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