Career at WUR
About Us
- Plenty of variety and challenges
- Pleasant working atmosphere
- Time for personal development
- Proper work-life balance
- Internationally leading
Your job
Are you a systems thinker passionate about bending the curve of biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes? Are you looking for a meaningful research path with impact on the ground? Are you eager to join a stimulating environment, collaborate across academic fields, and engage with private and public actors? Are you enthusiastic to dive into effective planning and governance arrangements for biodiversity recovery in agricultural landscapes? Then, this PhD position might be the perfect fit for you.
Biodiversity recovery is essential to sustain resilient food systems, robust businesses, and healthy societies. A transition to a nature-inclusive dairy sector in the Netherlands is pivotal to biodiversity recovery, because of its influence in shaping landscapes through land use and management, and because of its socio-economic relevance. DECISION is a transdisciplinary project involving farmers, dairy companies, financial and service sectors, and local communities, to co-create and accelerate the transition to a resilient and nature-inclusive future. DECISION will count on a broad group of experts, four fully funded PhDs candidates and one postdoc.
For this position, we are looking for a PhD candidate eager to deal with the complexity of public and private governance efforts coming together in landscapes and at farm level, and the need to design coordinated action. In that role, you will build on and integrate the work of your fellow PhD candidates, co-develop a theory of change integrating coordinated public and private action and monitoring, explore synergies and tensions in multi-actor governance and planning, and help bridge research and education.
Your Duties And Responsibilities Include
- Develop a Research Proposal and a Training and Supervision Plan, to structure the 5-year project with a 0.8fte PhD trajectory
- Advancing conceptual thinking by linking and comparing business-to-business approaches with collective action and landscape governance
- Conducting and analyzing semi-structured interviews and workshops with stakeholders
- Implement a Theory of Change approach and other approaches for knowledge co-production with stakeholders
- Disseminate results by publishing papers in scientific journals, presenting in international conferences, and creating content items dedicated to stakeholders and students
- Work as a team player, contributing to the activities and wider aims of DECISION project.
You will work here
This PhD position will be situated between the Land Use Planning Group of Wageningen University & Research and the Animal Production Systems (APS) group . The LUP group aims to improve our understanding of landscapes as social-ecological systems and focuses on interventions that relieve the pressure on scarce space, improving the overall landscape quality. APS focuses on unravelling the complexity of livestock systems and exploring trade-offs and synergies of innovations regarding environmental impact, animal welfare, and economic viability to design a more sustainable future.
You will be supervised by Dr Judith Westerink (LUP) and Dr Raimon Ripoll-Bosch (APS). The work of Dr Judith Westerink focuses on transformative landscape governance, in particular related to biodiversity and dairy farming systems. The work of Dr Raimon Ripoll-Bosch focuses on understanding the complex interactions between livestock, nature (biodiversity and ecosystem services) and economy, to design enabling environments for the transitions to nature-inclusive agroecosystems.
Your qualities
You have strong analytical skills, capable of disentangling complex problems and understanding diverse perspectives on the matter. You are a responsible and independent researcher, but also a team player that thrives being part of a larger, collaborative and multi-disciplinary team. You are creative, constructive and open to learn from other disciplines.
You Also Have
- A successfully completed MSc degree in a relevant social science, such as Spatial Planning, Public Administration and Governance, Institutional Economics, Political Science or (Rural) Sociology
- Demonstrated affinity with biodiversity or other environmental topics
- Acquaintance with mixed-method research, experience with conducting and analyzing interviews, surveys and synthesizing documents
- Affinity with inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, and designing interactive sessions with stakeholders
- Excellent writing and presenting skills in English as well as Dutch, for both academic and non-academic audiences
For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level . Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here .
We offer
Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment . A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:
- Partially paid parental leave;
- working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
- 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 year-end bonus of 8.3%;
- excellent pension scheme.
In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.
The gross salary for the first year is € 3.204,- rising to € 4.051,- over the course of the project according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours.
This position will be for 0,8 FTE. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project (5 years in total) if you perform well. Candidates interested in a full-time (1.0 FTE) appointment are welcome to discuss this option. In that case, the PhD project would have a duration of four years.
We encourage development and internal mobility within our organisation. Our recruitment and selection policy sets out the conditions that apply specifically to you as a (former) employee. If you have any questions, we are happy to help.
You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment.
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.
Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands 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 coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account, dual career programs 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.
Important information
For more information about the position, please contact Dr. Judith Westerink, via email: judith.westerink@wur.nl and Dr. Raimon Ripoll-Bosch, via email: raimon.ripollbosch@wur.nl
Questions about the procedure? Get in touch with Jessa Rozema, Corporate Recruiter, via jessa.rozema-stol@wur.nl
Ready 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. Only applications submitted through our website will be considered.
To apply, please send the following documents (
max. 3 pages in total ):
- Complete and up-to-date curriculum vitae (max. 2 pages);
- Motivation letter (max. 1 page).
The maximum length of the documents must not exceed 3 pages. If it exceeds, applications will not be considered. Additional files such as grades and transcripts are not required during this stage and will not be considered.
You can apply up to and including 5 October 2026. The first interviews are scheduled for October 14th and/or October 16th 2026.
Welcome, safe, and valued
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) highly values diversity and inclusion because we believe that different insights lead to innovative solutions. We create a work environment where everyone feels welcome, safe, and appreciated, regardless of background, identity, or experience. Together, we are building a culture where everyone's unique contribution adds to the success of our organization.
We are
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.
Locations
Wageningen
Professional field
PhD & EngD
Educational level
Masters degree
Apply before
6-10-2026
Salary range
€3204 - €4051
Hours
30 - 38