Junior Researcher in Health and Society
Wageningen University
Netherlands

We are looking for

Are you concerned with the impact of food production and food consumption on the environment? Do you want to be part of a multi-disciplinary, international team involved in designing engagement strategies in university and company canteens in Italy and the UK?

In this junior research project, you have the opportunity to show that it is possible to engage EU citizens in adopting healthy and sustainable diets and thereby saving over 5.000 tons of CO₂ eq. and 2 million m² of water.

The Chair-group Health and Society (HSO) participates in the European LIFE project SU-EATABLE (www.sueatablelife.eu). Within a multidisciplinary, international project team we aim to demonstrate that it is possible to substantially reduce CO₂ emissions and water use through citizen engagement in healthy, sustainable diets. The challenging target is to engage sufficient people to save about 5,300 tons of CO₂ eq. and about 2 million cubic meters of water within the project duration (2019-2021). Considering the entire European population, this could significantly contribute to reaching the EU target of achieving a 40% reduction in CO₂  emissions by 2030.

Together with the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition Foundation, digital social platform creator GreenApes and the Sustainable Restaurant Association, HSO designs and applies individual and social engagement strategies for university and company restaurants in Italy and the UK. The specific tasks of HSO are to establish the SU-EATABLE scientific rationale and monitor and evaluate the strategies for their impact on food choice as well as on broader lifestyle choices. Within the project, a salutogenic and gamified, playful approach is applied to design engagement strategies in which learners are active participants and co-creators. Healthy, sustainable eating is considered part of everyday life in which changing what you eat means not only to re-arrange your own values and practices but also those of your environment.

The junior researcher will work closely together with the project manager. Tasks include:

• design of the monitoring and evaluation tools; 
• data collection through mixed methods;
• analysis of data, data integration and reporting of the data;
• further development of the project’s theoretical rationale;
• participation in project meetings and conferences (Italy, UK, Netherlands);
• internal and external project communication through EU-reports, scientific publications, newsletters and conference contributions;
• participation in HSO-education through supervision of Bachelor and Master thesis students and providing lectures related to the SU-EATABLE project.

We ask

• a completed Master in the social sciences with focus on food and/or nutrition OR a Master in nutritional science with focus on social aspects of food and nutrition;
• eagerness to contribute to health-related issues caused by the current food system;
• experience in qualitative and quantitative research;
• a passion for bridging scientific and professional practices through interdisciplinary efforts;
• a clear and concise writing style;
• good communication and collaboration skills.

We offer

A challenging position for one year with, depending on your experience, a competitive salary from a minimum of €2.656,- to a maximum of €3.548,- for a full working week of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement Dutch Universities (scale 8). In addition, an appointment of 0.8 FTE is negotiable.
We also offer:

• 8% holiday allowance;
• a structural year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent training opportunities and secondary employment conditions;
• flexible working hours and holidays can possibly be determined in consultation so that an optimal balance between work and private life is possible;
• excellent pension plan through ABP;
• 232 vacation hours, the option to purchase extra and good supplementary leave schemes;
• a flexible working time: the possibility to work a maximum of 2 hours per week extra and thereby to build up extra leave;
• a choice model to put together part of your employment conditions yourself, such as a bicycle plan;
• a lively workplace where you can easily make contacts and where many activities take place on the Wageningen Campus. A place where education, research and business are represented;
• use the sports facilities on campus.

More information

For more information about this function you can contact Laura Bouwman, Assistant Professor;  +31 6 43119479 or laura.bouwman@wur.nl.

For more information about the procedure you can contact Sandra Willemsen, Recruiter SSG or Bianca Aversteeg, Recruitment support via recruitment.ssg@wur.nl.

Do you want to apply?

This can be done directly via the application button at the vacancy on our website so that we can process your personal data with your permission.

This vacancy is open up to and including the 10^th of August, 2020. We want to plan the first job interviews on Wednesday the 19^th of August, 2020.

Equal opportunities employer

We are an employer that offers equal opportunities. We are happy to receive applications from all suitably qualified people regardless of race, gender, functional impairment, religion / belief, sexual orientation or age.

We believe that a diverse and inclusive working environment makes us a more relevant, competitive and resilient organization. Click here for more information about working at WUR with a functional impairment.

We are

The mission of our University is to explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life. Within Wageningen University & Research, nine specialised research institutes from the Wageningen Research Foundation and Wageningen University have joined forces to help answer the most important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment.

With approximately 30 locations, 6.500 employees, and 12.000 students, it is one of the leading organisations in its domain worldwide. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of the unique approach of Wageningen. We have been named Best Employer in Education category 2019-2020.

Click here for more information about working at Wageningen University & Research. More information about Wageningen Campus you can find here.

We do the recruiting for this vacancy ourselves. Please do not contact us for sales purposes.