Postdoc on Governance and Politics of the water-energy-food-ecosystem nexus

The Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam invites applications for a postdoctoral researcher at the department of Environmental Policy Analysis (EPA). You will play a key role in the EU funded RETOUCH Nexus project that seeks to design and implement innovative, inclusive and climate-resilient water governance systems in various EU countries (https://retouch-nexus.eu/). Your work focus specifically on the development of a multi-year freshwater availability programme of a water board in the province of North-Holland. In addition, you will also carry out research and teaching in the field of national and local environmental policy and project acquisition in this field.

Your duties

• you conduct research on stakeholder perceptions about the issues to be addressed and measures to be taken within the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems nexus
• you organise dialogues and workshops with stakeholders in the region
• you publish research results in international peer-reviewed journals and impact oriented journals
• you engage in the educational programmes at IVM, such as the supervision of Bachelor and Master students
• you contribute to the administrative responsibilities of the EPA department and to IVM-wide tasks

Requirements:

• you have a PhD in political science, public administration, governance studies or a related socio-environmental discipline, specialising in water, energy, climate, food, agriculture, and/or biodiversity policies in a national or local context, preferably from a nexus perspective
• you are a team-worker, proactive, and have the ability to handle various types of stakeholders
• your experience in survey, stakeholder analysis and interview methods is an advantage
• your experience with other qualitative research approaches, such as document and content analysis is an advantage
• you have a proven interest in interdisciplinary work
• your understanding of and experience with Dutch national, regional, and local politics is an advantage
• you have excellent proficiency and communication skills in both Dutch and English

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not (fully) meet all the requirements.

Salary Benefits:

An exciting postdoc position in a socially engaged organisation with a supportive project team and an active early-career scientist community. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• a salary of minimum € 3.345,00 (Scale 10.0) and maximum € 5.278,00 (Scale 10.12) gross per month, on a full-time basis. This is based on UFO profile Researcher 4. The exact salary depends on your education and experience.
• a position for 0.8 FTE. Your employment contract will initially start with a 1-year contract with the possibility to extend with another 12-24 months, depending on available external funding. The expected start date is 1 February 2025

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and regulations. Some examples:

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• solid pension scheme (ABP)
• contribution to commuting expenses
• optional model for designing a personalised benefits package

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