PhD Position Socio-Economic Modelling of Nature Restoration at European scale

VU Hoofdgebouw

Amsterdam

1 / 1

Faculty of Science

PhD

MSc

Closes on

29-06-2026

Publishing date

11-06-2026

Apply

Do you want to make the full value of nature restoration in Europe visible through new modelling approaches? Apply now for this PhD position at the Institute for Environmental Studies (VU).

Your function

The climate and biodiversity crises make it urgent to rethink how we use and shape land systems. Current land use is often eroding the ecological foundations that long-term wellbeing relies on. Existing socio-economic models mainly represent land use that delivers marketed goods and therefore miss important demands for nature and the services it provides, including benefits linked to health, wellbeing, recreation, pollination, and natural pest control. This can lead to restoration being undervalued and its costs overstated, resulting in biased outcomes of policy-relevant model-based assessments. You will contribute to the development of a new generation of land-use models that better include these demands and benefits of natural land uses, with the aim of helping rethink how people, businesses, and policymakers value restoration.

This research is part of the Horizon Europe project NatuRISE (NATUre Restoration Impact assessment for Socio-Economic and ecological benefits). The shared aim of NatuRISE is to develop and apply new EU- and local-scale modelling approaches to capture the full socio-economic and ecological benefits and costs of nature restoration. This PhD focuses on European-scale modelling. NatuRISE is coordinated within VU Amsterdam and brings together 17 collaborating partners from different institutes throughout Europe. The PhD work will be carried out at IVM in collaboration with other NatuRISE consortium partners.

For this PhD position, you will work on a PhD thesis related to the integration of socio-economic demands and benefits in EU-scale models of land-use dynamics. The position entails: (i) understanding the socio-economic demands and benefits of productive and non-productive land uses and how accounting for these may affect model outcomes and underreported indicators such as health and wellbeing; (ii) developing a modelling approach that considers multiple goals, through which we can assess restoration approaches for society and the environment under alternative policy scenarios; (iii) exploring different nature restoration measures at EU scale using these models; and (iv) communicating findings in terms of both costs and benefits of nature restoration.

Your duties

you will conduct innovative research on the impact of nature restoration on land use, biodiversity and people
you will contribute to developing new spatially explicit land-use modelling approaches and link these with macro-economic models to better capture the benefits of nature, beyond those typically reported in neoclassical economic frameworks
you will process spatial data, analyse results, and explore scenarios for nature restoration
you will write a PhD thesis consisting of 4 scientific papers

Your profile

you have a university master’s degree in spatial engineering, nature and technology, environmental or spatial economics, geography, or environmental sciences
you have experience with or interest in quantitative research methodologies, including dynamic spatial modelling, preferably including knowledge of mathematical programming languages such as GAMS or Python
you have experience with data and spatial analysis and processing, e.g. in QGIS, is preferred
you have organizational, communicative, and connective skills that allow you to collaborate with a wide variety of academic and societal partners and stakeholders

We recognise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise, and mindset. We would like to invite everyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if they do not fully meet all the requirements.

What do we offer?

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. 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 € 3.059,00 (PhD salary scale 85.0) and maximum € 3.881,00 (PhD salary scale 85.3) gross per month, on a full-time basis.
A position for 1 FTE. Your employment contract will initially last 1 year. Afterwards, the possibility of expansion for 3 years exists. The job profile is based on the university job ranking system.

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
Contribution to commuting expenses
A wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge
Solid pension scheme (ABP)

Additionally, we also offer a PhD education programme including training for teaching assistants and courses that are part of the SENSE graduate school.

About us

Institute for Environmental Studies
The work will be carried out at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM). IVM is a leading environmental research institute that is internationally recognized 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 research community works within four departments: Environmental Economics; Environmental Policy Analysis; Environmental Geography; and Water and Climate Risk. IVM is part of the Faculty of Science at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (www.ivm.vu.nl). This position is based within the Environmental Geography department in collaboration with the Environmental Economics department. The Environmental Geography department conducts interdisciplinary research on the spatial aspects of environmental and social challenges and the solutions sustainable land use can provide to these.

Faculty of Science
Researchers and students at VU Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science tackle fundamental and complex scientific problems to help pave the way for a sustainable and healthy future. From forest fires to big data, from obesity to malnutrition, and from molecules to the moon: we cover the full spectrum of the natural sciences. Our teaching and research have a strong experimentally technical, computational and interdisciplinary nature.

We work on new solutions guided by value-driven, interdisciplinary methodologies. We are committed to research, valorisation and training socially engaged citizens of the world who will make valuable contributions to a sustainable, healthy future.

Are you interested in joining the Faculty of Science? You will join undergraduate students, PhD candidates and researchers at the biggest sciences faculty in the Netherlands. You will combine a professional focus with a broad view of the world. We are proud of our collegial working climate, characterised by committed staff, a pragmatic attitude and engagement in the larger whole. The faculty is home to over 11,000 students enrolled in 40 study programmes. It employs over 1,600 professionals spread across 10 academic departments.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.

Interested

Are you interested in this position and do you believe that your experience will contribute to the further development of our university? In that case, we encourage you to submit your application. Please ensure your application includes: a) a CV listing at the end the names and contact details of two referees; b) a 1-2 page cover letter outlining your background and how you envision your contribution to our department in terms of research.

Submitting a diploma and a reference check are part of the application process.

Selection will take place within two weeks after the deadline.

The intended starting date is September 1, 2026

Applications received by e-mail will not be considered.

Acquisition in response to this advertisement is not appreciated.