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Postdoc in Engaging science and society for food system transformation

  • VU Hoofdgebouw
  • Amsterdam
  • 1 / 1
  • Faculty of Science
  • Researcher / Postdoc
  • Postdoc
  • Closes on
    21-02-2025
  • Publishing date
    04-02-2025
Apply
You will conduct research on evidence-informed decision-making processes and ways to foster societal engagement and innovation for the transformation of the European food system.

Your function

Europe is facing significant interlinked challenges to ensure the availability and consumption of healthy, affordable and sustainably produced food for an increasing number of citizens and diversified communities. In terms of key social and economic challenges, rising levels of food poverty highlight the difficulties for some groups to access basic (let alone sustainable and healthy) food. At the same time, the number of overweight or obese European citizens is rising at an alarming rate. Research also demonstrates that current dietary patterns and the wider organization of food systems are associated with significant environmental challenges: they produce negative effects on ecosystems (soil, water, pollinator populations and biodiversity) and significantly contribute to climate change. Therefore, there is an urgent need to transform European food systems.

This post-doctoral position is embedded in three EU-funded projects that address the 'Innovative Governance' destination. The Horizon Europe Cluster 6 'Innovative Governance' destination focuses on experimenting with new governance approaches to facilitate the transition towards sustainability. These projects address issues in the governance of research and innovation systems to make information and knowledge more accessible while addressing institutional barriers such as lock-ins, path dependencies, power imbalances, and regulatory inconsistencies.

Your duties

You will conduct research on evidence-informed decision-making processes and ways to foster societal engagement and innovation for the transformation of the European food system. In this post-doctoral position, your research will specifically contribute to:

  • Supporting and engaging in inter- and transdisciplinary research by fostering debate, encouraging reflexivity to support food system transitions and improve policymaking at all levels, from local to supranational.
  • Investigating public engagement within Policy Labs and Living Labs across Europe.
  • Identifying the training needs of key stakeholders, and designing and implementing tools and training workshops to support their competence development.
  • Contributing to the development of design principles for a novel governance framework based on Quadruple Helix and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles, ensuring adaptability and responsiveness to diverse regional conditions, needs, and priorities.
  • Designing and implementing co-creation activities to identify local needs and priority areas in the food system, and supporting local stakeholders in developing concrete acceleration agendas for food system transformation.
  • Monitoring and evaluating public engagement activities by systematically collecting data and reflexively assessing the implementation of engagement methods and tools to empower citizens and other food system actors.

In addition, you will be involved in:

  • Publishing articles in high quality journals. You also communicate research findings and insights via other, more widely accessible forms of writing and presenting.
  • Engaging with stakeholders outside of academia in co-learning processes.
  • Daily supervision of a PhD candidate.
  • Teaching master students, including course coordination and thesis supervision, in courses that are part of the Institute’s transdisciplinary teaching portfolio.
  • Linking up education/research efforts at VU with the real-world issues addressed in co-creative multi-stakeholder initiatives.
  • Contributing to administrative tasks and responsibilities of the Athena Institute.
  • Contributing to a pleasant, diverse, and safe work environment at the Athena Institute.

Your profile

  • You have a PhD, preferably in the field of food systems, sustainability sciences, science & technology studies, system innovation, transition studies, sociology, policy sciences or another inter-disciplinary field related to societal engagement for sustainability transformation.
  • You have experience and affinity with the co-creation of knowledge and innovation (transdisciplinary research, citizen science, societal engagement) in the context of transformation processes. This could include experience in designing and facilitating focus group discussions, reflection sessions, Living Labs, transition experiments, or communities of practice.
  • You are familiar with participatory research methodologies, such as reflexive monitoring in action, learning histories, most significant change techniques.
  • You hold a network of relevant (inter)national contacts and you are a team player.
  • You have relevant publications in good quality journals that showcase your prowess in scientific research, writing and publication.
  • You have teaching skills and are an engaged and inspiring lecturer, as demonstrated by student evaluations. Teaching experience is a significant asset.
  • You have an excellent command of English.

As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

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 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 € 3.378,00 (Scale 10) and maximum € 5.331,00 (Scale 10) 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 1 FTE. The appointment will initially be for a period of one year with a possible extension conditional upon assessment of adequate functioning. The maximum duration of the appointment is 4 years.

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
  • 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
  • solid pension scheme (ABP)
  • child daycare facilities available on campus
  • the possibility to work partly from home

About us

Athena Institute
The Athena Institute is dedicated to making research and innovation more responsive to societal needs. To achieve this, we take a transdisciplinary approach, defined by multi-actor engagement. We bring together researchers, policymakers, practitioners and citizens to collaboratively address persistent, multi-faceted societal problems.

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.

Applications received by e-mail will not be considered.

Acquisition in response to this advertisement is not appreciated.

Your function

Europe is facing significant interlinked challenges to ensure the availability and consumption of healthy, affordable and sustainably produced food for an increasing number of citizens and diversified communities. In terms of key social and economic challenges, rising levels of food poverty highlight the difficulties for some groups to access basic (let alone sustainable and healthy) food. At the same time, the number of overweight or obese European citizens is rising at an alarming rate. Research also demonstrates that current dietary patterns and the wider organization of food systems are associated with significant environmental challenges: they produce negative effects on ecosystems (soil, water, pollinator populations and biodiversity) and significantly contribute to climate change. Therefore, there is an urgent need to transform European food systems.

This post-doctoral position is embedded in three EU-funded projects that address the 'Innovative Governance' destination. The Horizon Europe Cluster 6 'Innovative Governance' destination focuses on experimenting with new governance approaches to facilitate the transition towards sustainability. These projects address issues in the governance of research and innovation systems to make information and knowledge more accessible while addressing institutional barriers such as lock-ins, path dependencies, power imbalances, and regulatory inconsistencies.

Your duties

You will conduct research on evidence-informed decision-making processes and ways to foster societal engagement and innovation for the transformation of the European food system. In this post-doctoral position, your research will specifically contribute to:

  • Supporting and engaging in inter- and transdisciplinary research by fostering debate, encouraging reflexivity to support food system transitions and improve policymaking at all levels, from local to supranational.
  • Investigating public engagement within Policy Labs and Living Labs across Europe.
  • Identifying the training needs of key stakeholders, and designing and implementing tools and training workshops to support their competence development.
  • Contributing to the development of design principles for a novel governance framework based on Quadruple Helix and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles, ensuring adaptability and responsiveness to diverse regional conditions, needs, and priorities.
  • Designing and implementing co-creation activities to identify local needs and priority areas in the food system, and supporting local stakeholders in developing concrete acceleration agendas for food system transformation.
  • Monitoring and evaluating public engagement activities by systematically collecting data and reflexively assessing the implementation of engagement methods and tools to empower citizens and other food system actors.

In addition, you will be involved in:

  • Publishing articles in high quality journals. You also communicate research findings and insights via other, more widely accessible forms of writing and presenting.
  • Engaging with stakeholders outside of academia in co-learning processes.
  • Daily supervision of a PhD candidate.
  • Teaching master students, including course coordination and thesis supervision, in courses that are part of the Institute’s transdisciplinary teaching portfolio.
  • Linking up education/research efforts at VU with the real-world issues addressed in co-creative multi-stakeholder initiatives.
  • Contributing to administrative tasks and responsibilities of the Athena Institute.
  • Contributing to a pleasant, diverse, and safe work environment at the Athena Institute.

Your profile

  • You have a PhD, preferably in the field of food systems, sustainability sciences, science & technology studies, system innovation, transition studies, sociology, policy sciences or another inter-disciplinary field related to societal engagement for sustainability transformation.
  • You have experience and affinity with the co-creation of knowledge and innovation (transdisciplinary research, citizen science, societal engagement) in the context of transformation processes. This could include experience in designing and facilitating focus group discussions, reflection sessions, Living Labs, transition experiments, or communities of practice.
  • You are familiar with participatory research methodologies, such as reflexive monitoring in action, learning histories, most significant change techniques.
  • You hold a network of relevant (inter)national contacts and you are a team player.
  • You have relevant publications in good quality journals that showcase your prowess in scientific research, writing and publication.
  • You have teaching skills and are an engaged and inspiring lecturer, as demonstrated by student evaluations. Teaching experience is a significant asset.
  • You have an excellent command of English.

As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

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 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 € 3.378,00 (Scale 10) and maximum € 5.331,00 (Scale 10) 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 1 FTE. The appointment will initially be for a period of one year with a possible extension conditional upon assessment of adequate functioning. The maximum duration of the appointment is 4 years.

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
  • 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
  • solid pension scheme (ABP)
  • child daycare facilities available on campus
  • the possibility to work partly from home

About us

Athena Institute
The Athena Institute is dedicated to making research and innovation more responsive to societal needs. To achieve this, we take a transdisciplinary approach, defined by multi-actor engagement. We bring together researchers, policymakers, practitioners and citizens to collaboratively address persistent, multi-faceted societal problems.

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.

Questions about the vacancy?

Please contact

Prof. dr. Jacqueline Broerse

Professor of innovation and communication in the health and life sciences

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.

Applications received by e-mail will not be considered.

Acquisition in response to this advertisement is not appreciated.

Questions about the vacancy?

Please contact

Prof. dr. Jacqueline Broerse

Professor of innovation and communication in the health and life sciences

Application procedure

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