Assistant Professor Land Use and Food System Dynamics

Assistant professor Land use and Food system dynamics (0.8-1.0 fte)

The tenure track candidate will be encouraged to develop a largely externally funded research programme in the field of Land Use research, Sustainable Food Systems and the connection between these fields. The appointee is expected to teach, conduct research, and fulfil limited administrative duties in support of the strong teaching and research base. Teaching involves courses in Environmental Sciences, Ecosystem Management and Sustainable Land Use for various BSc and MSc programmes. The candidate is expected to supervise BSc and MSc student projects. The candidate should show academic leadership, maintain a high publication output, and raise competitive research funding. On the longer term, the candidate is expected to build up a successful group around his/her field of expertise.

Requirements 
We offer a challenging position at an assistant professor level a geographer with a PhD in environmental sciences or geography and a research interest in one or more of the following, or related themes: Land use change, Food systems, Food-water-energy nexus, Spatial modelling of human-environment systems. The candidate should have a significant experience in academic teaching and have strong quantitative methodological skills.

Conditions of employment 
The starting date is on or before 1 October 2018. We offer a tenure track position, initially for the duration of 5 years. After 1 and 3 years the performance will be evaluated in terms of teaching, publication record, and acquisition of prestigious personal grants or equivalent project funding. After a successful evaluation permanent employment will be granted and a path will be outlined for future academic development.

You can find information about our excellent fringe benefits of employment at our website. 
• remuneration of 8.3% end-of-year bonus and 8% holiday allowance; 
• solid pension scheme (ABP); 
• a minimum of 29 holidays in case of full-time employment; 
• possibilities to save up holidays for sabbatical leave; 
• contribution commuting allowance based on public transport; 
• discounts on collective insurances (healthcare- and car insurance).

Employer 
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) is a leading, innovative and growing university that is at the heart of society and actively contributes to new developments in teaching and research. Our university has ten faculties, and provides work for over 4,500 staff and scientific education for more than 23,000 students.

Department 
http://www.ivm.vu.nl

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is one of the leading institutions for higher education in Europe and aims to be inspiring, innovative, and committed to societal welfare. It comprises ten faculties and has teaching facilities for 25,000 students.

Established in 1971, 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’s research community works within four departments: Environmental Economics; Environmental Policy Analysis; Environmental Geography; and Water and Climate Risk. Since 2001 IVM has been part of the Faculty of Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (legal name Stichting VU).

The Department of Environmental Geography investigates the role of spatial variation in environmental systems to increase our understanding of environmental change and support environmental management. The focus of the group is on land use change and its impacts on ecosystem services and society. Temporal dynamics and future scenarios are explored with spatial modeling of changes in land use and ecosystem services, including natural, rural and urban systems. Advanced methods for stakeholder participation and ex-ante evaluation are developed and tested to support environmental management and land use planning.

Additional information 
The starting salary depends on the experience and qualifications and will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel. It ranges from € 3475,00 gross per month (salary scale 11.0) up to a maximum of € 4757,00 (salary scale 11.11), based on full-time employment.

Information 
For additional information please contact: 
Prof. Dr. Peter Verburg (Peter.Verburg@vu.nl)

Application
Candidates are requested to send their application comprising a motivation letter, curriculum vitae, and the names and contact details of two references, to Marjolijn Staarink (marjolijn.staarink@vu.nl) before June 28, 2018.