Postdoctoral Researcher

Your job

Are you a passionate economist with a keen interest in exploring the root causes of educational inequality? Do you thrive in collaborative, international research environments, and are you ready to do fieldwork in Indonesia?

The Section Economics based at Wageningen University is inviting applications for a two-year postdoctoral fellowship position starting on October 1, 2024. As postdoctoral researcher, you will work in a NWO funded project focusing on the intra-household allocation of educational resources in low- and middle income countries. In particular, you will be responsible for the preparation and implementation of a field experiment in Indonesia. Your tasks include experiment and survey design, communication with research partners, data analysis and drafting of articles in close collaboration with the team members. You are expected to dedicate at least 75% of your research time to this project, while the remaining 25% can be spent on your own research initiatives.

Your qualities

You are/ You have:

• a PhD degree in Economics, or are close to completing one, and demonstrate a promising publication record;
• enthusiastic about conducting research, particularly traveling for fieldwork and collaborating within international teams;
• experience in conducting field research in low- or middle-income countries;
• excellent communication skills in English, and proficiency in Bahasa is advantageous;
• a strong interest in conducting research within the fields of Education, Inequality, and Poverty Reduction.

We offer you

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more,  per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary between €3.226 and €5.090 for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10). Additionally, a contract for 0.8 FTE can be discussed. Initially, we offer you a one-year contract, which will then be extended with another one year if there is mutual enthusiasm. Of course, we would be happy to discuss this with you if you have any questions.

Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University” in the Netherlands for the 19^th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.

Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example helping your partner to find a job, housing, or schooling.

Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.

Do you want more information?

For more information about this position, please contact Esther Gehrke, Assistant Professor, telephone: +31317489616 or by e-mail: esther.gehrke@wur.nl.

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, corporate recruiter, by email: recruitment.ssg@wur.nl.

Do you want to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval.

This vacancy will be listed up to and including 3 June 2024. We hope to schedule the first job interviews on 17 June 2024.

Procedure
As part of our selection process, an assessment may be incorporated within the procedure

Equal opportunities
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) employs a large number of people with very different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We want every talent to feel at home in our organisation and be offered the same career opportunities. We therefore especially welcome applications from people who are underrepresented at WUR. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment.

We are

The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

You will work here
The research is embedded in the Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy group, led by prof.dr. Justus Wesseler, a part of Section Economics at Wageningen University and Research. You will be supervised by dr. Esther Gehrke, Assistant Professor.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch this video to get an idea of our green campus!

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.