Your function
The climate and biodiversity crises make it urgent to rethink how we manage land and water. Current land-use systems are often eroding the ecological foundations on which long-term prosperity depends. Existing socio-economic models mainly capture land use that delivers marketed goods and therefore miss important demands for nature, including benefits linked to health, wellbeing, recreation, pollination, and natural pest control. This can lead to restoration being undervalued and its costs overstated. You will contribute to the development of a new generation of assessment models that fully incorporate these demands and benefits for natural land uses with the aim to reshape how people, businesses, and policymakers value restoration and act on it.
This research is part of the Horizon Europe project NatuRISE (NATUre Restoration Impact assessment for Socio-Economic and ecological benefits). The overall objective 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. NatuRISE is coordinated within the VU but brings together 17 partners from different institutes throughout Europe. The work will be carried out at the IVM. The candidate will work in close collaboration with the NatuRISE consortium partners.
For this PhD position, you will work on research leading to a PhD thesis related to the modelling of more comprehensive assessments of the land dynamics and socio-economic benefits at the EU-wide level. The position entails: (i) understanding the socio-economic demands for productive and non-productive land uses and impacts this may bring for underreported indicators such as health and wellbeing, (ii) developing a multi-objective framework in which we can assess land use management strategies on society and the environment and (iii) analyzing the socio-economic impacts of different nature restoration measures at EU scale, (iv) summarizing findings in terms of both costs and benefits of nature restoration.
Your duties
- You will conduct cutting-edge research on the impact of nature restoration on terrestrial and freshwater systems, biodiversity and human impacts
- You will develop new land use modelling approaches and link with macro-economic models to better capture demands for nature, beyond those typically reported in neoclassical economic frameworks
- You will process data, analyze results and implement a range of scenarios on nature restoration
- You have to write a PhD thesis consisting of 4 scientific papers
Your profile
- A university masters’ degree in agriculture, environmental, ecological or spatial economics, agricultural sciences, ecology, or environmental sciences
- Experience with or interest in quantitative research methodologies, including mathematical programming, preferably in GAMS or Python
- Experience with data and spatial analysis and processing, e.g. in QGIS is preferred
- Organizational, communicative and connective skills that allow you to collaborate with a wide variety of academic and societal actors.
We recognize 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 you 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.
