Location: Wageningen
Hours: 38
Function
A talented postdoc with experience in the field of medical/veterinary entomology and/or disease ecology, and with an interest to contribute to a better understanding of emerging, vector-borne diseases with the ultimate aim to improve human and animal health. You will be employed at the Laboratory of Entomology in a group working on the ecology of host-vector-pathogen interactions (One Health Entomology group).
You will contribute to the EU project FoSTA-Health (Food Systems Transformation in Southern Africa for One Health), a 3.5 year project which aims to develop ambitious and inclusive visions and action plans for the transformation of food systems to achieve positive One Health outcomes around four key transformation agendas: (1) diversification of maize production systems; (2) land use change and irrigation development; (3) transitions from domestic to export markets; and (4) dietary diversification. The project involves a large consortium of thirteen partner organisations from across Europe and Africa (Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia).
As a postdoc ‘Impact of land and water use on vector-borne disease risks’ you will focus on the Zambian and Malawian study areas and work in a multidisciplinary team of scientists from the African Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases of Humans and Animals (Zambia) and the Malawi University of Science and Technology. With this team, the aims are (1) to characterize the complex interrelationships between large land acquisitions, land use change, irrigation, landscape ecology, water availability, crop pests and vector-borne disease risk, (2) to contextualize these interrelationships within agricultural landscapes in central Zambia and southern Malawi, and the experiences of land and natural resource managers in these contexts, (3) to co-develop descriptions of plausible pathways of land and water use transitions and (4) to understand, and produce recommendations for how landscape management can be designed to support agricultural productivity, safeguard water access and mitigate against crop pests and vector borne disease risks.
Your task will be to design comparative studies to assess impacts of land-use and water management and changes therein on vector populations (mosquitoes, ticks) and associated pathogens, to set-up mesocosm experiments to support field observations and to assess the broad impact of pesticide use in different agro-ecological settings on insect biodiversity and disease vectors in particular. The integration will make use of findings collected by other researchers in the project, including WUR colleagues from the Soil Physics & Land Management and the Plant Production Systems chairgroups. Collaboratively, your output will feed into the further modelling of transition pathways in food systems. You are expected to supervise BSc and MSc students and to write scientific papers on your findings. Besides the three WUR chair groups with three research leaders, a senior researcher and M&E specialist, another postdoc, a project manager and a project administrator will support your work.
Function Requirements
- A PhD degree in Ecology, Entomology, or similar.
- Knowledge of vector-borne disease risk assessment methods in resource-poor settings.
- Experience with multivariate statistical analysis of data-sets
- Preferably experience with methods to assess pesticide resistance in insect populations and/or approaches to assess insect biodiversity and soil health
- Proven performance in scientific writing and a strong ambition to publish future work.
- A candidate who can work independently, is a good communicator, as well as a good organizer, and is a teamplayer within a larger group of scientists.
- Experience with working in inter- and transdisciplinary settings, preferably in an African context, and willingness and ability to conduct fieldwork in Zambia and Malawi.
- Postdocs are encouraged to supervise MSc thesis students when such opportunities arise and you will be involved in teaching activities
In our international working environment there is an increasing amount of communication in English. For this position language level C1 is required. If you do not yet have this level, we will of course help you and you can go to our language center Wageningen in’ to Language.
Working conditions
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, up to 40 hours 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 of between € 2.960,- and € 4.670,- 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.
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 18th 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 helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling. For instance under the “30% rule”, certain categories of international staff can receive tax exemption on approximately 30% of their gross salary.
Contact information
For more information about this position, please contact Dr Sander Koenraadt (sander.koenraadt@wur.nl)
For more information about the procedure, please contact vacaturemeldingen.PSG@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 16 January 2023. We hope to schedule the first job interviews early February 2023.
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. For more information please go to our inclusivity page. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment
Organization
Wageningen University & Research
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, 7,200 employees (6,400 fte) and 13,200 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.
Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch this video to get an idea of our green campus!
The position is embedded in the Laboratory of Entomology of Wageningen University. The research interests of the One Health Entomology group within the Laboratory are to understand the factors that determine the presence and/or emergence of vector-borne diseases and to unravel the underlying mechanisms from molecular to ecosystem level. With this knowledge, the group ultimately aims to design novel strategies for vector control that are affordable, safe for human use, and sustainable in the context of our changing environment. The team consists of ambitious scientists that employ interdisciplinary approaches, both in the lab as well as in the field.
We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.
