PhD Candidate in Modelling and Attributing Land Use Emissions to Agricultural Commodities

Are you interested in the factors that contribute to climate change? And do you wish to generate new insights on how agriculture contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases? At the Radboud Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, you conduct your research on land use emissions whilst working in a diverse and international team that helps you unleash your potential.

As a PhD candidate you will work on greenhouse gas emissions from land use and land use change. You will model historical and projected future land use emissions, and then assess how they can be attributed to agricultural commodities in space and time in order to determine emission footprints of agricultural commodities. To better understand what drives these footprints, you will conduct sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, and also evaluate emission reduction strategies.

You will be encouraged to work closely with other project members and collaborators, participate in relevant conferences, workshops and seminars, and communicate your findings through publications in peer-reviewed journals. Part of your workload (10%) will consist of teaching activities at our institute, assisting staff members in their courses at the MSc level (in English). You will work under the supervision of Prof. Birka Wicke. Upon successful completion of the research project, you will be awarded a PhD degree from Radboud University. We particularly encourage applications from underrepresented groups.

• You hold a Master's degree in environmental science, geographical information systems, environmental modelling or an equivalent field, or will have completed such a degree before the start date.
• You have experience in the spatial analysis of land use, land use change and associated emissions. Additional knowledge of and experience with any of the following topics is desirable: life cycle assessment, climate change, international trade of agricultural commodities.
• You have computing and analysis skills, for example in using GIS and R.
• You are willing to work in an interdisciplinary research team.
• You have good oral and written communication skills in English.

• Employment for 1.0 FTE.
• The gross starting salary amounts to €2,443 per month based on a 38-hour working week, and will increase to €3,122 in the fourth year (salary scale P).
• You will receive 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will be employed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4 year contract).
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Care Services. Our Dual Career and Family Care Officer can assist you with family-related support, help your partner or spouse prepare for the local labour market, provide customized support in their search for employment  and help your family settle in Nijmegen.
• Working for us means getting extra days off. In case of full-time employment, you can choose between 29 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the legally allotted 20.

The Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences (RIBES) aims to perform world leading research in order to understand the response of the natural environment to human impact. RIBES investigates stress and adaptation processes in severely affected ecosystems. This curiosity-driven, fundamental research is cross-linked with innovative applications in both industry and society with a focus on mitigating ecosystem degradation and finding solutions to restore the natural environment. RIBES is internationally unique, as its research encompasses three major groups of organisms (microorganisms, plants and animals) and spans nearly all levels of biological organisation. In addition to developing world-class research, the institute is dedicated to first-rate education in its Biology BSc, MSc and international PhD programmes.

The mission of the Environmental Science cluster of RIBES is to provide high-quality scientific knowledge that can help the world move towards greater sustainability. To achieve this, we aim to understand, project and address the impact of anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems and humans from the landscape to the global scale. This enables us to explore and develop wide-ranging sustain­able solutions for the environmental challenges the world faces today.

• A letter of motivation.
• Your CV.