Do you want to uncover how food properties shape children’s eating behaviour and energy intake, combining nutrition, sensory science and innovative digital tools to help promote healthier eating? Join our Child Eating Behaviour team as PhD candidate at Wageningen University & Research.

Your duties and responsibilities include:

• identifying and critically reviewing the literature on factors that influence children’s eating behaviours and dietary patterns;
• designing and conducting experiments on the role of food properties in moderating eating behaviour and energy intake in children, using innovative digital tools to track eating behaviour;
• analysing your experimental studies and publishing the findings in peer-reviewed journals and at international conferences;
• translating your evidence into recommendations to improve the food environment for children in the Netherlands;
• contributing to the supervision of MSc students’ thesis projects within this topic.

You will work here
The research is embedded within the chair group Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour of the Division of Human Nutrition and Health, which is led by Prof. Ciarán Forde. You will be co-supervised by Associate Prof. Guido Camps.

You are an enthusiastic, independent self-starter with excellent organisational and communication skills. You are genuinely curious about child eating behaviour and motivated to run studies that help improve children’s eating behaviours and dietary patterns.

You also possess:

• a successfully completed MSc degree in a relevant field (e.g., Nutrition and Health, Sensory Science, Food Technology, Psychology);
• affinity with and/or experience in experimental studies on human eating behaviour;
• experience with, or a strong interest in, conducting research with children;
• knowledge of and experience with applying statistical techniques;
• good spoken and written Dutch and English.

For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here.

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

• partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• 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 year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.
The gross salary for the first year is € 3.204,- per month rising to € 4.051,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

We encourage development and internal mobility within our organisation. Our recruitment and selection policy sets out the conditions that apply specifically to you as a (former) employee. If you have any questions, we are happy to help.

You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment.

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.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below 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.

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.

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands 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 coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account, dual career programs 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.