Postdoctoral Fellow in Air Quality and Atmospheric Chemistry

Your job

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Fellow in the EU Horizon MI-TRAP project to collaborate with teams from Wageningen University and IMT Nord Europe.

In this role, you will coordinate, conduct, and analyze measurements of port- and traffic-related air pollution in the cities of Rotterdam and Lille/Dunkerque.

As the largest port in Europe, Rotterdam is a hotspot for transport-related air pollution emissions. In collaboration with the local environmental agencies (DCMR Rijnmond in the Netherlands and Atmo Hauts-de-France in France), we will conduct enhanced monitoring of transport-related air pollutants for each urban area at one “high-resolution station”, including emerging pollutants such as ultrafine particulate matter (UFP) and black carbon (BC) and aerosol composition and size measurements measured by an Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM), Xact multi-metals monitoring, and Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS); and two “cost-effective stations” with lower-cost sensors for some key pollutants, in order to test whether these simpler measurements can also inform about source attribution.

As two of 10 City Pilots in the MI-TRAP project, the 3 stations will be located in the Port and City of Rotterdam for the Netherlands; whereas for the French side, the “high-resolution station” will be located at a traffic site in Lille, and the two compact stations in the Port of Dunkerque and at an urban background site in Lille. One of these “cost-effective” monitoring stations will be a semi-mobile monitoring platform in a small vehicle, which can be driven to various locations to make measurements.

As the Postdoc on this project, you will be responsible for making these measurements and analyzing the results to identify source profiles. You will coordinate and set up the monitoring sites and maintain them during a planned monitoring campaign in July – September, 2025 for the City of Rotterdam, and December 2025 – March 2026 in Lille/Dunkirk. Within the project team you will be responsible for liaising with the air quality networks and the PIs from the MI-TRAP project. You will join project meetings and coordinate data analysis and publications with other Pilot Cities.

Your duties and responsibilities include:

• set up and maintain monitoring sites in Rotterdam during City Pilot campaign, planned for July – September 2025;
• set up and maintain monitoring sites in Lille/Dunkirk during City Pilot campaign, planned between December 2025 – March 2026;
• take on appropriate organization and administrative activities to coordinate monitoring and data analysis with DCMR Rijnmond and Atmo Hauts-de-France;
• analyze the data to investigate source profile contributions from port and traffic activities, with support of senior researchers;
• write up research results and participate in the dissemination of results through publications and presentations at conferences and project meetings;
• contribute to stakeholder outreach activities.

Your team
You will work with Rotterdam PI Dr. Juliane L. Fry, in close coordination with our partner City Pilot of Lille/Dunkerque (IMT Nord Europe in Douai, France, PIs Prof. Veronique Riffault and Dr. Joel Brito).
At the end of this 10-month contract in Rotterdam, this Postdoc contract can be continued with another 14 months contract at IMT Nord Europe in Douai, France, where you will take on similar responsibilities and participate to the assessment of near real-time source apportionment modelling.
Please feel free to inquire with the PI team with any questions about this sequential contract.

Your qualities

You are a motivated researcher with knowledge of air pollution sources, chemistry and fate. You seek additional field research and data analysis experience

You possess:

• a PhD in atmospheric chemistry or a related field;
• experience running ACSM, X-Act, SMPS, and/or other ambient atmospheric composition measurement equipment in a field campaign;
• demonstrated ability to write up research for publication in high quality journals;
• ability to plan and prioritize own work to meet deadlines, including using individual initiative to coordinate work with other members of the project team and external collaborators.

In our international working environment there is an increasing amount of communication in English. For this position, we ask candidates to demonstrate English level C1.

You will work here
For this first phase of the Postdoc, you will be based at Wageningen University but working primarily in Rotterdam.  The continuation of the Postdoc (after 10 months based in Rotterdam) will be in Douai and IMT Nord Europe, France, with field deployment in Lille and Dunkerque.

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;
• 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 of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between € 3.378,- and € 5.331,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10). As for your contract because this is intended to be a shared postdoc across Rotterdam and Dunkerque, we offer a 10-month contract that can be extended with a 14-month contract immediately following at IMT Nord. Of course, we are happy to have a conversation with you if you have any questions about this.

Wageningen University & Research offers plenty of opportunities for growth and development, with a strong internal recruitment policy and excellent training programmes.

You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment. For 20 consecutive years, we have been voted the "best university" in the Netherlands! A place to be proud of.

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.

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.

Do you want more information?

For more information about the position, please contact Juliane Fry, Associate Professor of Air Quality and Atmospheric Chemistry, via email: juliane.fry@wur.nl.

Questions about the procedure? Get in touch with Noorien Abbas, Corporate Recruiter, via noorien.abbas@wur.nl.

Ready to apply?
Click on the application button next to the vacancy on our website. Only applications submitted through our website will be considered.

You can apply until 10 March, 2025. The interviews will be scheduled for the week of March 17-21, 2025.

Welcome, safe, and valued
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) highly values diversity and inclusion because we believe that different insights lead to innovative solutions. We create a work environment where everyone feels welcome, safe, and appreciated, regardless of background, identity, or experience. Together, we are building a culture where everyone's unique contribution adds to the success of our organization.

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.

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.