PhD position- Economic value of pollination in crop value chains

Your job

What role do pollinators play in different value chains? What is the economic value of pollination services in these value chains? What value chains are vulnerable towards pollinator losses? How can value chains be made resilient against pollinator losses? The answers to these questions contribute substantially to insights for policy makers and business to deal with the global decrease in biodiversity including pollinators and the impacts on the supply of food, feed, bio-based materials, energy and medicine.

Within the Business Economics group of Wageningen University a position for a PhD student has become available which assesses the dependence of the economy and society on pollinators and evaluates strategies to increase the resilience of value chains against pollinator losses in food, feed, bio-based materials, energy and medical supply chains. The project is embedded in the EU Horizon project VALues and dependence of society on pollinatORs (VALOR).

As a PhD student, you will empirically assess the economic value of pollination across different supply chains investigating the impact of pollination services on crop yields and prices. Further, you will analyze and evaluate value chain strategies to increase the resilience to pollinator losses for different chain actors focusing on pollination performance and costs of these strategies.
Your duties and responsibilities include:

• empirical analysis of the economic value of pollination across food, feed, bio-based materials, energy and medical supply chains;
• evaluate value chain strategies to increase the resilience to pollinator losses for different chain actors;
• completing courses on PhD level amounting to at least 30 ECTS during the PhD.

You will work here
The research is embedded within the chair Business Economics, which is led by Prof. Alfons Oude Lansink . You will be co-supervised by Prof. Miranda Meuwissen and Max Koppenberg.

Your qualities

You have an interest in working on economics and resilience of food, feed, bio-based materials, energy and medical supply chains and enjoy working independently but also embrace opportunities to discuss, interact, and collaborate with others.

You also possess:

• a successfully completed MSc degree in applied (agricultural) economics or a related field;
• solid foundation in quantitative empirical analysis (e.g., mathematical programming or econometrics) with practical experience in this area (e.g., within the master thesis);
• experience in working with stakeholders through participatory approaches.

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

We offer you

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;
• 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 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 € 2.770 - per month rising to € 3.539,-  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.

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 19th 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.

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. We can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example helping your partner to find a job, housing, 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 this position, please contact Miranda Meuwissen, Personal Professor at the Business Economics Group , by email: miranda.meuwissen@wur.nl or Max Koppenberg, Assistant Professor at the Business Economics Group, by email: max.koppenberg@wur.nl.

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, corporate recruiter, by email: recruitment.ssg@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 Monday, 16 September 2024. We hope to schedule the first job interviews in the beginning of October (1 October-4 October) 2024.

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. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment.

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.