Postdoc position Science and practice in Precision Livestock Farming

Your job

Are you fascinated by the improvement of livestock and livestock production systems? Do you feel you want to contribute to the scientific challenges in this field? Are you not afraid of big data and next level statistics? And does your drive include educating the biosystems engineers of the future? Then we are looking for you!

Developments in AI and IoT are changing the world. And not just through, for example, social media, but also in agriculture. More and more implementations of such models and algorithms affect the management of animals. The world-wide production of animal proteins and the related intensification of livestock systems both in developed and developing countries opens many opportunities for Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) technologies. PLF holds great promise for improving welfare and health of production animals, but also to improve food quality and security, by elevating the role of the farmers in their systems. Fort this, we cooperate with leading international industry partners.

Within our group, we foresee cutting edge science directed at individual animal monitoring, defining positive welfare and its indicators, and building the ideal environment for the farmer to interpret sensor output and provide (automated) decision support systems. You will be involved in research, supervision and education in the field of Precision Livestock Farming, more specifically:

• Supervision of ongoing PhD projects;
• Acquisition of new PhD projects;
• Educational tasks (teaching, practicals, examination, coordination) in 2-3 BSc or MSc courses in biosystems engineering;
• Supervising BSc and MSc theses and internships.

You will work in an international team of early and more advanced career scientists and teaching staff. The team has different backgrounds (e.g. veterinary science, human movement sciences, engineering and AI) and many nationalities (among others Dutch, French, Tunesian, Iranian). In terms of gender, we have an equal distribution of male and female team members.

Your qualities

The ideal candidate would possess:

• a university degree (MSc) and a PhD degree in a combination of either livestock farming or biology, and sensing technology or advanced statistics;
• affinity with livestock systems within the broader biological and agricultural context, and a genuine interest in technical solutions for the sustainability challenges in this domain;
• proven scientific ambition, proven performance in scientific publishing, and a strong ambition to publish future work;
• some experience with various types of teaching and ambition to further develop your skills in this;
• excellent written and oral communication skills in English; speaking Dutch is an advantage;
• attitude and abilities to act as a team player who can work independently and who also communicates well with colleagues;
• we encourage female researchers to apply.

You will work here
You will be working in the Agricultural Biosystems Engineering group, part of Wageningen University and embedded in the Plant Sciences Group of Wageningen UR.

“We educate future biosystems scientists and engineers and conduct research aimed at designing sustainable agricultural systems. The synergy of excellent research and education provides the knowledge, expertise, and technology to solve a broad range of challenges in diverse agricultural biosystems.”The group has a technology focus but the researcher/teacher is expected to operate at the intersection of the technical, biological and data engineering aspects related to livestock farming.

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;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more 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 €3.226 and €5.090 for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10). We aim for a contract of 0.6 to 0.8 FTE. Initially, we offer you a one-year contract, which will be extended to 4 years if there is mutual enthusiasm. Of course, we would be happy to discuss this with you if you have any questions.

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 19^th 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. 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 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 prof. dr. ir. Peter Groot Koerkamp, professor biosystems engineering and managing chair holder, tel: +31 317 48 08 31 or peter.grootkoerkamp@wur.nl.

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas , corporate recruiter,  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 1 July, 2024. We hope to schedule the first job interviews in July 2024.

Procedure
As part of our selection process, an assessment may be incorporated within the procedure

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.