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Research School for Socio-Economic and
Natural Sciences of the Environment |
SENSE e-News |
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Newsletter January
07 January 2016 |
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Six years of thinking on climate change in virtual issue of Journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability ›› |
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Tackling quality concerns around big data - Researchers from ITC Twente develop method on evaluating volunteered data ›› |
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Sandra van der Hel (VU) receives Oran R. Young Prize 2015 ›› |
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Sjors Witjes (UU) initiates Global Sitdown of scientists during climate conference in Paris ›› |
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Philipp Pattberg (VU) publishes Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Governance and Politics ›› |
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Overview of PhD graduations upcoming period ›› |
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Grasping Sustainability, 22-26 February ›› |
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The Science of Conservation; Managing Biodiversity in a Changing World, 2-12 March ›› |
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ENP Summer School "Tackling Transparency: the Challenges of Operationalising Research on Disclosing Sustainability", 21-25 June ›› |
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Overview of PhD / postdoc courses January-March ›› |
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Overview of recently announced PhD / postdoc courses ›› |
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Reading group Environmental Economics, every second week on Wednesday ›› |
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Ecology Theory & Application Discussion Group meeting, 13 January ›› |
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Research seminar Earth System Governance, 21 January ›› |
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SENSE Winter Sport PhD event: Ice skating, 31 January ›› |
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Session "Spatial ecology: connectivity and functioning" as part of the Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting (NAEM) 2016, 10 February ›› |
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Inaugural Lecture SENSE director Philipp Pattberg (VU): Environmental governance in the anthropocene: Complexity, fragmentation and the role of transnational institutions, 19 February ›› |
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EURO-AGRIWAT conference Water Footprint of agricultural products: progress, challenges and solutions, 7-9 March ›› |
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Overview of upcoming events ›› |
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IIASA Young Scientists Summer Programme, 1 June - 31 August ›› |
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Individual coaching at PCDI ›› |
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Call for the COFUND project for post-docs in Water and Development at UNESCO-IHE, deadline 1 March ›› |
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Junior beleidsmedewerker in het kader van het Professional PhD Program ›› |
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Postdoc Pathways to Sustainable Intensification in Europe, VU Amsterdam, deadline 18 January ›› |
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PhD position ‘Global flood risk behavioural modelling using social media’, VU Amsterdam, deadline 20 January ›› |
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PhD position ‘Behavioural economics of decision making under natural disaster risk’, VU Amsterdam, deadline 20 January ›› |
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EURO-AGRIWAT conference Water Footprint of agricultural products: progress, challenges and solutions, 7-9 March |
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Editorial |
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After the warmest Dutch December since measurements began, we all continue our work with renewed energy.
10 SENSE PhDs and postdocs are about to start in the new NWO-STW research programme WATER NEXUS. WATER NEXUS is a comprehensive and new approach to accomplish a transition from a solely freshwater based economy towards a multi-source water based economy. Special attention will be on highly productive (agro-)industrial delta- and floodplain regions, for which the Netherlands is the world leading example. Instead of seeing salt as a threat, salt, brackish, and fresh water are all considered as useful resources, with possibilities for different uses.
The first international SENSE conference, co-organised with the European Cost Action EuroAgriwat, is rapidly approaching. We received many abstracts that are currently in the process of being reviewed.
SENSE PhD candidates will organise one of the sessions: the River Basin Game, developed by keynote speaker Arjen Hoekstra (Twente University).
So we invite you all to subscribe for our EURO-AGRIWAT conference Water footprint of agricultural products: progress, challenges and solutions, from 7-9 March.
The registration deadline is 7 February. SENSE PhD candidates pay a reduced fee.
The SENSE team wishes all of you a very healthy and fruitful 2016! |
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SENSE News |
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Six years of thinking on climate change in virtual issue of Journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability |
The editors have selected a series of 29 articles that represent relevant themes in climate change research and policy. For each article, authors comment on recent developments related to their topic. All selected articles are freely available for six months until the middle of June 2016.
Together, these articles contribute to a comprehensive and critical overview of conceptual, analytical, scientific and policy frameworks underlying current thinking about climate change and the opportunities and challenges for societal responses. These issues have become ever more important as one considers the centrality of climate change governance to the newly approved Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). |
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Tackling quality concerns around big data - Researchers from ITC Twente develop method on evaluating volunteered data |
As the adoption of online information and location-aware technologies grows, more and more data will become available for research purposes. Data collected by volunteers or citizen scientists is a valuable source to analyse geographic phenomena such as the impact of climate change on plant and animal biological cycles. But only if the data can be evaluated on its quality. Researchers from the Faculty ITC of the University of Twente, have found a way to study the quality of volunteered data efficiently so as to make it useful for scientists. |
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Sandra van der Hel (VU) receives Oran R. Young Prize 2015 |
We congratulate Sandra van der Hel for winning the Oran R. Young Prize for her paper on New Science for Global Sustainability? The Institutionalisation of Knowledge Co-production in Future Earth as the best early-career paper of the 2015 Canberra Conference.
Her prize-winning paper analyses the process through which new modes of knowledge production become institutionalised in an emerging global research organisation. The case study for this research is the new major research programme Future Earth: Research for Global Sustainability. |
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Sjors Witjes (UU) initiates Global Sitdown of scientists during climate conference in Paris |
“We, all the scientists, have done our work. We sit down. It is up to you: make the decisions now. Target less than 2 degrees warming. We will help you implement.”
Op maandag 30 november, de eerste dag van de klimaatconferentie in Parijs, om vijf minuten voor twaalf, liepen wetenschappers over de hele wereld naar buiten en gingen demonstratief zitten. Met deze Global Sitdown willen zij uitdrukken dat klimaatverandering nu overtuigend wetenschappelijk is aangetoond en dat het voor het klimaat nu echt vijf voor twaalf is.
De demonstratie werd bedacht en geïnitieerd door Walter Vermeulen, Pim Croes en Sjors Witjes van het Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development. Ze kwamen op het idee van deze demonstratie tijdens de Global Cleaner Production & Sustainable Consumption Conference 2015 in Spanje, waar meer dan 800 onderzoekers van over de hele wereld bijeen waren.
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Philipp Pattberg (VU) publishes Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Governance and Politics |
Providing its readers with a unique point of reference, as well as stimulus for further research, the Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Governance and Politics is an indispensable tool for anyone interested in the governance and politics of the environment, particularly students, researchers and practitioners.
This comprehensive reference work, written by some of the most eminent academics in the field, contains entries on numerous aspects of global environmental governance and politics, including concepts and definitions; theories and methods; actors; institutions; issue-areas; cross-cutting questions; and overlaps with non-environmental fields. |
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Upcoming PhD Graduations |
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Overview of PhD graduations upcoming period |
- Marloes van Loon
How light competition between plants affects trait optimization and vegetation-atmosphere feedbacks
11 January 2016, Utrecht University, Environmental Sciences
- Roy Remme
Accounting for ecosystem services and biodiversity in Limburg province, the Netherlands
13 January 2016, Wageningen University, Environmental Systems Analysis
- Rosa Elena Yaya Beas
Bio-filtration of helminth eggs and coliforms from municipal sewage for agricultural reuse in Peru
20 January 2016, Wageningen University, Environmental Technology
- Yasmijn van der Knaap
Stream valley catchments in times of climate change: an ecohydrological approach
28 January 2016, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Systems Ecology
- Sarah Gerssen-Gondelach
Yielding a fruitful harvest - Advanced methods and analysis of regional potentials for sustainable biomass value chains interlinked with environmental and land use impacts of agricultural intensification
29 Janurary 2016, Utrecht University, Energy and Resources
- Gijsbert Werner
Plants, microbes and Markets. Evolution and maintenane of belowground cooperation
4 February 2016, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Animal Ecology
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Upcoming Courses |
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Grasping Sustainability, 22-26 February |
Explore, understand and utilise sustainability, the different concepts, objectives, indicators and methodologies.
To date, many different scientific concepts and approaches of environmental sustainability exist. What are the differences? What do they entail? How can you achieve sustainable development? How can you apply sustainability in your own research? Moreover, what is your role as a scientist and how can you deal with facts, insecurities, values and opinions?
This course will enable you to grasp sustainability and to apply concepts and approaches to your own research.
Registration deadline: 17 January |
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The Science of Conservation; Managing Biodiversity in a Changing World, 2-12 March |
Due to human land use and climate change, the world around us is changing rapidly. Natural vegetation and wildlife are challenged to adapt to these changes, but in many areas biodiversity is declining. The loss of biodiversity has been put forward as an underestimated driver of global change. The repercussions of these losses for ecosystem functioning and human well-being may be enormous.
Traditionally, major advancements have been made in the field of ecology, but conservation research has increasingly acknowledged the importance of economic and social dimensions in determining the trajectory of human-biodiversity interaction. The complexity of human-wildlife interaction raises a fundamental question: How do we balance healthy and diverse vegetation and wildlife with the requirement of social and economic sustainability? This question is central to this course on the science of conservation. |
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ENP Summer School “Tackling Transparency: the Challenges of Operationalising Research on Disclosing Sustainability”, 21-25 June |
The Summer School will focus on the challenges of operationalizing social science research on disclosing sustainability information. The organizers of the Summer School invite PhD students and Postdoc researchers embarking on, or involved in, researching themes of transparency, accountability and empowerment in global environmental governance, traceability in commodity chains, and citizen generated transparency.
Registration deadline: 1 April |
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Overview of PhD / postdoc courses January-March |
- Systems Thinking and Systems Simulation: Modelling Dynamic Feedback Systems with VENSIM (NEW)
13-15 January 2016, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Ecotoxicology
18-29 January 2016, Utrecht & Wageningen
- Enabling your Life Science Research: Essential Skills in Data-Intensive Research (NEW)
25-29 January 2016, Utrecht
- Survival Analysis (NEW)
29 January 2016, Wageningen
- Optimization Techniques (NEW)
1-3 February 2016, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Biotechnology of Conversion: Fundamentals of (Bio)Electrochemistry (NEW)
10 February 2016, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Aspects on Geoenergy and Participation (NEW)
15 February 2016, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- PCDI course Employability Outside Academia (NEW)
19 February, 11 March and 15 April 2016 (all Fridays)
- Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment
29 February - 4 March 2016, Delft
- The Science of Conservation; Managing Biodiversity in a Changing World
2-12 March 2016, South Africa
- Microbial Services in Times of Global Change (NEW)
7-11 March 2016, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Understanding Chemical Partition Equilibria (NEW)
21 March 2016, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Transport of Chemicals on Small Spatial Scales (NEW)
22 March 2016, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- A1 SENSE Introductory Course (NEW)
30 March - 1 April 2016, Apeldoorn
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Overview of recently announced PhD / postdoc courses |
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Discussion Groups |
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Reading group Environmental Economics, every second week on Wednesday |
A reading group with PhD students in the field of Environmental Economics. Each week one of us presents
- a paper in the broad field of environmental economics that he/she finds interesting (everyone reads the paper on beforehand), or
- a working paper he/she is working on, or
- the research set-up of an experiment or survey he/she is working on, or
- a topic he/she finds interesting based on a collection of the relevant literature.
After the presentation (±20 mins) the remaining will be used for discussion. The group is open for new participants and new topics! |
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Ecology Theory & Application Discussion Group meeting, 13 January |
Two-monthly meetings for PhD students with a broad interest in ecology. Each meeting is organised around a central ecological theme, such as distribution patterns, climate change, ecophysiology, trophic interactions, etc.
13 January 2016:
- Joost de Jong (WUR): The effect of management on the genetic variation of large wildlife populations
- Jasper Wubs (NIOO-KNAW): Soil inoculation as a tool to guide the restoration of terrestrial ecosystems
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Research seminar Earth System Governance, 21 January |
The primary aim of this seminar series is to familiarize PhD students with state-of-the-art research in the field of environmental and earth-system governance. The series provides PhD students the opportunity to present their research and discuss their work with experts in the field of environmental and earth-system governance. |
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Upcoming Events |
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SENSE Winter Sport PhD event: Ice skating, 31 January |
Time: 11:00 - 16:00
Location: De Vechtsebanen, Mississippidreef 151, 3565 CE Utrecht
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Session "Spatial ecology: connectivity and functioning" as part of the Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting (NAEM) 2016, 10 February |
Spatial organisation of organisms results from abiotic forcing, biotic feedbacks and connectivity of biotic and abiotic flows. These three components lead to spatial patterns formation ranging from micro-scale to global distributions. Key themes are:
- the emergence of spatial patterning in different environments and scales,
- how connectivity can affect biotic organisation
- the effects of patterns on ecosystem functioning, including stability and resilience. We welcome both empirical and theoretical approaches addressing these key themes.
One of the conveners is SENSE PhD candidate Myrna de Hoop (UU). |
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Inaugural Lecture SENSE director Philipp Pattberg (VU): Environmental governance in the anthropocene: Complexity, fragmentation and the role of transnational institutions, 19 February |
Philipp Pattberg is Professor (full) of Transnational Environmental Governance and Policy at VU University Amsterdam. He currently serves as the deputy department head of the Department of Environmental Policy Analysis (EPA) at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM).
He specializes in global environmental governance, with a focus on climate change, forestry and biodiversity. Dr Pattberg’s current research scrutinizes institutional complexity and fragmentation across environmental domains.
As of 2016 Philipp Pattberg is general director of SENSE. |
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EURO-AGRIWAT conference Water Footprint of agricultural products: progress, challenges and solutions, 7-9 March |
Water represents a main resource for human activities and its management. Together with food and energy production, water scarcity is one of the most outstanding problems for society. In most European regions agricultural productions are intensive water consumers. Therefore, these systems are very vulnerable to a potential decrease in water availability.
In 2011 a European Concerted Reseach Action (COST) started, aimed at the Assessment of EUROpean AGRIculture WATer use and trade under climate change (EURO-AGRIWAT).
EURO-AGRIWAT intends to prepare and disseminate recommendations and guidelines for enabling a more efficient water resource management in relation with agricultural activities under climate change and variability, and involves collaboration between scientists and stakeholders.
Parallel to one of the sessions, the SENSE PhD council will offer the River Basin Game, developed by keynote speaker Arjen Hoekstra, for a group of 9 to 24 participants.
In this game the participants take roles of farmers in the three compartments (upstream, midstream and downstream settings). These farmers try to optimize their benefits by irrigating their fields while water is the limiting factor. The participants will learn about ‘the tragedy of the commons’, about cooperation, free-rider behaviour and upstream-downstream effects. They experience the risk of over-abstractions of water in a river basin and learn how this risk relates to the complexity of the system, the conflict between individual and group optimums and the difficulty in achieving good cooperation.
This game can be played in several cumulative rounds. At the end there will be a feed back round.
Registration deadline: 7 February 2015 (reduced fee for SENSE PhD candidates)
Co-organised by SENSE. |
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Overview of upcoming events |
Recently announced: |
- Lezing: tussen wetenschap en samenleving
21 January 2016, Leiden
- Symposium Evolution and maintenance of (belowground) cooperation
4 February 2016, Amsterdam
- Inaugural Lecture Arnold Tukker: Industrial ecology
26 February 2016, Leiden
- Annual meeting of the Microbial Ecology division of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Vereniging voor Microbiologie (KNVM)
26 February 2016, Amsterdam
- Farewell address prof.dr. H.C. (Henk) Moll, IVEM Groningen
29 February 2016, Groningen
- New Currents in Science: The Challenges of Quality
3-4 March 2016, Italy
- European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2016: Interdisciplinary Approaches in Climatic Change Research and Assessment
17-22 April 2016, Vienna, Austria, Deadline call for abstracts: 13 January 2016
- BCF Career Event 2016 - Employers meet talent!
10 May 2016, Amsterdam
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Full list of interesting upcoming events: |
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Tips |
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IIASA Young Scientists Summer Programme, 1 June - 31 August |
Since 1977, IIASA’s annual 3-month Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) offers research opportunities to talented young researchers whose interests correspond with IIASA’s ongoing research on issues of global environmental, economic and social change. From June through August accepted participants work within the Institute’s research programs under the guidance of IIASA scientific staff. Funding is provided through IIASA's National Member Organizations.
Registration deadline: 11 January |
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Individual coaching at PCDI |
Do you feel you would benefit from personal guidance with regard to specific questions about your personal and career development? Are you stuck and unsure what direction to take? Then coaching may be a good option for you to gain insights and get ahead.
Did you know that you can also approach PCDI for individual coaching? Please be aware that you can use your personal budget to fund your coaching. Answers to practical questions can be found here. To learn more, contact us by e-mail. |
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NEW: PostdocNL |
At the end of November PostdocNL, a new platform for and by postdocs, was born. At PCDI we are very happy about this initiative for postdocs to unite and let themselves be heard by employers and policy makers.
Are you a postdoc and do you think that the position of postdocs could be improved? Then join the PostdocNL LinkedIn-group now and encourage your colleagues to do the same. Keep in mind that a large number of united postdocs will positively contribute to addressing postdocs' needs. |
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Call for the COFUND project for post-docs in Water and Development at UNESCO-IHE, deadline 1 March |
The Experienced Water Postdoc Fellowship COFUND Programme (EWPFP COFUND) is a fellowship programme for incoming mobility of experienced researchers in the broad field of water and development. The programme is co-financed by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration and offers 8 fellowships that will cover a research period of 24 months. |
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Professional PhD Program vacancies |
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The Professional PhD Program (PPP) aims to provide opportunities for PhD candidates to work on their transferable skills. Currently the PhD track fully focuses on an academic career, while around 80 per cent of the people who finish their PhD will continue their career outside universities. In addition to this, companies and public organizations can experience the added value of a PhD candidate. Furthermore, PPP can strengthen the collaboration between universities and non-academic organizations.
The Professional PhD Program is an initiative by Promovendi Netwerk Nederland. |
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Junior beleidsmedewerker in het kader van het Professional PhD Program |
Als junior beleidsmedewerker ben je verantwoordelijk voor:
- het uitvoeren van het procesmanagement bij de beoordeling van subsidieaanvragen;
- het mede zorg dragen voor de voorbereiding en uitvoering van subsidierondes: je zorgt ervoor dat subsidieaanvragen beoordeeld worden volgens een vastgestelde procedure, je onderhoudt daarvoor nauwe contacten met beoordelaars en subsidieaanvragers en je rapporteert aan de NRO programmaraden;
- het leveren van een bijdrage aan projectbeheer van nieuwe en lopende projecten en de voorbereiding en uitvoering van het NRO programma;
- het voorbereiden en uitvoeren van beleid op deelthema’s van het NRO.
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New vacancies |
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Postdoc Pathways to Sustainable Intensification in Europe, VU Amsterdam, deadline 18 January |
The postdoc is expected to contribute to the activities in the FACCE-JPI (NWO) funded project VITAL. VITAL explores transition processes of European agricultural systems towards sustainably intensified production, by identifying how differences in agricultural systems, their spatial frameworks and the role of actors, lead to, or inhibit, transition processes of sustainable intensification. This is done at case study scale as well as at the level of the European Union. The successful applicant is expected to (1) actively contribute to analyzing the role of actors and environmental variables in transitions to sustainable intensification in case studies, (2) analyze possibilities and challenges for sustainable intensification at European scale using a variety of spatial modelling tools, and (3) take a leading role in day-to-day management of the VITAL consortium. |
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PhD position ‘Global flood risk behavioural modelling using social media’, VU Amsterdam, deadline 20 January |
Economic losses due to weather related natural hazards continue to rise rapidly in all regions of the world. For example, extreme flood events and storm surges all have a significant impact on society, and these impacts will increase in the future through climate change and socio-economic developments. Much research to date has focused on the assessment and quantification of the natural hazard component of flood risk including the effects of climate change, which may lead to increased hazard magnitude and/or intensity in many regions. However, there is a growing understanding that increasing exposure of people and economic assets has been the major cause of the long term increases in economic losses from weather and climate-related disasters. Some studies have investigated losses from natural disasters in the past, and others assessed future increase in risk from natural hazards using simulation models or statistical extrapolation. This project focusses on modelling the vulnerability of properties in flood-prone areas, and how this vulnerability can be reduced by policies that improve household flood preparedness and by insurance strategies. |
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PhD position ‘Behavioural economics of decision making under natural disaster risk’, VU Amsterdam, deadline 20 January |
This project aims to advance our understanding of theoretical foundations of decision making under risk by empirically testing behavioural economic theories for why many individuals in floodplains insufficiently prepare for flooding, such as underestimation of flood risks, or myopia. Of particular interest is whether insurance incentives for risk reduction, which include risk based premiums and discounts, can effectively overcome such behavioural biases. Moreover, this project will examine “moral hazard” effects, implying that people with insurance coverage may take fewer flood damage mitigation measures. This project entails a systematic analysis of such behaviour by drawing from theories and methods that originate from the field of behavioural economics, which is a thriving area of the (environmental) economics discipline. Original data will be collected using economic experiments and surveys. |
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