The current Dutch nitrogen crisis illustrates the difficult balance between the needs of nature, agriculture and society and highlights the importance of conservation science that explores nature-based solutions. We offer an outstanding opportunity to two PhD candidates that are motivated to work on providing the evidence for benefits of managing biodiversity on farmland. The first PhD position will examine whether and how biodiversity effects of conservation management targeting a specific species group can be extrapolated to higher spatial scales, to other species groups and to ecosystem service delivery. The second position will study nature-based solutions for reducing nitrogen leaching and run-off in different farming systems. The research is part of the recently funded H2020 project 'Showcase' in which 21 partners from across Europe collaborate. Empirical work in the Netherlands will focus on South-Limburg.
You need to be dedicated to and constructively interact with international partners, local collaborators and the Wageningen research team and at the same time perform high-quality research. You will publish your findings in leading international academic journals and will communicate them to audiences that may be able to use your results. You will supervise MSc students as they are doing thesis research within the framework of your own studies.