Management Office Assistant

Are you an independent, pro-active, and service-oriented personality? Do you enjoy working with people? Are you good at organising, coordinating and managing multiple tasks? Are you friendly and open-minded? Are you proficient in both Dutch and English? If so, this could be the perfect opportunity for you!

As a management office assistant, you will hold a key role in our group. You will be in charge of many administrative/organisation processes, taking care of the practical needs of an international group of lecturers, scientists and researchers. You will be their ‘go-to person’ when they run up against logistical problems and when they need professional support in predictable and unpredictable situations.

As an all-round assistant, you will also need to have an affinity with using software systems to provide administrative and secretarial support to this growing group of scientists and PhD students in the Forest & Nature Conservation Policy Group.

Your main tasks will include, but not limited to:

• Organise and attend group meetings, including note-taking and reporting;
• Handle formal correspondence, archiving, and data management;
• Ordering goods and services required by the group;
• Support university education in student enrolment and mark registration;
• Support the onboarding of new colleagues, including PhD students;
• Assist the chair holder in arranging his travels, appointments and management needs;
• Support communication activities such as the group’s website;
• Support colleagues in organising workshops, seminars and conferences.

Your team
The Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group (FNP) is a team of some 45 professors, lecturers, post-doctoral researchers and PhD students from more than 20 different countries, located either in The Netherlands or abroad. Your working place will be in Wageningen. The team is still growing in numbers.

Management Office Assistant

Ben jij een zelfstandige, proactieve en servicegerichte persoonlijkheid? Werk je graag met mensen? Ben je goed in organiseren, coördineren en het uitvoeren van meerdere taken tegelijk? Ben je vriendelijk en ruimdenkend? Beheers je zowel het Nederlands als het Engels uitstekend? Dan is dit misschien wel de perfecte kans voor jou!

Als management/office assistent(e) speel je een sleutelrol binnen onze groep. Je bent verantwoordelijk voor diverse administratieve en organisatorische processen en zorgt voor de praktische ondersteuning van een internationale groep docenten, wetenschappers en onderzoekers. Je bent hun eerste aanspreekpunt wanneer zij tegen logistieke uitdagingen aanlopen en wanneer zij professionele ondersteuning nodig hebben in zowel voorspelbare als onverwachte situaties.

Als allround ondersteuner heb je daarnaast affiniteit met het werken met softwaresystemen om administratieve en secretariële ondersteuning te bieden aan deze groeiende groep wetenschappers en promovendi binnen de leerstoelgroep Forest & Nature Conservation Policy.

Je belangrijkste werkzaamheden zijn onder meer:

• Organiseren en bijwonen van groepsvergaderingen, inclusief notuleren en verslaglegging;
• Verzorgen van formele correspondentie, archivering en databeheer;
• Bestellen van goederen en diensten die de groep nodig heeft;
• Ondersteunen van het onderwijsproces, waaronder studenteninschrijvingen en cijferregistratie;
• Ondersteunen van de onboarding van nieuwe collega's, waaronder promovendi;
• Ondersteunen van de leerstoelhouder bij het organiseren van reizen, afspraken en managementzaken;
• Ondersteunen van communicatieactiviteiten, zoals het beheer van de groepswebsite;
• Ondersteunen van collega's bij de organisatie van workshops, seminars en conferenties.

Jouw team
De leerstoelgroep Forest and Nature Conservation Policy (FNP) bestaat uit ongeveer 45 hoogleraren, docenten, postdoctorale onderzoekers en promovendi uit meer dan 20 verschillende landen. Zij zijn gevestigd in Nederland of daarbuiten. Je standplaats is Wageningen. De groep groeit nog steeds verder.

Chemisch analist

Als chemisch analist ga jij ons analistenteam binnen de afdeling Emissies & Mestverwaarding van Wageningen Livestock Research versterken.

Met je praktische vaardigheden in (nat)chemische analyses zorg je voor de kwaliteitsborging van analysemethoden, data en protocollen binnen onze laboratoriumfaciliteiten. Door je kennis en ervaring draag je bij aan de continue ontwikkeling van nieuwe analytische methoden. Bovendien speel je een belangrijke rol in de behoefte van onderzoekers en projectleiders aan operationele analytische methoden. Het lab bestaat uit een klein team van analisten en werkt organisatorisch zelfstandig binnen de afdeling.

Jouw taken en verantwoordelijkheden als Chemisch analist zijn:

• ondersteuning bieden bij innovatieve onderzoeksprojecten met de inzet van praktische en wetenschappelijke kennis over bemonstering, monstervoorbereiding, methoden, analyses en gegevensvalidatie;
• verantwoordelijkheid voor ( technisch onderhoud van) apparatuur;
• algemene ondersteuning bieden aan de gebruikers van het laboratorium, waaronder onderzoekers;
• werken binnen de richtlijnen van een ISO-9001 gecertificeerd laboratorium.

Samenvattend zet je je kennis, expertise, nauwkeurigheid en analytisch-technische vaardigheden in voor een succesvolle werking van het lab als ook voor een succesvolle ondersteuning en samenwerking met de onderzoekers.

Hier ga je werken
Het lab waar je komt te werken is gepositioneerd binnen de afdeling Emissies & Mestverwaarding. Onze experts ontwikkelen kennis en innovaties op het vlak van emissies van broeikasgassen, stikstof, fijnstof en geur uit stallen, mestverwerking en mestverwaarding.

Onze 40 onderzoekers, projectleiders, meettechnici en analisten werken in interdisciplinaire teams aan het meten van milieueffecten in de veehouderij en werkt volop samen met andere onderdelen van Wageningen UR, en met externe partners.

Onze kernactiviteiten zijn:

• emissies meten, wij beschikken over een air quality en chemisch laboratorium en onze meetploeg is landelijk inzetbaar;
• rendabele innovaties en maatschappelijk gewenste verbeteringen ontwikkelen voor minder emissies uit stallen en een beter stalklimaat;
• oplossingen vinden voor een beter gebruik van mest en mineralen.

Chemical Analyst

As a Chemical Analyst, you will strengthen our team of laboratory analysts within the Emissions & Manure Valorisation department at Wageningen Livestock Research. Please note that a good command of the dutch language is a strong demand for this role.

Using your practical expertise in (wet) chemical analyses, you will contribute to the quality assurance of analytical methods, data and protocols within our laboratory facilities. Through your knowledge and experience, you will support the continuous development of new analytical methods. In addition, you will play an important role in meeting the needs of researchers and project leaders for operational analytical methods. The laboratory consists of a small team of analysts and operates independently within the department.

Your duties and responsibilities as a Chemical Analyst include:

• supporting innovative research projects by applying practical and scientific knowledge of sampling, sample preparation, analytical methods, analyses and data validation;
• taking responsibility for laboratory equipment, including technical maintenance activities;
• providing general support to laboratory users, including researchers;
• working in accordance with the procedures and standards of an ISO 9001-certified laboratory.

In summary, you will use your knowledge, expertise, attention to detail and analytical technical skills to ensure the successful operation of the laboratory and to provide effective support and collaboration with our researchers.

Where you will work
The laboratory is part of the Emissions & Manure Valorisation department. Our experts develop knowledge and innovations in the fields of greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen emissions, particulate matter and odour emissions from livestock housing systems, manure processing and manure valorisation.

Our team of around 40 researchers, project leaders, measurement technicians and laboratory analysts work in interdisciplinary teams to measure environmental impacts within livestock farming. We collaborate extensively with other parts of Wageningen University & Research and with external partners.

Our core activities include:

• measuring emissions; we operate both an air quality laboratory and a chemical laboratory, and our field measurement team can be deployed throughout the Netherlands;
• developing commercially viable innovations and socially desirable improvements aimed at reducing emissions from livestock housing systems and improving the indoor climate within barns and stables;
• developing solutions for the more effective use of manure and minerals.

PhD Position: Nature-Inclusive Dairy Transitions and Biodiversity Recovery

Are you a systems thinker passionate about bending the curve of biodiversity loss in agroecosystems? Are you looking for a meaningful research path with impact on the ground? Are you eager to join a stimulating environment, collaborate across academic fields, and engage with private and public actors? Are you enthusiastic to dive into a plurality of views regarding biodiversity and its recovery? Then, we have a PhD position for you.

Biodiversity recovery is essential to sustain resilient food systems, robust businesses, and healthy societies. A transition to nature-inclusive dairy sector in the Netherlands would be pivotal to biodiversity recovery, because of its influence in shaping landscapes through land use and management, and because of its socio-economic relevance. DECISION is a transdisciplinary project involving farmers, dairy companies, financial and service sectors, and local communities, to co-create and accelerate the transition to a resilient and nature-inclusive future. DECISION will count on a broad group of experts, four fully funded PhDs candidates and one postdoc.

For this position, we are looking for a PhD candidate eager to deal with the understanding of the diverse values of nature (including biodiversity and ecosystem services) across stakeholders, and with anticipating the consequences of adopting nature-inclusive transitions for business and for nature. In that role, you will develop and explore the potential of farm typologies to deal with heterogeneity and tailor a nature-inclusive transition; explore the diverse values of nature among diverse stakeholders; and co-design of scenarios and interventions to support biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services.

Your duties and responsibilities include:

• Develop a Research Proposal and a Training and Supervision Plan, to structure the PhD trajectory
• Advancing conceptual thinking by linking farm heterogeneity and typologies, diverse values and valuation of nature, and theory of transitions and transformations
• Conducting and analyzing semi-structured interviews and workshops with stakeholders
• Develop scenario analysis and/or other ‘future’ studies
• Disseminate results by publishing papers in scientific journals, presenting in international conferences, and creating content items dedicated to stakeholders
• Work as a team player, contributing to the activities and wider aims of DECISION project.

You will work here
This PhD position will be situated between the Animal Production Systems (APS) group and the Land Use Planning (LUP) group of Wageningen University & Research. APS focuses on unravelling the complexity of livestock systems, and exploring trade-offs and synergies of innovations regarding environmental impact, animal welfare, and economic viability, to design a more sustainable future. The LUP group aims to improve our understanding of landscapes as social-ecological systems and focuses on interventions that relieve the pressure on scarce space, improving the overall landscape quality.

You will be supervised by Dr Raimon Ripoll-Bosch (APS) and Dr Judith Westerink (LUP). The work of Dr Raimon Ripoll-Bosch focuses on understanding the complex interactions between livestock, nature (biodiversity and ecosystem services) and economy, to design enabling environments for the transitions to nature-inclusive agroecosystems. The work of Dr Judith Westerink focuses on transformative landscape governance, in particular related to biodiversity and dairy farming systems.