Machine Learning/AI Researcher and Project Leader

Are you an experienced machine learning and data science professional who wants to make a real-world impact? Do you have a specialisation in machine learning and affinity with project management? Do you want to apply advanced AI solutions to contribute to a more sustainable and better world? We, Wageningen Food & Biobased Research (WFBR), are looking for a researcher data & modelling. Are you the one who will strengthen our team?

What will you do?
As a machine learning researcher, you will initiate and work on innovative data-driven solutions in the bioeconomy and food domains. One example is improving fermentation screening for plant‑based ingredients, a process that is traditionally slow because each substrate–strain combination behaves differently. By applying machine learning to historical experimental data, we can predict high‑potential combinations that support the creation of innovative and sustainable food products. Another example is using large language model (LLM) tools to automatically extract and structure fragmented information from internal and external sources for use in our digital solutions.

Your duties and responsibilities include:

• initiation of new projects / ideas for acquisition by shaping new applied research propositions and supplying the insights needed to convey the value of AI solutions to partners & clients;
• leading projects in which you and your team design and develop new AI solutions. Off course translating research questions into robust machine learning implementations, including preprocessing, model training, validation and deployment is part of your role;
• collaborating enthusiastically with domain specialists and software developers to integrate data‑driven models with mechanistic or physics‑based models and domain expertise;
• showing thought leadership on applying data & AI-solutions in the food & biobased domain: where are the big leaps, how can we actively bring the benefits of data & AI to our customers in this domain?

Your team
You will work as an expert within the expertise group Wageningen Food & Biobased Research. Together with the adjoining expertise Computer Vision it comprises about 16 diverse specialists ranging from software development to AI/ML research. At DSI, our mission is to unlock the full potential of data and AI to help transform food and biobased systems into sustainable, resilient and innovative sectors — through science, collaboration and real‑world application.

Our projects require close interaction with WFBR domain specialists, with whom you will play a key role in translating state‑of‑the‑art digital techniques into models that meet their scientific and operational needs.

You will work here
WFBR operates at the intersection of science, industry and government, delivering applied research and innovation projects funded by both public and private partners. You will be part of a multidisciplinary environment within WFBR, working closely with experts in food technology, microbiology and chemistry. Knowledge sharing is central to how we work: we meet several times a week in Wageningen to exchange ideas, review project progress, and continuously improve our approaches. You will collaborate with business developers, researchers, software developers and clients. You will contribute to impactful applied research in the domains of food and biobased materials.

Management Assistent

Vind jij het leuk om je administratieve kennis in te zetten voor de afdeling Fokkerij & Genomica, mee te denken en er voor te zorgen dat de onderzoekers ‘ontzorgd’ worden in hun taken? Ben jij iemand die de prioriteiten goed in het oog weet te houden? Ben je omgevingssensitief en heb je oog voor de (internationale) klanten van Wageningen Livestock Research en WUR? Dan zijn wij op zoek naar jou, kom jij ons team van toppers op het secretariaat versterken?

Wageningen Livestock Research (WLR) zoekt voor haar onderzoeksafdeling Fokkerij & Genomica en het desbetreffende afdelingshoofd een enthousiaste Management Assistent.

Wat ga je doen?
Als Management Assistent maak je afspraken (in- en extern) en houdt de agenda’s bij in Outlook. Je verzorgt de uitgaande correspondentie en regelt bestellingen in ons financiële systeem. Ook werk je onderzoeksrapporten uit in de huisstijl, organiseer je bijeenkomsten en verwerk je gegevens in verschillende systemen. Daarnaast verwerk je de in- en uitgaande post en post en help je bij de start van nieuwe (gast)medewerkers.
Je ondersteunt het afdelingshoofd en de medewerkers (bij vragen over verzuim, bestellingen, declaraties en andere regelzaken).

Jouw team
Samen met de andere management assistentes zorg je voor een stabiele bezetting en goede samenwerking van het secretariaat. Je bent stressbestendig en kan snel schakelen, de management assistentes kunnen indien nodig elkaars werkzaamheden overnemen.

Wageningen Livestock Research (WLR) bestaat uit vijf onderzoeksafdelingen. Het secretariaat van WLR werkt voor deze 5 afdelingen en bestaat op dit moment uit 5 management assistentes. De onderzoeksafdeling Fokkerij & Genomica bestaat uit ca. 45 medewerkers.
Met jouw communicatieve vaardigheden en gevoel voor verbinding vervul jij een spilfunctie binnen deze internationaal georiënteerde groep.

Werken als Management Assistent bij Wageningen University & Research
Jouw nieuwe collega’s heten je een van harte welkom bij Wageningen University & Research (WUR). De samenwerking met collega’s in een informele omgeving wordt door management assistenten binnen WUR enorm gewaardeerd. Dit in combinatie met veel eigen regie, zelfstandigheid en de mogelijkheid om hybride te werken, maakt dat de werk-privé balans ook op veel waardering kan rekenen.

Tel daarbij op een uitdagende internationale omgeving waar, op onze mooie groene campus, dagelijks wordt gewerkt aan thema’s met grote maatschappelijk impact.

Management Assistant

Do you enjoy using your administrative expertise to support the Breeding & Genomics department, thinking along proactively and ensuring that researchers are “relieved” of their administrative tasks? Are you someone who is good at keeping priorities in view? Are you sensitive to your environment and do you have an eye for the (international) clients of Wageningen Livestock Research and WUR? Then we are looking for you – will you come and strengthen our team of top professionals in the secretariat?

Wageningen Livestock Research (WLR) is looking for an enthusiastic Management Assistant for its research department Breeding & Genomics and the relevant Head of Department.

What will you do?
As a Management Assistant, you schedule appointments (internal and external) and manage calendars in Outlook. You handle outgoing correspondence and arrange orders in our financial system. You also format research reports in the corporate house style, organise meetings and process data in various systems. In addition, you handle incoming and outgoing post and support the onboarding of new (guest) staff members.

You provide support to the Head of Department and staff members (answering questions about absence, orders, expense claims and other practical matters).

Your team
Together with the other management assistants, you ensure stable staffing and smooth cooperation within the secretariat. You are resilient under pressure and able to switch quickly; when necessary, management assistants are able to take over one another’s tasks.

Wageningen Livestock Research (WLR) consists of five research departments. The WLR secretariat supports all five departments and currently comprises five management assistants. The Breeding & Genomics research department consists of approximately 45 employees.

With your strong communication skills and sense of connection, you fulfil a pivotal role within this internationally oriented group.

PhD: Modelling non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture

The Earth Systems and Global Change Group at Wageningen University and Research invites applications for a PhD position (4 years) in “Modelling non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture” starting in September 2026.

This PhD project aims to advance monitoring, reporting, verification (MRV) systems and mitigation strategies for reducing agricultural GHG emissions by systematically evaluating and improving the accuracy, effectiveness, efficiency, and usability of both established and emerging MRV tools, as part of an exciting HORIOZON project entitled MARVELA. The research will focus on key agricultural practices, including animal husbandry, manure management, livestock feeding and grazing, soil tillage, fertilizer application, and liming, across diverse pedo-climatic zones and farming systems. By adopting a holistic, systems-oriented perspective, this project will generate harmonized metrics that enable consistent, transparent, and comparable assessments across regions and practices, while simultaneously providing new scientific insights to inform the development and implementation of robust mitigation measures for the achievement of climate neutrality goals.

Your duties and responsibilities include:
As a PhD researcher, you will expand and improve an existing modelling framework to predict direct and indirect nitrous oxide and methane emissions from agriculture. You contribute to the following activities:

• Performing a SWOT analysis of existing models and model requirements to predict non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions on regional level across Europe, including their ability to assess the impact of mitigation measures across time and space.
• Design, build and implement an integrated regional and farm system MRV meta-model for several pilot regions across Europe
• Model evaluation of mitigation measures to ‘consolidate and improve knowledge on mitigation measures for agricultural non-CO2 GHG emissions.

You will work here
The research is embedded within the chair Earth Systems and Global Change Group, which is led by Prof. dr. Hannah van Zanten and Prof. dr. Nynke Hofstra. You will be supervised by Dr. Gerard Ros, Dr. Mengru Wang and Prof. dr. Hannah van Zanten from Wageningen University, and Prof Dr. Erik Meers from Ghent University.

Seed systems advisor

Are you an experienced international agricultural development professional ready to become a leading advisor in seed systems?

Do you enjoy working at the intersection of agriculture, innovation, policy, institutions and markets? Would you like to help strengthen seed systems that improve farmers' access to quality seed of improved and locally adapted varieties and contribute to more resilient, equitable and sustainable food systems?

We welcome both established seed-systems experts and senior agricultural-development professionals with complementary expertise in areas such as agricultural innovation, agribusiness, food systems, value chain development, plant breeding, policy or institutional development. You bring either direct seed systems expertise or the ambition and demonstrated potential to develop into a leading seed systems advisor.

We are looking for someone who is open-minded, curious and comfortable working across diverse seed systems and stakeholder groups. You will work primarily in Africa and, where relevant, in Asia and Latin America, building trusted partnerships with farmer organisations, governments, research organisations, NGOs, development partners and a diversity of local, domestic and internationally operating seed companies and entrepreneurs. You will also help connect the strengths of the Dutch seed sector and international development ecosystem to seed sector transformation worldwide.

Key responsibilities:
The role combines programme leadership, technical advisory work, acquisition, relationship management and applied research. The balance will vary across programmes and over time, but programme management, technical advisory work and acquisition will form the core of the role.

• Designing, leading and implementing seed sector transformation programmes at national, regional and international levels. These may range from short-term advisory and applied research assignments to large programmes involving substantial budgets, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams, and international consortia.
• Ensuring high-quality programme delivery and effective risk management in collaboration with WSER's legal, financial, procurement and project management teams.
• Acting as a strategic knowledge partner in programmes, including those led by partner organisations, by co-creating knowledge and contributing expertise in evidence generation, programme learning and capacity strengthening.
• Applying systems thinking to analyse seed systems and translate evidence into practical institutional, market and policy innovations that strengthen them and contribute to food system transformation.
• Building long-term, reciprocal partnerships with public, private, research and civil-society actors across seed sectors.
• Facilitating policy dialogue and institutional change, and designing, piloting, scaling and institutionalising innovations across areas such as seed policy and regulation, quality assurance, variety development, seed business development, finance and public-private partnerships.
• Connecting international programmes with the Dutch Diamond approach by fostering collaboration between government, knowledge institutes, the private sector and civil society, and maintaining strategic relationships with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Nature, Plantum, SeedNL, Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and other Dutch partners.
• Leading the acquisition and development of new programmes through concept development, proposal writing, consortium building and donor engagement.
• Strengthening Wageningen Social & Economic Research's international profile through publications and knowledge products, and through participation in conferences and professional networks.

About the team
You will join the Food System Transformation team within Wageningen Social & Economic Research, working alongside around ten seed system professionals with diverse international backgrounds, expertise and experience. As an internationally recognised team in seed sector transformation, we combine scientific rigour with a strong commitment to translating knowledge into practice. Together, we support partners worldwide through programme management, strategic knowledge partnerships, applied research and institutional innovation.