Postdoc Position: Size Scaling of Environmental-Economic Systems

1. Introduction

Are you eager to investigate how the impact of environmental stressors on ecosystems is related to the size of organisms and communities? Then join the ERC Advanced Grant project ’The Power of Size’ to find out, make a difference and boost your academic career.

2. Job description

The overall aim of ’The Power of Size’ is to establish relationships describing the emission, fate and effects of pollutants as a function of size. We intend to derive overarching scaling principles that apply across multiple disciplines, including hydrology, socioeconomics, toxicology, and ecology. To achieve this, you will collect data from databases, reviews, articles, and reports. You will then derive and compare statistical and mechanistic relationships. As the lead author, you will publish your results in scientific journals and present your main findings at international conferences.

This vacancy involves Tasks 1.1-1.3 of ‘The Power of Size’ project, which are aimed at deriving theoretical and empirical scaling relationships linking resource and pollutant flows to the size of systems such as cities and river catchments. Examples of pilot studies can be found in Environmental Science and Technology 45: 751–754 and Journal of Hydrology 544: 479-487. You will be part of the WP1 team consisting of Prof. Jan Hendriks, Prof. Birka Wicke, Dr Steef Hanssen, one PhD candidate and another postdoctoral researcher, and also collaborate with the PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers of WP2 and WP3.

Your work will be theory- and data-driven, contributing to both fundamental research and regulatory applications. On the one hand, you will help improve the understanding of the dominant role size plays in system functioning. On the other hand, the relationships you develop will support urgent risk assessment for over 1,000 substances, across more than 1,000 species (including humans) and 1,000 sites worldwide.

To further improve your research and assessment skills as a postdoctoral researcher, you may attend courses offered by the Graduate School of the Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Science. You will supervise students and assist in teaching courses at the BSc/MSc level, which may take up to 10% of your working time (usually less).

3. Profile

• You hold a PhD degree in system analysis, environmental science, socioeconomics or another field related to the topic.
• You have experience in systematic data collection, statistical analysis with appropriate software, and, in particular, describing complex systems by simple equations.
• You have a good command of spoken and written English at the C1 level.
• You like collaborating with other people in a cross-disciplinary setting.   

4. We are

You will be based at the Department of Environmental Science of the Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences (RIBES) within the Faculty of Science. The Faculty of Science engages in groundbreaking research and excellent education, pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge and passing that knowledge on to the next generation. The mission of the Department of Environmental Science is to provide high-quality scientific knowledge that can help the world move towards greater sustainability. To achieve this, we aim to understand and predict the impact of anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems and humans and use the knowledge obtained to identify solutions for a more sustainable society. Our group currently consists of around 75 people, offering an open, inclusive and supportive work environment with regular social activities.

5. We offer

• We will give you a temporary employment contract of one year with the prospect of an extension for 2 years (1,0 FTE) or 2.75 years/33 months (0,8 FTE).
• Your salary within salary scale 10 depends on your previous education and number of years of (relevant) work experience. The amounts in the scale are based on a 38-hour working week.
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus. 
• We offer Dual Career Coaching. The Dual Career Coaching assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. 
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20. 

6. Practical information and applying

You can apply only via the button below. Address your letter of application to Jan Hendriks.  In the application form, you will find which documents you need to include with your application.

The first interviews will take place in week 37 and 38. You will preferably start your employment on 1 November 2025.

We can imagine you're curious about our application procedure. It describes what you can expect during the application procedure and how we handle your personal data and internal and external candidates. If you wish to apply for a non-scientific position with a non-EU nationality, please take notice of the following information.