Location: Amsterdam
Max hours per week: 38.00
Max salary: 3.670
Duration of agreement: 48 months
Apply until: 10/16/2024

Two PhD Positions to Investigate Sustainability Experimentations in European Horticultural Greenhouses

The Ethnology Department of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences and Arts (Meertens Institute-KNAW) is currently seeking two PhD candidates for the project “Greenhouses as Vital Landscapes: Sustainability, Relationality, and the Future of Food (VITALGREENHOUSE),” led by Dr. Rebeca Ibáñez Martín. This project is funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant.

VITALGREENHOUSE project aims to analyze sustainability transitions in European horticultural greenhouses, focusing on mobility, particularly the circulation of non-humans as collaborators or pests, labor, and technological interventions and innovations. This project asks: how is sustainability being conceived and practiced in diverse and competing ways in the greenhouse? If you are curious about the ways in which modern industrial agriculture is rooted in colonial histories of extraction, or if you are interested in the materiality and care that growers and workers apply in their daily work within greenhouses, this project may be a good fit for you. If exploring the innovations being experimented with in greenhouses appeals to you, or if you are familiar with, or curious about, Science and Technology Studies (STS) or more-than-human ethnography, your background would align well with this research. Additionally, if you have an affinity for, interest in, or experience with ethnographic research in the Netherlands and Spain, this project offers a valuable opportunity.

What Will You Do?

Each PhD candidate will conduct a detailed ethnographic study in both the Netherlands and Spain. The PhDs will be based in the Netherlands and will conduct fieldwork in both countries to fully compare and contrast the sites and findings. The focus areas will be:

PhD1: Multispecies Relations – studying the interactions between growers, pickers, researchers, plants, and non-human laborers, such as pollinator bees.
PhD2: Greenhouse Digitalization – investigating how growers, researchers, and workers are adapting to or resisting ‘climate-intelligent agriculture,’ a recent iteration of sustainability.

Briefly, the VITALGREENHOUSE project aims to investigate greenhouses in both countries as sites embedded within a long history of human-environment relations, integrating questions of landscape exploitation, digitalization, mobilities, and human and non-human labor. The project seeks to generate new critical perspectives on planetary transformations and advance theoretical debates in critical infrastructure studies, multispecies relations, and decolonial thought.

Your Tasks

Conduct ethnographic research on one of the following topics: multispecies relations (PhD1) or greenhouse digitalization (PhD2).
Participate in a research team consisting of two PhD candidates, one postdoctoral researcher, and the Principal Investigator (PI). Your primary responsibility will be to develop and complete your PhD within the framework of the overall project, resulting in a doctoral dissertation to be defended at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Amsterdam.
Contribute to collaborative aspects of the project, including data collection for jointly written publications.
Provide organizational support for team activities, such as workshops, meetings, and other project events, gaining valuable professional experience while working toward your PhD.
Reside in Amsterdam (or within commuting distance) when not on fieldwork and actively participate in team meetings and the research environment at the Institute.

Requirements

The following are essential:

A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field within the social sciences or humanities, such as Social and Cultural Anthropology, Human Geography, Political Ecology, or Environmental Humanities. The degree must be obtained by the time of application.
Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
Familiarity with ethnographic research methods.
Independent thinking and strong analytical skills.
Strong collaboration skills and the ability to integrate into interdisciplinary academic communities.
A commitment to academic integrity and transparency.
The ability to complete the PhD thesis within four years; this includes strong planning, initiative, and academic writing skills.
Availability to travel to Spain for fieldwork, preferably in the last quarter of 2025.

The following are desirable:

Affinity with the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS).
Previous practical experience in ethnographic research.
Oral and written communication skills in Dutch and Spanish.
A good understanding of AI (for PhD2).
Commitment to or previous engagement with topics related to agricultural transitions, sustainability, political ecology, and multispecies ethnographies.

Additional Information

For any questions or further information, please contact:
Dr. Rebeca Ibáñez Martín, Principal Investigator of VITALGREENHOUSE
rebeca.ibanezmartin@meertens.knaw.nl

Selection Process

If this opportunity resonates with you, but you’re unsure if you meet all the requirements, we encourage you to apply. In line with the Institute’s commitment to diversity, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified candidates, particularly those from migration backgrounds or other groups underrepresented in academia. We look forward to receiving your application by October 16, 2024. You may apply online using the link below.

Application Requirements

Applications should include the following (all files, except your CV, should be submitted as a single PDF):

Your Curriculum Vitae (max. 2 pages), including a list of publications, if applicable.
A cover letter (max. 2 pages) describing your qualifications and motivation for the position. Please specify the aspects of the project that interest you and explain what has led you to your current intellectual and scholarly focus.
A link to your Master’s thesis (if available online) or an abstract and conclusion if not.
A research statement on how you would approach the PhD project (max. 2 pages).
Contact information for two academic references (no letters of recommendation at this stage).

Additional materials, such as recommendation letters and longer writing samples, will be requested only from shortlisted candidates. Please do not send these materials with your initial application. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview, expected to take place, preferably in person, in the first week of November.
Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered.

About Meertens
The Meertens Institute, together with the International Institute of Social History and the Huygens ING, is part of the KNAW Humanities Cluster. This is a partnership in which research in the humanities (history, ethnology, literature, linguistics) is carried out using advanced methods, in which computer science plays an important role.

The Meertens Institute is a national institute for research and documentation of the Dutch language and culture, and language and culture in the Netherlands. It consists of the research groups Ethnology and Variational Linguistics, both of which hold leading positions in international research on everyday language and culture.

Terms of employment
Depending on education and experience the minimum salary is 2.872 and the maximum salary is 3.670 gross per month for a full-time appointment (scale P cao Nederlandse Universiteiten/KNAW). This is exclusive of 8% vacation allowance, 8.3% year-end bonus, travel allowance, internet allowance, home working allowance and pension accrual with ABP.

The KNAW offers its staff an excellent package of secondary benefits. A package that meets the different needs of employees depending on their stage of life, lifestyle or career ambitions. For example, by working an extra two hours a week, it is possible to increase the number of days off from 29 to 41 days a year (with full-time employment).

For a complete overview of the terms of employment, please refer to the web page: werken bij de KNAW.

Applying for a Certificate of Good Conduct can be part of the employment procedure.

Diversity & Inclusion
The KNAW considers a working environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated of great importance. A working environment in which attention is paid to individual quality and where development opportunities are paramount. Together we strive for an inclusive culture in which we embrace differences. We would therefore like to invite candidates who want to contribute to this through their background and experience. In the event of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who thus enhances diversity within the Academy.

We will not respond to any supplier enquiries based on this job advertisement.

Meertens Instituut jobs

2 PhD Positions to Investigate Sustainability Experimentations in European Horticultural Greenhouses (2317)