The Sociology of Development and Change (SDC) chair group has a vacancy for an associate or full (personal) professor with demonstrated excellence in teaching and research in the area of crisis and disaster studies. This position contributes to the chair group by focusing on crises and disasters within the context of contemporary processes of development and social change. The chair group is characterized by its interdisciplinary character, its ethnographic and its critical approach to studying development and change in diverse settings. The candidate will contribute to and further a research agenda focusing on challenges related to natural and human-made hazards, crises, conflicts, and their effects against the background of broader political, economic, social, cultural and environmental change, including climate change and migration. As these developments will increasingly play out in highly populated areas, peri-urban and urban settings, they bring new conceptual and policy challenges that the SDC group is keen to study and address.

The position entails research, teaching and supervision of Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD students, acquisition and related management tasks. We expect the candidate to have an affinity with educational innovation and a vision on leading and improving the disaster and crisis studies course portfolio.

The candidate must have:

• a PhD degree in a relevant social science field (anthropology, sociology, geography, development studies, political science) with a focus on conflict or disaster studies,
• relevant fieldwork experience,
• a strong international network and an excellent publication record,
• an innovative and creative approach to opening up new avenues for research and the acquisition of funding.

In addition, we expect the candidate to have experience with interdisciplinary work and connective capacity in creating a team-building atmosphere. The candidate should have a passion for education, proven by a track record of academic teaching and supervision. Interpersonal skills and the ability to enthuse students and colleagues are also key assets. The candidate should be fluent in English. Foreign candidates are expected to learn Dutch.

We offer a tenure track position as associate or full (personal) professor, depending on experience. Within Wageningen University, a full (personal) professorship is the outcome of a challenging career trajectory called Tenure Track (for more information about the Tenure Track at Wageningen UR visit www.wageningenur.nl/tenuretrack).
We are looking for high potentials who excel in education and research. The position is a permanent one, but the appointed (associate) professor starts with a temporary contract and will have to go through an assessment after 5 years (3 years for associate professor), on the basis of the tenure criteria that apply to personal professors. A part time position of 0.8 fte is negotiable.
Gross salary: from €64.937,- to €95.375,- per year, based on full time employment and dependent on expertise and experience.

SDC focuses on the structures and practices of development and change with a particular scientific interest in inequality, marginalization and political agency. The group’s vision is to be a world-leading, politically engaged and interdisciplinary research and educational centre in development studies, political ecology, anthropology of law and crisis and disaster studies. Our mission is to gain and communicate a deeper understanding of inequality and marginalisation generated by global and local structures of power and political-economy and so contribute to social and environmental justice. At the same time we study how actors generate forms of agency and practices that enable them to deal with these dynamics and create new opportunities.

For more information visit the SDC Group webpage: www.wageningenur.nl/sdc.

Wageningen University and Research Centre
Wageningen University & Research centre aims to deliver a substantial contribution to the quality of life. That’s our focus – each and every day. Within our domain, healthy food and living environment, we search for answers to issues affecting society – such as sustainable food production, climate change and alternative energy. Of course, we don’t do this alone. Every day, 6,500 people work on ‘the quality of life’, turning ideas into reality, on a global scale.
Could you be one of these people? We give you the space you need.

For further information about working at Wageningen UR, take a look at www.wageningenur.nl/career.

To apply, please upload your letter of motivation and your CV, including a list of publications via our online ‘respond’ button (above), before 15 December 2015. You will receive an automatic e-mail confirmation within 24 hours. Interviews will be held between 4 and 15 January 2015.

Please note that only applications sent through the online ‘respond’ button can be taken into consideration; please do not send your application via email.

A more detailed profile can be obtained from Ms. Marielle Takes ( Marielle.Takes@wur.nl), and from www.wageningenur.nl/dis. Additional enquiries should be addressed to the chair of the SDC group, Prof. Dr. Bram Büscher. (bram.buscher@wur.nl).

Acquisition regarding this vacancy is not appreciated.