Position of Junior Researcher Data Collection Support for Regenerative Agriculture

Your job

Are you interested to work with 100 pioneering farmers in the Netherlands, and you have affinity with data collection tools? Within the ReGeNL project, we are looking for a junior researcher to technically support the monitoring campaigns of the pioneering farmers within ReGeNL.

There is steadily growing pressure on agriculture and the entire food system to increase global production while promoting sustainability in terms of farmers’ incomes, soil health, input use, and environmental and climate impact. Regenerative agriculture is a promising avenue to support a healthy, multi-functional and future-proof soil and farming system. Together with regenerative Dutch farmers, ReGeNL is developing a future-proof agricultural sector in which agriculture goes hand in hand with soil health and nature restoration, and a good revenue model for farmers. Between now and 2030, ReGeNL will start the transition to regenerative agriculture with 1000 farmers. The aim is to make regenerative agriculture the new normal by 2040.

In this role you support the monitoring of a 100 pioneer regenerative farmers within the ReGeNL program. Wageningen University, together with partners, has the responsibility to monitor and study the changes in practices of these farmers and what the outcomes of these changes are. Annual fieldwork will take place to monitor various aspects of the soil and to make an inventory of management practices these pioneer farmers apply. Various steps are needed to perform a successful monitoring campaign, such as onboarding and field selection, preparation of the sample locations according to a statistical sampling design, and setting up and implementing different types of questionnaires, all in which you’ll play an important role. In this role you provide the technical support for such aspects.

Key responsibilities will be to:

Gather spatial information on the pioneer farms.

Implement a statistical sampling design into QGIS and QField to support the researchers during their fieldwork.

Gather collected field-level questionnaire data from QField and harmonize these.

Set up yearly questionnaires in Qualtrics to gather information about the farm and their management practices.

Compile harmonized datasets based on collected data.

Support day-to-day handling of data and data collection requests.

You will work at the Soil Geography and Landscape group

The mission of the group is to improve and share understanding of patterns and dynamics of soils, landscapes and earth surface dynamics and their drivers, like climate change and human-landscape interactions. The group uses integrative approaches that combine biophysical and anthropogenic elements to gain insight in past, present and future system dynamics. Through this, we aim to support system-based solutions in land management and spatial planning, sustainable management of soils, landscapes and ecosystems (e.g. sandy, riverine, deltaic and urban), and protection of cultural and geoheritage.

Together with three other chair groups, the Soil Geography and Landscape Group forms the Wageningen Soil Cluster, which has an excellent international reputation in soil science.

Your qualities

You have a background in environmental or agricultural sciences (MSc level), strong affinity with GIS, and find it easy to connect to Dutch farmer realities. You like it to be an in-between person between IT and research, developing user friendly tools for data collection in the field.

You ideally have experience with:

Working with large spatial datasets, such as environmental data cubes.

Applying and evaluating a statistical sampling design in R.

Mapping and attribute forms in QGIS and QField.

Setting up and evaluating structured questionnaires.

Data harmonization.

Being a team player.

Fluent use of Dutch, both in speaking and in writing, is required for this role.

We offer

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;

working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;

there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;

a fixed year-end bonus of 8.3%;

excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between €3.708,- and €5.057,- for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 9). This position is for 0,8 FTE (30,4 hours per week). As for your contract, we initially offer a one-year contract that can be extended – if possible within (company) organizational circumstances – on good performance.

We encourage development and internal mobility within our organisation. Our recruitment and selection policy sets out the conditions that apply specifically to you as a (former) employee. If you have any questions, we are happy to help.

Coming from abroad

WUR welcomes applications from international candidates. However, for applicants for this specific position from outside the EU/EFTA zone, immigration restrictions may apply based on Dutch and EU immigration laws. Such candidates may be eligible for an “orientationyear” in the Netherlands or a visa as a “knowledgemigrant”.

Important information

For more information about the position, please contact Titia Mulder, via titia.mulder@wur.nl and/or Cynthia van Leeuwen, via cynthia.vanleeuwen@wur.nl

Questions about the procedure? Get in touch with Jessa Rozema, Corporate Recruiter, via jessa.rozema-stol@wur.nl

Ready to apply?

Click on the application button next to the vacancy on our website. Only applications submitted through our website will be considered.

You can apply up to and including 15 May 2026. Internal candidates are preferred to apply before 11 April 2026.

Procedure

As part of our selection process, an assessment may be incorporated within the procedure