Assistant Professor Geospatial analysis of sensor and citizen science data for nature-inclusive societies

New technologies allow for widespread measurements to monitor the role of nature in society. Examples are on-the-ground sensors to measure the cooling effect of vegetation, apps to collect environmental or crop growth data, wearables to track physical activities, and social media analyses of geo-tagged posts to understand societal preferences and behaviour. These sensor technologies and the citizen science in which they are often used, deliver a wealth of information to help describe human-nature relations. The selection of measurement sites, observation times, data analysis and integration for system understanding, however, is still a bottleneck. The development of geostatistical methods is needed to deal with the different quality levels of multiple data sources and to analyse and explore point observations in space and time. This position aims to improve the way we analyse sensor data and integrate data in other spatially and temporally explicit information sources, to establish the processes that affect nature and society.

You will develop a clear research direction, and educational profile, and bring nature-inclusive societal changes through science-for-impact work. You will address urgent social-ecological challenges based on your knowledge of modern geostatistical methods and good knowledge of spatial-temporal data, data quality, and data collection, applicable to diverse sensor and citizen science data.

You will also enhance the understanding of spatial-temporal dynamics of ecosystem services, nature’s contributions to people, and their driving factors, will lead and contribute to research proposals for different funding agencies, and will contribute to our MSc programmes, co-supervise PhD candidates, and work with our e-learning specialists to develop online educational materials.

You will be actively involved in ongoing geo-citizen science initiatives and actively contribute to the network and ambitions of the Netherlands sector of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Requirements:

• A PhD degree in spatial ecology, geography, geostatistics, data science or a related (interdisciplinarity) field
• A drive for impact research and experience with translating your research into societal use
• A good network or overview of key actors on this topic, and a willingness to actively get in touch with potential collaborators.
• A passion for education and the ability to develop high-quality education materials and a dedicated supervisor for graduate students and early-career researchers
• Embrace Open Science and FAIR data principles
• A teamwork and inclusiveness mentality: you enjoy collaborating to develop high-quality research outputs in a multicultural academic environment and you like working in interdisciplinary contexts
• An excellent command of English. Knowledge of, and/or willingness to learn Dutch is an advantage

Salary Benefits:

• An inspiring multidisciplinary, international and academic environment. The university offers a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues in which internationalization is an important part of the strategic agenda
• Position for initially one year (full-time), after which your position can become permanent, subject to a successful evaluation
• An introduction programme, with personalized support and ample opportunities to learn and grow into your new role as part of your professional development.
• Gross monthly salary between € 4,332.- and € 4,786.- (depending on experience and qualifications, job profile Assistant Professor, level 2). This is the maximum start salary with growth opportunities
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3%
• Excellent support for professional and personal development
• A solid pension scheme
• A total of 41 holiday days in case of full-time employment
• Costs for moving to Enschede may be reimbursed

40 hours per week

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