PhD Position in Economics

Is interdisciplinary research one of your key interests? We are looking for a PhD to join the DCC-funded project ‘Delta Values’, led by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Utrecht University and University College Roosevelt, to understand how residents have been living, live, and foresee their future in Zeeland, considering the presence of hazards, and how they are adapting to current and future environmental changes.

Your job

About the project

In the project ‘Delta Values’, academics together with educational and social partners in Zeeland province explore how communities of Zeeland can be supported to better coexist with their local environment, by engaging with local histories and accessing the power of narratives to co-create hopeful narratives around life in a constantly shifting deltaic ecosystem.

Zeeland is a territory with a long history of living with floods and related issues. Climate change is today increasing the risk of both floods and drought, while sea level rise and the overexploitation of the fresh water table exacerbate salinisation. The goal of the project is to understand how residents have been living, live, and foresee their future in Zeeland, considering the presence of hazards, and how they adapt to current and future environmental changes.

The PhD project is a pilot for an interdisciplinary learning trajectory of four years, collaborating between different social sciences and the humanities, as well as with a range of educational and societal partnerships.

The interdisciplinary focus is prominent in the PhD project. From a psychological perspective, it can be explored how people’s perceptions, social norms, and local practices are associated with people’s acceptance of local adaptation measures, including traditional and nature-based solutions.

There is a historical dimension to this project, which explores how adapting to change in a fluid, deltaic environment has been a feature of life in Zeeland for many centuries, and seeks to recover hopeful narratives of adaptation that can inform and inspire future visions for coexisting with nature, including natural hazards. The rich archival holdings and cultural heritage collections of Zeeland can be leveraged to inspire new generations by highlighting the resilience of their ancestors.

The cultural anthropological perspective explores people’s values and their relationship to their environment to understand how people feel connected to their place and their community, and how people frame the future of the landscape, their place and their community.

Key partnerships

The DCC hosts a group of scholars and PhD students working on three distinct iconic projects: Delta Protein, Flexible Deltas, and ProceZ (deltaclimatecenter.nl), with which the PhD is encouraged to network and seek collaboration opportunities.

The Delta Values project shows promising thematic connections with each of these iconic projects, while the nature and extent of specific collaboration may depend on the profile and interests of the selected candidate.

• Delta Protein explores sustainable sea-derived proteins in Zeeland. The Delta Values team could highlight the role of food production in attachment to deltaic landscapes and the historical role of food availability as a motivator for living with risk.
• Flexible Deltas focuses on nature-based solutions for climate resilience. The Delta Values team contributes cultural and psychological perspectives and explores factors promoting or deterring acceptance of nature-based solutions.
• ProceZ focuses on propelling a circular and biobased economy in Zeeland. The Delta Values team could contribute historical and culturally grounded perspectives on renewable materials such as reed and willow.

Collaborations with the Delta Values team could be developed into a final public-facing event involving residents, possibly including creative workshops and exhibitions.

At Utrecht University, two communities are related to the DCC: the Water, Climate and Future Deltas (WCFD) thematic community within the Pathways to Sustainability programme, and the Utrecht University DCC community, which participates in various DCC projects.

Your role in the project

You will focus on studying the relationship between humans and the landscapes of Zeeland, and how this relationship has developed, changed, and is changing. This includes understanding the significance of the landscape for social interaction and how local ecosystems shape and are shaped by community-level social relations.

You will explore how people construct and use narratives of risk and land and water behaviour, how they deal with landscape change and risks, and how they envision the future. Research methods include interviews, document analysis, questionnaires, and futuring (future thinking and imagination).

The project ‘Delta Values’ is a developing network of partnerships. Within the Delta Values team, the PhD student will have clearly defined tasks, co-developed with the supervisory team.

What will you do?

• collect and analyse data on past, present, and future relationships with the landscape and attitudes to environmental adaptation, independently and in collaboration with other DCC partners;
• collaborate and contribute to furthering existing partnerships or attracting new ones.

Additionally, you are expected to:

• either relocate to Vlissingen, or commit to spending a substantial portion of working hours there, based at the newly established Delta Climate Center (DCC).

Your qualities

• You can clearly motivate your interest in human–landscape interactions, place attachment, and socio-cultural dimensions of living with environmental risk and adaptation.
• You are flexible, open-minded, and have excellent communication skills, with interest in engaging diverse audiences beyond academia.
• You have a collaborative spirit and can work effectively in interdisciplinary teams of PhD students, senior scientists, and societal partners.
• You can work independently, are self-motivated, and capable of meeting deadlines.
• You are fluent in Dutch and English, both spoken and written.
• You have experience with academic writing; published work or outstanding unpublished work as first author is a merit.
• You can clearly motivate an interest in interdisciplinarity.
• You demonstrate affinity with stakeholder engagement (experience is a merit).
• You demonstrate affinity with societally relevant and/or applied research (experience is a merit).

(Inter)disciplinary and methodological requirements

• A Master’s degree in anthropology, (environmental, cultural) history, social (environmental) psychology, or a related field.
• Experience in interdisciplinary academic contexts at BA or (R)MA level.
• Experience with qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Desirable methods include interviews, futuring, ethnography, questionnaires, historical archival research, and cognitive mapping.

You are able to look beyond the boundaries of your own field of expertise.

Our offer

• a job for 18 months, with extension for 2.5 more years after a positive evaluation;
• a working week of 36–40 hours and a gross monthly salary between € 3,059 and € 3,881 (salary scale P, CAO NU);
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment terms based on the CAO NU.

Utrecht University also offers additional schemes for professional development, leave, sports, and cultural activities, as well as a Terms of Employment Options Model. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

About us

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing leading research and inspiring teaching. Utrecht University collaborates intensively across disciplines around major strategic themes, including Pathways to Sustainability.

The Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance is at the heart of society, with a strong focus on social issues. Its unique combination of Law, Economics, and Governance strengthens interdisciplinary collaboration.

More information

For more information about this position, please contact Madelinde Winnubst (assistant professor) at m.h.winnubst@uu.nl.

Candidates for this vacancy will be recruited by Utrecht University.

Apply now

As Utrecht University, we want to be a home for everyone. We value staff with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and identities and strive to create a safe and inclusive environment.

Knowledge security screening can be part of the selection procedures.

To apply, please submit via the ‘Apply now’ button:

• your curriculum vitae;
• a writing sample (published or unpublished);
• a letter of motivation explicitly referencing your fit for the project and relevant skills and experience.

Interviews: expected between 31 March and 2 April
Start date: negotiable, possibly as early as May 2026

Application deadline: 15 March 2026