Job description
We welcome candidates for a full time Joint PhD student position at the Laboratory for Animal Nutrition and Animal Product Quality (LANUPRO, Prof. S. De Smet), UGent and the Research Group of Industrial Microbiology and Food Biotechnology (, Prof. F. Leroy), VUB. The PhD student will be linked to the EU project PATHWAYS (Pathways for transitions to sustainability in livestock husbandry and food systems).
PATHWAYS is an EU H2020 project with 30 European partners, which starts on 1 September 2021. The PATHWAYS aims at delivering co-developed transition pathways that directly address societal demands for increased resilience in the provision of safe, nutritious, affordable livestock-based food, whilst reducing environmental impacts, and supporting the economic sustainability of the European livestock sector. Visions, scenarios and transition pathways will be co-developed through an ambitious participatory approach based on innovative practice hubs, living labs and interaction within a European multi-actor platform and a wider community of practice. Existing and future, co-designed livestock systems will be characterised and assessed within a scientifically robust, holistic sustainability assessment framework, comprising refined key performance indicators and cutting-edge models, to enhance understanding of productivity, biodiversity, health and welfare, greenhouse gas emissions, human nutrition, trade and economics, and ecosystem service impacts. Living labs and practice hubs will identify bottom-up interventions and adoption routes that will drive a transition to improved livestock system development. Consumer preferences, diet choices and willingness to pay will be supported by consequential LCA and economic analysis of trade and supply chain impacts, addressed through stakeholder input and modelling. The participatory development and application of a holistic sustainability assessment will deliver a scientifically robust analysis for the co-development of scenarios and transition pathways to inform key stakeholders throughout livestock-based food systems, driving a transition to greater sustainability. PATHWAYS will improve the role of livestock in supporting a circular bio-economy and the place of animal products in future diets through an interactive online platform and policy toolkit to provide user-friendly instruments for a range of stakeholders.
The role of the PhD student in this project is
Given the interdisciplinary and data-based character of the research, collaboration and exchange with other partners in the project and interest in data acquisition and modelling at the interface of nutrition and food systems will be key. The scientific findings should lead to publications in international peer reviewed journals and into a PhD manuscript.
Profile of the candidate
Candidates should have background and/or strong interest in food systems, nutrition, food science, sustainability, data acquisition and statistical modelling. We are looking for candidates with a critical and analytical attitude and eager to take initiative.
We offer a fully funded doctoral scholarship for a period of 4 years (with an evaluation after one year and continuation after positive evaluation). The preferred start date of the scholarship is 1 September 2021. This is a Joint PhD between UGent and VUB.
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