Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Global Food and Fiber Systems

KU Leuven is recruiting three full-time doctoral researchers for a new four-year interdisciplinary project titled 'Design, Implementation, and Impact of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Global Food and Fiber Systems (VSS4Food&Fiber)', funded by the Research Foundation of Flanders. The project is led by Axel Marx and Miet Maertens, with support from Eva Boonaert and Kaat Van Hoyweghen, and involves the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies. Research will focus on voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) as market- and trade-based sustainability tools in global agrifood and fiber systems, specifically targeting eight tropical commodities: coffee, cocoa, tea, palm oil, soybean, banana, sugarcane, and cotton. The team will engage with VSS organizations, food and textile companies, civil society organizations, and international institutes. Applicants should have backgrounds in Bioscience Engineering, Agricultural Economics, Environmental Economics, Ecological Economics, Political Science, or Governance, and be motivated to work on sustainability and justice in global food and fiber systems. The positions are full-time for four years, with funding provided by the Research Foundation of Flanders. The application deadline is September 10, 2025. For more information and to apply, candidates should visit the KU Leuven jobsite links provided for each position.