Publisher
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Wageningen University & Research

PhD in Olfactory Training for Cognitive Health Wageningen University & Research in Netherlands

Degree Level

PhD

Field of study

Psychology

Funding

Fully funded PhD position. Salary starts at €3,059 per month in the first year and rises to €3,881 per month in the fourth year, based on a 38-hour work week. The contract is temporary for 18 months and may be extended for the project duration if performance is good.

Deadline

Aug 31, 2026

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Country

Netherlands

University

Wageningen University & Research

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Keywords

Psychology
Biology
Virtual Reality
Neuropsychology
Sensory Science
Medical Science
Salud Pública
Older Adults
Brain Plasticity

About this position

PhD opportunity at Wageningen University & Research in olfactory training for cognitive health.

This project sits within the Sensory Science and Eating Behavior and Nutritional Biology chair groups at the Division of Human Nutrition and Health. The PhD will investigate whether daily smell training can improve olfactory function, cognitive functioning, and related brain plasticity outcomes, and whether adding multisensory immersive virtual reality can strengthen these effects.

You will work with older adults and patient groups, including people with mild cognitive impairment, and help set up and run a randomized controlled intervention study. The work includes sensory testing, cognitive assessments, questionnaires, behavioral measurements, participant recruitment, intervention adherence monitoring, data quality management, and longitudinal analysis. In a subset of participants, MRI-related brain imaging will be carried out with a collaborating postdoc.

The position is supervised by dr. Yannick Vermeiren and Associate Professor Sanne Boesveldt. The project is part of an NWO-Vici project and is embedded in an interdisciplinary, internationally recognized research environment at WUR.

Eligibility highlights: a Master’s degree in Biomedical sciences, (cognitive) Neuroscience, Health Sciences, Nutrition and Health, or a related field; strong interest in sensory neuroscience and cognitive brain health; experience or comfort with complex human intervention studies; strong organization, project management, and data analysis skills; excellent communication and teamwork; and Dutch at CEFR C1 plus English at C1.

Funding: fully funded PhD position with a salary of €3,059/month in year 1 rising to €3,881/month in year 4, based on a 38-hour week. The contract is initially for 18 months and may be extended for the project duration.

Deadline: apply by 2026-08-31. The preferred start date is 1 November 2026.

How to apply: use the apply button on the WUR vacancy page and submit a CV (max 2 pages) plus a Dutch motivation letter (max 1 page). Total documents must not exceed 3 pages. You must also complete the mandatory additional information form linked in the post.

Funding details

Fully funded PhD position. Salary starts at €3,059 per month in the first year and rises to €3,881 per month in the fourth year, based on a 38-hour work week. The contract is temporary for 18 months and may be extended for the project duration if performance is good.

What's required

Applicants must hold a Master's degree in Biomedical sciences, (cognitive) Neuroscience, Health Sciences, Nutrition and Health, or a related discipline. Excellent Dutch language proficiency at minimum CEFR C1 is required because of interaction with Dutch-speaking participants, and English at C1 level is also expected; an internationally recognized English proficiency certificate may be requested. Candidates should have a strong interest in sensory (neuro)science and cognitive brain health, enjoy working with older adults, be comfortable coordinating complex human intervention studies, and have strong organizational, project management, data analysis, communication, and multidisciplinary teamwork skills. Interest in virtual reality and technological applications is preferred.

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