PhD in Socio-Economic Modelling of Nature Restoration at European Scale Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in Netherlands

PhD opportunity in socio-economic modelling of nature restoration at European scale at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam).

This opening is for a PhD candidate to work on revealing the true socio-economic and ecological benefits of nature restoration across space and time. The project focuses on building better evidence, models, and tools that can help policymakers and land users make nature restoration visible, actionable, and fair, supporting the transition toward nature-inclusive landscapes across Europe.

The position is linked to the newly funded Horizon Europe project NatuRISE, coordinated by IVM and involving 17 partners across Europe. NatuRISE aims to develop integrated models and decision-support tools to quantify the societal and environmental benefits and costs of nature restoration across sectors, actors, scales, and time.

The post is especially relevant for a quantitative environmental researcher or spatial modeller with interests in environmental science, earth science, geography, statistics, mathematics, and computer science. The research theme includes socio-economic modelling, ecological benefits, spatial analysis, and EU-wide modelling of restoration impacts, including potentially underexplored health benefits.

Funding: The position is part of a funded Horizon Europe project. No stipend amount or tuition details are stated in the post excerpt.

Deadline: Applications are due on 2026-06-30. The expected start date is September 1.

How to apply: Use the application link provided in the post and submit your materials before the deadline. Review the full vacancy page for any additional documents or eligibility details. If you are interested in quantitative environmental modelling and nature restoration, this is a strong fit.