Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Climate and Biodiversity is looking for a

Program Coordinator Climate and Biodiversity (0.5-0.6 fte)

Your role
At LDE 3 prestigious universities – Leiden University, Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam – join forces to stimulate the development and application of knowledge, insights, and skills. This year, a new LDE Climate and Biodiversity program is set up. This Climate and Biodiversity program aims to build bridges between LDE students, researchers, public and private partners, on the nexus of climate and biodiversity. After one year of exploration, the program is now ready to launch, with you as a program coordinator.

As program coordinator of the recently launched LDE Climate and Biodiversity program you build and expand a network of relevant (Dutch) organizations, leveraging the integration of the themes of climate and biodiversity. Goal is to link LDE universities to practical issues in the Dutch Delta (and vice versa). For this goal, you serve as a knowledge director that connects existing initiatives through organizing activities and by being a point of contact for the widespread network of climate and biodiversity related activities. You will work closely together with LDE Centre for Sustainability (CfS). Concrete activities for 2025 involve 1) the development of a research, education, and outreach agenda, together with members and partners of the program, and 2) facilitating transdisciplinary projects around existing and new Living Labs by describing and granting seed funds.

Your main tasks

• You will develop a long-term program strategy, with the help of LDE researchers and existing relevant input from the exploratory year. You will formulate concrete principles on connecting the themes of climate and biodiversity in (existing) educational, research and networking activities. In addition, you will develop concrete sub-tasks and themes;
• You will carry out this set research, education and outreach agenda, together with the CfS team, our academic partners (for instance RSMs Positive change initiative and Centre for Eco-transformation (EUR), Climate Action Programme (TU Delft), Leiden Biodiversity Network, (Leiden University) and Naturalis) and with public and private partners of your network;
• You identify and translate challenges from practice into transdisciplinary education programs such as the LDE Thesis Labs, research opportunities and programs;
• You coordinate the launch of a Climate and Biodiversity Seed Fund, to stimulate research and education around new and existing Living Labs;
• You support our academic partners in the elaboration of research proposals/grant applications, and verification of knowledge, by using your knowledge and network;
• You explore collaboration with educational and societal institutes, such as the University of Applied Sciences, and expand on the idea of Citizen Science within the program. For this you collaborate with CfS.
• You continuously strengthen the network of relevant public, private and societal knowledge partners in the field of climate and biodiversity.
• You participate to the development and growth of our program within the region South Holland and its international partners; and together with the CfS team, you use your management skills and creativity to help develop new activities and programs, as well as an impactful valorization strategy

Required qualifications

• You have a master’s degree in a relevant discipline, for instance natural sciences, (landscape) design, social sciences, environmental sciences, climate sciences, applied engineering, sustainable business, or management studies.
• You have ~2 years of work experience, or at least performed extracurricular activities such as being a working student or internships, relevant for this role.

Your required competences

• You have verifiable experience and a network in the (especially Dutch) climate and/or biodiversity sector.
• You are a natural liaison between science and practice. You can translate scientific results into significant insights and products and vice versa.
• You work independently, but are also a team player. You are proactive, creative, and have good communication skills.
• You have experience with coordinating programs and projects.
• It’s an advantage if you have experience in supervising students and/or the coordination of research projects.
• You have excellent English and Dutch (C2) speaking and writing skills.

We offer

• We offer a temporary contract of 12 months which can be extended by 36 months pending on approval of financing by the LDE-board.
• You will be appointed at the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Leiden University.
• You will be working in a small team of six LDE-coordinators from CfS (they are appointed at Leiden University and Delft University of Technology). For this you will attend their bi-weekly Centre meeting and be present every Monday at their workplace at Leiden University and participate in general LDE meetings.
• Working from home is possible. You will work one day in Leiden (Mondays) at the office of CfS. The other days, you will work from home or at a department/institute in Leiden, Delft or Rotterdam (depending on your background and preference).
• The conditions of employment correspond with the collective labour agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU).
• Salary is subject to training and experience and will be in scale 10 or 11 (CAO NU). The salary will range from €3.378 to €6.209 gross per month (pay scale 10-11), based on a full-time contract of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with 232 hours holiday leave, a holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses (8.3%), training and career development and sabbatical leave. Our individual choices model gives you some freedom to assemble your own set of terms and conditions.

Applications
Please submit your application via the online recruitment system, via the blue button at the top or bottom of this page. Applications received via e-mail will not be taken into consideration. Please ensure that you upload the following additional documents quoting the vacancy number:

• Curriculum Vitae.
• Motivation letter (max 2 pages).

Only applications received before the 31st of January 2025 at 23:59 will be considered.

Information
Enquiries can be made to chair of the hiring committee, Prof.dr. Arnold Tukker (tukker@cml.leidenuniv.nl).

About LDE and LDE Climate and Biodiversity
LDE is a strategic alliance between Leiden University, Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam. The LDE Climate and Biodiversity program is a new one, being developed in 2024 by two researchers working in the field of Climate and Biodiversity. The network is growing with researchers, societal partners, and institutes, with whom we developed a Whitepaper, organize events, and a Thesis Lab ‘the (really) Green Heart 2100’. We focus on agenda setting, sharing of knowledge and network formation and innovative transdisciplinary concepts for education and research for the two grand intertwined societal challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. We collaborate closely with The Centre for Sustainability, which is one of the LDE-centres and focuses on sustainability and the circular economy. All our activities are in collaboration with LDE students, researchers, and societal partners.

This position is formally at the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Leiden University, but your working place can be at all of the three universities.

Leiden University, Institute of Environmental Sciences
The Faculty of Science is a world-class faculty where staff and students work together in a dynamic international environment. It is a faculty where personal and academic development are top priorities. Our people are committed to expanding fundamental knowledge by curiosity and to look beyond the borders of their own discipline; their aim is to benefit science, and to contribute to addressing the major societal challenges of the future. The research carried out at the Faculty of Science is very diverse, ranging from mathematics, information science, astronomy, physics, chemistry and bio-pharmaceutical sciences to biology and environmental sciences. The research activities are organised in eight institutes. These institutes offer eight bachelor’s and twelve master’s programmes. The faculty has grown strongly in recent years and now has more than 2,500 staff and almost 6,000 students. We are located at the heart of Leiden’s Bio Science Park, one of Europe’s biggest science parks, where university and business life come together.

How can we maximize human wellbeing while keeping resource use and emissions of the economic system within planetary limits? The Institute of Environmental Sciences aspires to be a global leader in this field. Our staff wants to create an impact. We work on future solutions and educate change-makers. CML aspires to be a global leader in strategic, natural science-based research and education on how to maximize human wellbeing while keeping resource use and emissions of the economic system within planetary limits, safeguarding biodiversity, and natural capital. https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/science/environmental-sciences/

Erasmus University, RSM (Positive Change Initiative)
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers. www.rsm.nl

RSM’s positive change initiative holds a mission to be a force for positive change in the world. For this, we are committed to the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals as the framework for defining ‘positive change’. Offering a distinct intellectual culture, we aim to improve the practice of business and management through our research, our education, and our engagement with alumni and corporate and societal partners. https://www.rsm.nl/positive-change/

Delft University of Technology (dep. Geoscience and Remote Sensing, faculty CEG)
Delft University of Technology has a strong foundation. As builder of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneer in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering, and design. TU Delft stands for world-class education, research, and innovation to address challenges in energy, climate, mobility, health, and digital society. Generations of Delft engineers have proven to be enterprising problem solvers in business and social contexts. At TU Delft, we embrace diversity as one of our core values and are actively committed to being a university where you feel at home and can thrive. We value diverse perspectives and qualities because we believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world a more just place. Together, we conceive and develop solutions that have a positive impact on a global scale. Challenge. Change. Impact!

The department of Geoscience and Remote Sensing (Faculty CEG) aims to understand the interaction between human activities, the Earth system, and our living environment. We do this through the combination of observational data science and physical modelling. https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ceg/about-faculty/departments/geoscience-remote-sensing