PhD Position in the VSS4FOOD&FIBER Project – Governance

Are you finishing or have you completed a Master’s in Political Science, Public Policy, Sociology, International Relations or Governance? Are you excited about scientific research – or even just curious? Are you concerned about sustainability and justice in our global food and fiber system, and eager to help push them in a better direction? Are you interested in market-based sustainability governance or in food standards as global governance mechanism? Has doing a PhD ever crossed your mind? 

If so, consider our offer for one of the three vacant PhD positions in the project ‘Design, Implementation, and Impact of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Global Food and Fiber Systems (VSS4Food&Fiber)’ financed by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO – Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek).

VSS4Food&Fiber is a collaborative and interdisciplinary research project coordinated by Prof. dr. Ir. M. Maertens at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Dr. A. Marx at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies at KU Leuven. The overall objective of the project is to enhance our understanding of the design, implementation and impact of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) and their effectiveness as market- and trade-based sustainability tools in global agrifood and fiber systems. The project focuses on eight tropical commodities (coffee, cocoa, tea, palm oil, soybean, banana, sugarcane, and cotton), and on the most important VSS in these sectors (Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, GlobalGAP, and RSPO – among others). These eight sectors are important in South-North trade and for the export earnings of low- and middle-income countries but face pressing sustainability challenges, for example related to deforestation, biodiversity loss, poverty, and child labor. In the VSS4Food&Fiber project, we will compile unique data from a large set of countries and use quantitative and interdisciplinary methods to investigate the socio-economic and environmental sustainability effects of VSS at country- and regional-level, and how these effects are shaped by the design and governance of VSS and by their implementation through certification schemes. We will engage with diverse stakeholders, including VSS organizations, food and textile companies, civil society organizations and international institutes, about our research and findings. Are you eager to contribute to this? 

The project will build on a previous project, VSS4Food&Wood, that focused on VSS in wood and selected agrifood sectors. If you are curious to learn about this project, you can consult our below-mentioned project website.

In the framework of this new project, we seek to recruit three full-time doctoral researchers. For one of these three positions we seek to hire someone with a background in Political Science, Public Policy, Sociology, International Relations or Governance. In this position, you are expected to contribute to the development of innovative indicators, databases, and analyses on the design, governance, and implementation of VSS as well as conduct field research on the implementation of standards. You will contribute to compiling country- and regional-level databases on VSS and sustainability outcomes in cooperation with other doctoral and post-doctoral researchers in the project. You will exploit these databases in statistical analyses on the effectiveness of VSS and certification schemes in delivering economic, environmental and social sustainability benefits. You will interpret and discuss your research findings with the project team, and will engage in multidisciplinary research to integrate and synthesize findings on the sustainability outcomes and governance aspects of VSS. You will edit research articles and present your research at national and international conferences. The position requires interdisciplinary teamwork with other doctoral and post-doctoral researchers as well as independent and creative thinking that contributes to the advancement of the project and the research field. The position involves consultation with relevant stakeholders and participation in policy dialogue with public sector, private sector, and civil society actors through workshops and webinars. You are expected to deliver inspiring contributions to the development of research dissemination and valorisation material.   

You will work at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and the Division of Bio-economics, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven under the supervision of Dr. Axel Marx and Prof. dr. Ir. Miet Maertens. You will conduct a PhD at the Arenberg Doctoral School (ADS). You can find more information on the ADS PhD program on the below-mentioned website of Arenberg Doctoral School.