PhD candidate citizen science in environmental-governance exploring trust dynamics

Description of the project and the role of the PhD candidates:

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education seeks a PhD research candidate to conduct research on the institutionalization of citizen science, as part of the CitiObs and more4nature projects.

The PhD candidate will be hosted by the Hydroinformatics and Socio-Technical Innovation Department of IHE Delft.

The PhD candidate will be supervised by Prof. Uta Wehn (Professor of Citizen Science and Sustainability) and Dr. Neha Mungekar (Researcher of Participatory Environmental Governance) at IHE Delft and by Dr. Ingeborg Meijer and Dr. Tjitske Holtrop at CWTS Leiden University. The PhD candidate will be registered at Leiden University where Professor Wehn is appointed for supervision.

Both CitiObs and more4nature are Horizon Europe funded projects and explore how to advance the institutionalization of citizen science at different governance levels. In the context of these projects, citizen science includes a variety of practices that span from data and knowledge co-production with members of the public in scientific fields, to community-based environmental monitoring schemes or citizen observatories as a means for authorities to collaborate with scientists, citizens and communities on place-based environmental issues. As such, citizen science is understood as providing opportunities for open, inclusive and participatory processes of knowledge co-creation and application.

The PhD candidate will contribute to the science of Citizen Science by investigating key topics related to the institutionalization of Citizen Science in environmental governance and management via transformative change processes (through social learning and socio-technical experimentation). They offer a unique opportunity to develop a creative and innovative approach for evaluating real-life changes in environmental compliance assurance practices, focusing on trust dynamics.

Trust: investigate how trust among civil society and institutional actors is cultivated, challenged, and reshaped in transformative change processes towards collaborative environmental compliance assurance. Drawing on comparative case studies from CitiObs and more4nature, this PhD study will explore how trust influences participation, data legitimacy and uptake, and institutional responsiveness. It will trace relational dynamics and moments of friction, offering insight into trust-building as both a governance outcome and a co-produced capacity.

The successful candidate will work within inter- and transdisciplinary teams, collaborating with project partners and stakeholders inside and outside the projects.

Responsibilities

· The PhD candidate’s research will contribute to the science of citizen science, with a focus on the institutionalisation of citizen science in environmental governance processes.

· The PhD candidate will contribute to the preparation and developing of a number of deliverables of the CitiObs and more4nature projects related to their PhD research.

· The PhD candidate will support the preparation and implementation of project meetings.

· The PhD candidate will publish the obtained results in peer reviewed journals which will contribute to their PhD thesis.

· The PhD candidate will present the project results at national and international conferences and symposia.

· The PhD candidate may mentor MSc theses which are linked to their PhD research.

· The PhD candidate will write and defend a PhD thesis

Requirements

· A Master’s or corresponding degree in a relevant social science discipline, innovation studies, science & technology studies, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, geography or political science with excellent grades and with demonstrable training in diverse qualitative research skills

· Practical experience and/or Action Research with at least one of the following: citizen science and/or policy & political processes and/or environmental compliance assurance

· Excellent writing skills and written and spoken command of English, as demonstrated by previous course work or publications in English

· Strong analytical skills and ability to identify key issues; meticulous information processing

· Willingness to mentor master theses

· Willingness to travel

Collaborative attitude, values a multi-cultural work environment, strong team spirit, ability to work independently, while respecting responsibilities

Terms of employment

This is a position for 48 months (4 years), (38 hours per week), with the expectation that the candidates will submit and successfully defend their PhD thesis within this period. The candidate will be stationed in Delft, the Netherlands. Employment at IHE Delft is according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (scale P). The appointment implies entry into the Netherlands’ Civil Service Pension Fund (ABP).

The initial contract is for 18 months. Within the first year a go/no-go decision will be made based on a detailed PhD research proposal to be developed by the candidate, which will determine whether or not the contract will be extended.

The expected start date of the position is 1 September 2025.

Information and application

Additional information can be obtained from Prof. Uta Wehn, u.wehn@un-ihe.org.

Applications (in English) should respond specifically to the requirements and state which of the two PhD topics they would like to focus on. They can be sent by 11 June 2025 including curriculum vitae, motivation letter and the names and contact details of two referees. You can upload the files in the application form.

Interviews with shortlisted candidates will take place on 1 July 2025 and 10 July 2025.

IHE Delft follows an open procedure of recruitment, which respects diversity and provides equal opportunity to applicants of all backgrounds.

Please see for more information about the PhD programme and requirements: PhD Programme | IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (un-ihe.org).

Acquisition by staffing agencies and other 3rd parties is not appreciated.

By submitting your application for this vacancy, you agree with the privacy statement below:

The personal data you share through your application file and other means will only be used by IHE Delft for the purpose of the recruitment and selection process in order to evaluate your suitability for the vacancy for which you have applied, as well as for communication purposes related to the vacancy. IHE Delft will process your personal details in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation of 25 May 2018. For more information we refer you to the privacy statement of IHE Delft: https://www.un-ihe.org/privacy-statement

Without your prior consent or other legal basis, no information will be shared with third parties.

CitiObs consolidates and applies tools and practice-based knowledge for co-creating data, knowledge and local action via Citizen Observatories (COs): these tools help enhance existing and new citizen observatories to engage citizens and communities, add value to environmental observations in the urban context, increase and validate citizen observations of the urban environment as part of the existing in-situ Earth Observation systems, co-create inclusive local actions for sustainability and ensure that CO data contributes to research and policy development towards the objectives of the European Green Deal. To ensure broad use, the CitiObs tools and approaches are developed in co-creation with COs in 5 Frontrunner cities, fine-tuned with 30 Alliance case and showcased to 50 Fellow cases.

more4nature deepens the role of citizens and communities in environmental compliance assurance (ECA) regarding zero pollution, biodiversity protection and deforestation prevention. The project is i) strengthening the capacity of existing citizen science initiatives to provide relevant and valid data and understanding the importance of ECA, ii) fostering and supporting collaboration and partnerships among citizen science initiatives and authorities to cover data gaps and shape policy monitoring frameworks, iii) developing and testing tools to validate data obtained from CSIs, thus contributing to the integration of such data sources in environmental governance and in European Open Science Cloud, iv) making CGD available as a node in the Green Deal Data Space and v) channelling the urgency for concrete and immediate action of many citizens and communities by creating synergies between citizen science initiatives and LivingLabs for EU Missions. Uptake and impact beyond the project duration are ensured by engaging more than 160 existing citizen science initiatives and close to 100 authorities and national agencies in 40 cases in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa as well as selected LivingLabs and Fab Labs in Europe.