NWO-NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research is the national oceanographic research institute. The mission of NIOZ is to perform academically excellent multidisciplinary fundamental and frontier-applied marine research addressing important scientific and societal questions pertinent to the functioning of oceans and seas. Second, NIOZ serves as national marine research facilitator (NMF) for The Netherlands scientific community. In this role, NIOZ stimulates and supports national and international marine research, marine education programs and marine policy development.

THE DEPARTMENT

The Department of COS integrates state-of-the art laboratory, field and numerical modelling studies in frontier explorations of the drivers of the dynamics of marine habitats and food webs. COS examines how physical, chemical and biological processes interact to determine the distribution, composition and productivity of marine species—from primary producers to top predators—and marine habitats—from the coast to inter/sub-tidal and pelagic environments. Research is applied at both the regional and global scales.

THE VACANCY

The main goal of this Research Assistant is to facilitate work conducted within COS. Under the leadership and supervision of the COS department head, the responsibilities will include:

• Facilitate research to support projects of Principle Investigators, post-docs and Ph.D. researchers at COS including data processing.
• Conducting laboratory work at NIOZ Benthic Laboratory including sorting and independent taxonomic identification of macrozoobenthic samples.
• Independently organizing and conducting field work primarily in the Wadden Sea to support ongoing research programs including SIBES (several weeks per year), Watlas tracking systems (trips of several days) and the NIOZ Fyke (within-day trips).
• Collaborate with other assistants to develop and maintain field and laboratory equipment and overseeing the renewal of equipment and methods of analysis upon request.
• Set priorities, come up with solutions and take actions as needed to perform field and laboratory work.
• Supervising students routinely doing their internships within the department.

Job requirements

THE CANDIDATE

• You have an HBO/MSc degree in marine science or a related discipline.
• You have previous experience of working on benthic macrozoobenthos samples.
• You have previous experience in organizing and conducting field work in the Wadden Sea and have the relevant boat licenses (e.g., Klein Vaarbewijs 1 en 2) and safety permits.
• You have demonstrated skills and experience in using laboratory and field equipment related to COS research lines including technical problem solving.
• You are independent, precise, proactive, flexible, and work well within teams.
• You communicate well in Dutch and English.

NIOZ wants to be a transparent institute with a healthy working climate and an inclusive culture, where people from diverse backgrounds and gender bring their talents and further develop these talents. We aim for inclusive decision-making processes and expect our leadership to show visible commitment, awareness of bias, and cultural intelligence.

THE CONDITIONS

• Employment of this full-time position at Royal NIOZ is by NWO-I for a duration of 1 year. With mutual agreement, this will be converted to a permanent position.
• Salary compliant with CAO-WVOI  (Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Research Institutes) scale 8, the level within this scale is depending on your education and relevant experience. 
• The freedom to fulfill your role and space and opportunities for your personal (talent) development with the help of the NIOZ Academy.
• 338 annualized holiday hours for a full-time 40-hour work week.
• Pension scheme via ABP, 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.33%. 
• 2nd class public transportation travel is reimbursed 100%.
• Employment benefits plan to exchange a portion of your salary for days off or vice versa or can be used to purchase a bicycle with tax benefits.
• Please note that Non-EU citizen can only apply for this position when they have a valid work permit for working in the Netherlands as it is not regarded as a scientific position.

Application deadline: June 5, 2024