PhD in Integrated Soil and Water Management — Wageningen University

Key details

• Host institution: Wageningen University & Research
• Location: Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg, Wageningen, Netherlands
• Application deadline: July 17, 2026

Funding

Not funded by a EU programme

Funding level (from listing): partial or not via EU framework — confirm on the official call.

How to apply

• Apply by email to [email protected] (subject line and attachments per the official instructions).
• Full vacancy text and updates: Euraxess listing.

About the position

We are seeking three PhD Researchers to join the SOWAMA project in Uganda. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to transdisciplinary research on integrated soil and water management in multifunctional tropical landscapes.

Project Overview

The SOWAMA project (Taking integrated SOil and WAter MAnagement to scale by addressing social and institutional challenges through experiential learning games) is part of the NL-CGIAR Research Programme II – WFN call. It focuses on scaling Integrated Soil and Water Management (ISWM) to help Ugandan farmers maintain agricultural productivity under rainfed conditions and climate variability. The project will assess instrumental and relational values and institutions affecting ISWM decision-making, co-develop socio-technical innovation bundles (STIBs), design experiential learning games, and strengthen governance mechanisms.

Research Objectives

• Assess farmers’ and enabling-system actors’ perceptions and awareness of the spatial and temporal costs and benefits of ISWM practices.
• Examine contextual opportunities and constraints affecting implementation.
• Identify motivation and agency barriers to individual and collective adoption.
• Co-develop socio-technical innovation bundles (STIBs) to address implementation bottlenecks.
• Co-design experiential learning interventions that strengthen adoption drivers and governance mechanisms and support STIB implementation.
• Contribute to global public goods through capacity sharing, research synthesis, and outreach.

Work Packages

The project is organized around three connected Work Packages (WP):

• WP1: Understanding socio-economic and governance barriers and co-developing socio-technical innovation bundles.
• WP2: Co-designing and scaling experiential learning game interventions.
• WP3: Assessing the interplay of instrumental and relational perspectives of ISWM adoption.

Each PhD candidate will have a specific focus contributing directly to one of these WPs, while collaborating closely with all international partners.

Where You Will Work

The positions are based on collaboration between Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and Kyambogo University (Kampala, Uganda). During the 4-year PhD period, candidates will spend two periods of up to 9 months in Wageningen, Netherlands (in year 1 and year 4), and 30 months in Uganda. The positions are set to start in September 2026.

At WUR, the research is hosted within the Laboratory for Geo-information Science and Remote Sensing (GRS), supervised by Dr. Erika Speelman. This PhD position is part of PE&RC, a collaborative research and PhD training institute. At Kyambogo University, the research will be supervised by Dr. Peter Simon Musinguzi.

Requirements

• Fascination with transdisciplinary research and innovative inclusive approaches to explore complex social-ecological systems in challenging environments.
• Interest in governance and management of complex social-ecological systems in multifunctional tropical landscapes.
• Proficiency in Swahili.
• Working experience in the rural East-African context.
• Motivation to contribute to methodological innovation and empirical research on experiential learning for social and institutional challenges in integrated soil and water management.