PhD Candidate: Identification of foods and food processing in dental calculus

PhD Candidate: Identification of foods and food processing in dental calculus (1.0 FTE, 48 months)

About the Position

The Department of Archaeological Sciences, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, is looking for a PhD candidate to perform research on the visibility of sessile foods (plants, honey) and food processing techniques (fermentation, cooking) in dental calculus. The project is part of the NWO-VICI awarded to Prof. dr. A.G. Henry, titled: Hominin FoodWays: Changing diet and food processing across climate frontiers, which explores the drivers behind the first hominin migration out of Africa. Homo erectus was the first of our ancestors to leave a narrow range of African habitats and expand into Eurasia, but the behavioural changes that allowed this migration remain debated. This project uses an interdisciplinary combination of new and established methods to understand how changes in diet and food processing contributed to this species’ expansion into new regions.

What you will do

• Collaborate with project partners to design and implement experiments in which food residues are embedded in lab-grown dental calculus, in order to assess how visible these may be in the archaeological record;
• Assist in the interpretation of mass spectrometry, protein and DNA data provided project partners;
• Contribute to other FoodWays project goals, including documenting potential foods available to early hominins, designing experiments on food processing, reconstructing ancient habitats, preparing data for ABM processing, and engaging with the public;
• Obtain a PhD by publishing several articles in peer-reviewed academic journals on the results of the above projects and their implications for human evolution within a four-year time frame;
• Engage with the Faculty community through discussion meetings, journal clubs, and graduate school events, including following the PhD trajectory (courses and training) required by the Graduate School of Archaeology.

Where you will work

The future of the past begins at Leiden University. The Faculty of Archaeology is internationally leading for its research, home to a broad array of specializations and notable for its strong connection between teaching and research. Home to over 500 students in the multidisciplinary world of Archaeology, the Faculty, and its researchers from all areas of the archaeological field, determine the future of archaeological research.

The successful candidate will join the Department of Archaeological Sciences. They will be supervised by Prof. dr. A.G. Henry and will work closely with other members of the FoodWays project (one post-doc / project manager and one other PhD) and master students.

The FoodWays project is divided into three interconnected Work Packages (WP):

• WP1: refining our understanding of past habitats and dietary behaviors.
• WP2: measuring energetic costs and benefits of wild plant foods.
• WP3: modeling effects of biological and behavioral changes on food choices.

The successful candidate will be responsible for WP1 and will make contributions to the other work packages.

What you bring

In this team, we are looking for someone who can work independently but collaboratively. Every PhD trajectory is different, so in the beginning we will devote attention to your onboarding. This position is a good fit for you if you recognise yourself in the following:

• Master’s degree completed by the time of the appointment in Archaeology, Anthropology, or related field, with strong preference for a background in Paleoanthropology or Human Evolution;
• Demonstrable ability and enthusiasm for innovative and inter-disciplinary research in one or more of the above fields;
• Demonstrable good time-management, organizational, and communication skills;
• Strong competences in hands-on laboratory methods, and the availability to conduct long-running laboratory experiments (the calculus model requires at minimum 28 consecutive days of growth when you will need to ‘feed’ it daily);
• Excellent command of English (command of Dutch is not required, but knowledge of one or more European languages other than French and German is preferred);
• Availability to travel and conduct fieldwork both within and outside the Netherlands, including having a drivers license, is preferred;
• Ability to start before December 2025, preferably in September 2025.

What we offer

• Our goal is to work together to create a transparent and inclusive work environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated. Our organisation is always evolving and we need your ideas for improvement and innovation to take us further. We want to devote attention to your personal development.
• You can count on an enjoyable job within the socially relevant world research. The University's challenging and international work environment is located just steps away from Leiden’s lively city centre. We also want to work with you to devote attention to your health and vitality, for example with the fun activities we organise through Healthy University.
• The selected candidate will be appointed for 4 years in total: initially for a 1-year trial period, followed by an extension of 3 more years, in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• The salary is the standard offered to PhD researchers in the Netherlands in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities (P scale: P0 to P3 = €2770 - €3539 gross per month).
• A holiday allowance (8%), an end-of-year bonus (8,3%), and an attractive pension scheme at ABP;
• Flexible working hours: as a standard, you are entitled to a minimum of 29 leave days on the basis of a full-time working week of 38 hours; you can also save for extra leave, for example by working 40 hours a week, and in this way accrue an extra 96 leave hours, or exchange 96 leave hours for a 36-hour week.
• Lots of options when it comes to secondary employment conditions; we can, for example, discuss options for a sabbatical or paid parental leave. Within our terms of employment individual choices model, you can exchange leave days and/or salary for benefits such as an advantageous sports subscription or bicycle scheme, and we also offer child-care options;
• If your work allows it, hybrid working is possible within the Netherlands;
• A home-working allowance (day and internet allowance) and attention for good workplaces. The University will also provide you with a laptop.
• All our PhD students are embedded in the Graduate School of Archaeology. Our graduate school and Leiden University offer several PhD training courses at various levels.

What we find important
Promoting an inclusive community is central to Leiden University’s values and vision. Leiden University aims to be an inclusive community in which all students and staff members feel valued and respected, and are able to develop to their full potential. Diversity in experiences and perspectives enriches our teaching and strengthens our research. High-quality education and research means inclusive education and research.