The University of Groningen invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher position within the REBORN project (Unlocking Seagrass Restoration in North-West Europe as a Blue-Green Infrastructure and Natural Capital Opportunity). REBORN is funded by the Interreg North-West Europe (Interreg NWE) programme and is led by the University of Groningen as the Lead Partner, in an interdisciplinary consortium of 11 partners across the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, France, and Germany.
Seagrass meadows are critical coastal ecosystems that once provided millions of euros in ecosystem services along North-West European (NWE) coastlines, from carbon sequestration and fisheries support to coastal protection. Today, over 50,000 hectares of NWE seagrass meadows are degraded and in urgent need of restoration, representing a major natural capital opportunity. The EU Nature Restoration Law has set binding targets to restore 60% of degraded ecosystems by 2040, including seagrasses, requiring an unprecedented scale of action.
REBORN addresses this challenge by simultaneously advancing seagrass restoration governance, practice, and capacity-building across the NWE region. The University of Groningen is the Lead Partner and Work Package 2 leader, responsible for developing and testing the REBORN Restoration Model — a novel, replicable framework for large-scale seagrass restoration — across five pilot sites. RUG’s Lighthouse pilot is located in the Oosterschelde (NL). The Govers Lab Group at RUG has pioneered seagrass restoration since 2014, currently working to develop the knowledge to scale seagrass restoration across the Netherlands and Europe.
The postdoctoral researcher will join the Govers Lab Group and play a central scientific role in the REBORN project, with a focus on restoration ecology, field-based experimentation, and knowledge transfer within the transnational consortium. They will also play a central collaborative role in the research group, with the opportunity to be engaged in all other research lines.
