About this role
Job offer - JOB - Netherlands - Wageningen University and Research Centre via AcademicTransfer - Posted on: 29 July 2026 Page contents 29 Jul 2026 Wageningen University & Research Research Field Medical sciences » Medicine Neurosciences » Neuropsychology Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Application Deadline 31 Aug 2026 - 21:59 (UTC) Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? Please note: due to interaction with Dutch-speaking participants, fluency in Dutch is a must-have. As part of an NWO-Vici project, Wageningen University & Research is looking for a PhD candidate to set up and conduct intervention studies on olfactory training, cognition and brain plasticity. In this PhD project, you will study whether daily smell training can improve olfactory and cognitive functioning, and whether these effects can be strengthened by adding multisensory immersive Virtual Reality. You will work with older adults and patient groups, including individuals with mild cognitive impairment, and combine sensory testing, cognitive assessments, behavioral measurements and neuroimaging-related outcomes. Loss of smell is increasingly recognized as an early marker of cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia. The olfactory system is closely connected to brain regions involved in memory and cognition, including the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus. The olfactory bulb, the first central relay station for smell processing, may therefore play an important role in the link between olfactory functioning and cognitive health. Olfactory training is one of the few treatments currently available to improve smell function. Emerging evidence suggests that it may also have positive effects on cognitive functioning. However, it is still unclear whether these effects are sustained over time, w...