Join Leuphana University for a postdoc … or more

By Joern Fischer and Berta Martín-Lopez

We’re writing this post to highlight some of the options for people who already have their PhDs to join us at Leuphana University. We’d particularly like to encourage expressions of interest with direct relevance to our existing research priorities in the area of social-ecological systems (including but not limited to these). Especially for people from outside Germany there are some really good options to join us for a postdoc or “more” … we’ll outline four possibilities below. (Follow the links to check the specific rules!)

1. A fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This option is open to people with a PhD at all stages of their scientific career who live outside Germany; or who have only arrived in Germany very recently. For people within the first four years of the PhD, you can apply for postdoc positions of up to 2 years; if it’s been longer, you can still apply for fellowships up to 18 months (and these can even be divided into multiple stays). In all cases, there is a comfortable living stipend as well as some funds to do actual research.
2. A Georg Forster fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This is very similar in terms of the conditions to Option 1 outlined above, but specifically targeting applicants from a list of less developed countries.
3. A Marie-Curie Fellowship. This is a competitive programme by the EU that provides funding for a 2-year postdoc.
4. A Sofja Kovalevskaja Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This is a very competitive programme, and it remains to be seen when the next call comes out for it. But … if and when there is a new call, it’s a great programme that can truly transform your research career. In short, it’s five years of funding to set up your own research group; it’s open to people within six years of the PhD.

There are, of course, other options as well — for example Jan Hanspach leads a BMBF junior research group, and Jacqueline Loos is a Bosch Junior Professor — but the above are some of the most accessible ones for people from outside Germany who finished their PhDs in the not too distant past. So, if you have a strong track record relative to your career stage, and you’re interested in pursuing your social-ecological research amongst a bunch of nice colleagues, we’d be happy to hear from you, and discuss your ideas and a possible application.

Two open PhD positions in project on biocultural diversity

By Jan Hanspach

We are currently looking for two PhD students in an interdisciplinary research project called “Biocultural diversity in farming landscapes of the Global South”. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within their Research for Sustainable Development program. The project will study the connection between biocultural diversity and sustainability through (I) a literature review, (II) empirical fieldwork in Bolivia and (III) workshops in a range of different farming landscapes in the Global South. The PhD students will be based in Lüneburg, but will spend a considerable part of their time doing field work in Bolivia. Therefore we would prefer to hire native speakers, but the call is open to others as well.

Bolivia is a country with a high biocultural diversity, i.e. a large diversity of ecological and cultural conditions that have co-evolved during a long history of interactions. This project will study the characteristics of this biocultural diversity and how it can contribute sustainability.

Here are the job adverts:

PhD1: Social aspects of biocultural diversity and sustainability

PhD 2: Ecological aspects of biocultural diversity and sustainability

The application deadline is August 13.

The advertisements have been officially published here.

Open postdoc position in new project on biocultural diversity

By Jan Hanspach

I am looking for a postdoc in a new interdisciplinary research project called “Biocultural diversity in farming landscapes of the Global South”. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within their Research for Sustainable Development program. The project will study the connection between biocultural diversity and sustainable development through (I) a literature review, (II) empirical fieldwork in Bolivia and (III) workshops in a range of different farming landscapes in the Global South. The postdoc would mainly be responsible for field work in Bolivia, which will be realized together with two PhD students.

Below is a a copy of the job advertisement. The original can be found on the Leuphana website here. Please note that the application deadline is March 13 – so only three weeks from now.

Bolivia is a country with a high biocultural diversity, i.e. a large diversity of ecological and cultural conditions that have co-evolved during a long history of interactions. This project will study the characteristics of this biocultural diversity and how it can contribute a sustainable development.

And here is the full advert:

Leuphana University of Lüneburg stands for innovation in education and scholarship based on the values of a humanistic, sustainable and entrepreneurial university. The collaborative search for knowledge and viable solutions in the areas of education, culture, sustainability as well as management and entrepreneurship defines the university model with its award-winning College, Graduate School and Professional School. Methodological diversity and interdisciplinary cooperation characterize our academic understanding.

Leuphana University of Lüneburg (foundation under public law), Faculty of Sustainability, has a vacancy for a full-time (100 %)
Research Associate (m/f/d)
salary group EG 13 TV-L

starting 1 June 2019 for a fixed term of 5 years.

The position is part of a new interdisciplinary research project funded by German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) entitled “Biocultural diversity in farming landscapes of the Global South”. The project will systematically assess how biocultural diversity is linked with indicators of sustainability and how fostering biocultural diversity can contribute to a sustainable development. A key component of the project will be empirical research in a case study area in Bolivia. This will be realized through ecological and social science field work on values, knowledge and practices as well as the corresponding formal and informal institutional settings.

Your tasks:
• Coordinate and conduct field work in the case study area;
• Conduct a governance and actor analysis around biocultural diversity in the Bolivia case study
• Identify development priorities in the Bolivia case study;
• Conduct a study on informal institutions and the role of gender in the maintenance of biocultural diversity in the Bolivia case study;
• Support PhD students and supervise master and bachelor students;
• Engage with local communities and experts in the case study area;
• Organize and conduct interviews and workshops in close collaboration with local NGOs and universities in Bolivia.

Your profile:
• Completed academic university degree (Master or equivalent) in environmental science, the social sciences or another relevant field;
• PhD or equivalent doctoral degree in a topic relevant to the project (e.g. biocultural diversity, governance, actor analysis);
• Strong qualitative analysis skills;
• Ability and enthusiasm to work in an intercultural and interdisciplinary group;
• Experience with field work in Latin America;
• Willingness to spend extended periods of time for field work in Bolivia;
• Excellent communication skills in Spanish (native speakers preferred);
• Strong communication and writing skills in English; and
• Strong research track record.

We offer:
• Flexible and family-friendly working hours
• Internal and external CPD courses
• University sports and health promotion measures for employees
• Employer-funded pension

Leuphana University of Lüneburg is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering heterogeneity among its staff. Disabled applicants with equal qualifications will be given priority consideration. We are looking forward to receiving your application.

Your application:
Please address all selection criteria under clearly labeled headings in up to one short paragraph each. Please also send a CV (including publications), copies of relevant certificates and transcripts, and the names of up to three academic referees. For questions, please contact Dr. Jan Hanspach (hanspach@leuphana.de).

Please send your application by March 13, 2019 preferably electronically (as a single merged pdf file) or by mail to:

Leuphana University of Lüneburg
Personalservice, Corinna Schmidt
Subject: Postdoc-BioKultDiv
Universitätsallee 1
21335 Lüneburg
Germany
bewerbung@leuphana.de

Job opening: 3-year postdoc (ecology/social sciences)

By Joern Fischer

I’m looking for a new postdoc to join our research group. In short, it’s a three-year position, focusing on the social and/or ecological sciences; the application deadline is 27 July 2018. Please email me for questions, and please help to spread this advertisement! The official details follow below.

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (M/F) (SOCIAL/ECOLOGICAL SCIENCES)

18.06.2018

Leuphana University Lüneburg (foundation under public law), Faculty of Sustainability, is offering a post as

Postdoctoral Research Associate (m/f)
(social/ecological sciences)
– salary group EG 13 TV-L, full time –

starting as soon as possible, for a period of 3 years.

Professor Joern Fischer’s research group on “Sustainable Landscapes” is looking to employ a postdoc to support existing activities during the time period specific above.
The research group focuses on the intersection of the ecological and social sciences, drawing on the concepts of sustainability science and social-ecological systems. Two key research areas pursued by the group at present relate to harmonizing food security and biodiversity conservation; and to leverage points for sustainability. The group is also engaged in teaching at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels. Here, key classes include Sustainability Science (Master), Conservation Biology (Master) and practical field classes teaching bird and butterfly survey and identification techniques (Bachelor).

Tasks and responsibilities for this position will include:

• supporting teaching activities, with a nominal teaching duty of 4 teaching hours per week during the semester;
• supporting existing research activities – including assisting the completion of student manuscripts;
• assisting in the preparation of new grant applications;
• assisting with additional day-to-day aspects of facilitating smooth collaboration within the research group; and
• preparation of a cumulative “habilitation thesis” on a topic agreed with Prof. Fischer.

Selection criteria are:

• university degree (Master or equivalent) in ecology, the social sciences or another relevant field;
• PhD or equivalent doctoral degree in ecology, the social sciences or another relevant field;
• strong communication skills in English;
• ability and willingness to teach relevant classes (drawing partly on existing materials);
• ability and enthusiasm to work in an intercultural and interdisciplinary group;
• strong writing skills in English;
• strong research track record; and
• teaching experience (desirable).

For questions, please contact Prof. Joern Fischer (joern.fischer@uni.leuphana.de ).

Leuphana University of Lüneburg is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering heterogeneity among its staff. Disabled applicants with equal qualifications will be given priority consideration. We are looking forward to receiving your application.

Your application:
Please address all selection criteria under clearly labeled headings in up to one short paragraph each. Please also send a CV (including publications), copies of relevant certificates and transcripts, and the names of up to three academic referees.

Please send your application by July 27, 2018 preferably electronically (as a single merged pdf file) or by mail to:

Leuphana University of Lüneburg
Personalservice, Corinna Schmidt
Subject: PostDoc Sustainable Landscapes
Universitätsallee 1
21335 Lüneburg
Germany
bewerbung@leuphana.de

Hiring now: Postdoc on human-environment connections

By Joern Fischer

Because one of our postdocs is moving on to a tenured position (congratulations!), we are looking to find a new person to join our project on “leverage points” for sustainability (see, for example, here and here, or here). This position will be collaborating closely with others, especially myself, Henrik von Wehrden, Dave Abson, Julia Leventon, and several PhD students working on the “re-connect” component of the project.

Although somebody else has previously held this position, there is a lot of flexibility for how the position can be filled with life and meaning in the future. We’re particularly looking for somebody who is interested in pursuing empirical work on human-environment (re-)connections in Transylvania (Romania) or Lower Saxony (Germany) (or both); focusing on food or energy systems (or both). You can email me if you have questions.

The official advertisement is available here. Below, I copy and paste that information, but be sure to visit the original page — this here is not the official version.

ADVERTISEMENT

Leuphana University Lüneburg (foundation under public law), Faculty of Sustainability, is offering a post as:

Postdoctoral Research Associate – Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiter/in,

salary group EG 13 TV-L, full time

– Investigating human-nature connections–

Starting approximately November 2016, up to 31st March 2019. The position is part of a transdisciplinary project funded by the State of Lower Saxony and Volkswagen Foundation entitled:

Leverage Points for Sustainability Transformation: Institutions, People and Knowledge

 About the project

Understanding how changes in interconnected social-ecological systems facilitate the transformation to sustainability represents one of the key challenges of sustainability science. Drawing on insights from systems thinking and solution-oriented transdisciplinary research, this project focuses on hitherto under-recognized leverage points – system properties where a small shift can lead to fundamental changes in the system as a whole. Leverage Points will focus on changes in relatively intractable, but potentially highly influential, system properties that could help to realign complex social-ecological systems to the normative goals of sustainability. Specifically, we will analyse three sustainability-relevant leverage points: 1) institutional dynamics (RESTRUCTURE); 2) human-environment interactions (RECONNECT); and 3) sustainability-related knowledge creation and use (RETHINK). The three leverage points will be studied individually and with regard to their interdependencies, on two key themes (food and energy) in two contrasting case study regions (Transylvania in Romania, and Lower Saxony in Germany). For details, see www.leveragepoints.org

About the job – PD2: RECONNECT: Investigating human-nature connections

This position builds on conceptual work undertaken as part of the Leverage Points project (see Abson et al. 2016, Ambio). Its central role will be to empirically investigate human-nature connections and how changes in such connections relate to sustainability outcomes, in food and/or energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and/or in Transylvania (RO).

This position is one of five postdoctoral associate positions within the Leverage Points project. You will be expected to work closely with the research consortium, including three other postdoctoral associates (RESTRUCTURE, RETHINK and transdisciplinary case study (Germany) and RETHINK and transdisciplinary case study (Romania)), eight Principal Investigators, and eight PhD students.

Tasks and responsibilities may include a subset of the following: 1) assessing stakeholders’ aspirations and appreciation of local ecosystem services; 2) investigating consumer choices regarding food and energy; 3) testing the relations between connections, behaviour, attitudes and knowledge; 4) publication of manuscripts; and 5) co-supervision of PhD students.

Person specification

Essential selection criteria: a) PhD or equivalent doctoral degree; b) strong publication record relative to opportunity; c) highly developed conceptual and empirical skills; d) excellent communication skills (English); e) ability and willingness to work in a large, interdisciplinary research project; f) proven track record in either quantitative or qualitative data analysis (and willingness to apply both); and g) a solid understanding of human-environment relationships (e.g. grounded in concepts from psychology or ecosystem services).

Additional desirable selection criteria: a) previous experience in food/agriculture and/or energy systems; b) experience with interview analysis; c) familiarity with environmental psychology; d) experience with questionnaire analysis; e) experience with quantifying human-nature connections. (Not all of these must be met.)

An additional advantage will be fluency in German or Romanian.

Leuphana University Lüneburg is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering heterogeneity among its employees. Applications by qualified individuals of all backgrounds are strongly encouraged. Disabled applicants with equal qualifications will be given priority consideration.

To apply

Please address all selection criteria under clearly labelled headings in up to one short paragraph for each. Please also send a motivation letter stating why you are interested in the position, a CV (including publication list), copies of relevant certificates and transcripts, and the names of up to three academic referees.

Application deadline: 11th September 2016

Please submit all materials in PDF format (as a single merged file) with the subject: Leverage Points PD2 to:

bewerbung@leuphana.de and cc abson@leuphana.de.

OR

Leuphana University Lüneburg

Personalservice – Katrin Severloh

Subject: Leverage Points PD2

Scharnhorststr. 1

21335 Lüneburg

Germany

Files should be named with the applicant’s surname (e.g. SmithLeveragePointsPD2.pdf).

For any questions about the project and the job, please contact Prof. Dr Joern Fischer (joern.fischer@leuphana.de) or Prof. Dr. Henrik von Wehrden (vonwehrden@uni.leuphana.de)

 

 

Up to eight more sustainability postdocs at Leuphana

By Joern Fischer

Leuphana has just advertised up to eight more postdoc positions in sustainability. These are associated with a new project called “Bridging the Great Divide“, run by Daniel Lang, Henrik von Wehrden and Klaus Kuemmerer (from Leuphana), as well as Arnim Wiek and Manfred Laubichler (from Arizona State University). Please help distribute these positions by sharing this blog post.

The detailed advertisements are on Leuphana’s website. You can find them here, but please note you may have to go to the second page (or even the third) to find the relevant advertisements. All the ones related to this blog post start with “… 13.07.2016 … in the pro­ject Bridging the Gre­at Di­vi­de“.

As an entry, here is the project abstract for “Bridging the Great Divide”:

Sustaina­bi­li­ty chal­len­ges threa­ten the long-term via­bi­li­ty and in­te­gri­ty of so­cie­ties around the world. Whi­le the theo­re­ti­cal un­der­stan­ding of the­se chal­len­ges con­ti­nues to grow, so­lu­ti­ons are far less de­ve­l­o­ped. In re­s­pon­se, sustaina­bi­li­ty sci­ence has been de­ve­lo­ping a re­se­arch agen­da that fo­cu­ses on evi­dence-ba­sed so­lu­ti­ons that are scalable and trans­fe­ra­ble. Yet, the­re is still a si­gni­fi­cant gap bet­ween un­der­stan­ding com­plex chal­len­ges and cont­ri­bu­ting to con­text spe­ci­fic so­lu­ti­ons. This pro­ject aims to build ad­di­tio­nal ca­pa­ci­ty at Leu­pha­na Uni­ver­si­ty of Lüne­burg to bridge the di­vi­de bet­ween (i.) mo­de­ling and un­der­stan­ding of com­plex sustaina­bi­li­ty pro­blems (of­ten on a glo­bal sca­le), and (ii.) de­ve­lo­ping and eva­lua­ting con­textua­li­zed so­lu­ti­on ef­forts (of­ten on a lo­cal sca­le). Fo­cu­sing on spe­ci­fic to­pics (wa­ter, land-use, and cli­ma­te chan­ge chal­len­ges in­clu­ding mo­bi­li­ty), this pro­ject aims at com­bi­ning two pro­mi­nent ap­proa­ches: high-per­for­mance com­pu­ta­tio­nal mo­de­ling and tran­si­ti­on ex­pe­ri­ments. Com­bi­ning the­se two ap­proa­ches and sup­porting in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry col­la­bo­ra­ti­on across the re­la­ted aca­de­mic com­mu­nities whi­le buil­ding on di­sci­pli­na­ry ex­cel­lence de­fi­nes the agen­da for a fu­ture clus­ter of ex­cel­lence, for which a pro­po­sal shall be de­ve­l­o­ped as part of the pro­ject. This will also be a ma­jor leap towards bridging the know­ledge-ac­tion gap in sustaina­bi­li­ty sci­ence. Three spe­ci­fic com­po­n­ents of the pro­ject bey­ond the two ap­proa­ches are (i) the es­ta­blish­ment of a “Mo­bi­le So­lu­ti­on Thea­ter” as a fur­ther de­ve­lop­ment of exis­ting De­ci­si­on Thea­ter Con­cepts, to fa­ci­li­ta­te lin­king tran­si­ti­on ex­pe­ri­ments with high per­for­mance com­pu­ta­tio­nal mo­de­ling; (ii) fur­ther de­ve­lop­ment of in­no­va­ti­ve, re­se­arch ba­sed teaching-learning en­vi­ron­ments em­bed­ded in the over­all set­up of the pro­ject and (iii) a cri­ti­cal re­flec­tion of the epis­te­mo­lo­gi­cal foun­da­ti­ons of sustaina­bi­li­ty sci­ence as well as the spe­ci­fic ap­proa­ches uti­li­zed in this pro­ject.

Please address all questions to the people running this project; you can find contact details here.

Now officially open: PhD positions on leverage points for sustainability

Please help distribute this widely — we have too few expressions of interest so far!

Applications are now officially open for 8 Leverage Points PhD Positions (start date ideally October 2015). The application deadline for all eight positions is 30th of June 2015. These are 3-year positions for scholars to complete their PhDs at Leuphana (standard time in Germany; coursework is minimal).

A pdf of this overview is available here.  Please help to distribute this widely! Thanks you!

PhD1: Institutional dynamics in sustainability transformation (RESTRUCTURE: Policy and Governance)
Principal supervisors: Prof. Dr. Jens Newig, Prof. Dr. Thomas Schomerus

This position focuses on processes of institutional change for restructuring food and energy systems. RESTRUCTURE will address dynamics (transformations) in institutional arrangements. Social structures embodied in institutions (rules, regu-lations and policies) enable, constrain and guide human action and thus are of central concern to sustainability transfor-mations. Different from most existing research, Leverage Points will not only consider institutional innovation and ‘success-ful’ institutional arrangements, but will specifically investigate what can be learnt from institutional failure, and assess how purposeful institutional decline could foster sustainability.  More detailed information on this position is available here PhD1.

PhD2: Institutional dynamics in sustainability transformation, e.g. with special focus on energy or food/agriculture systems (RESTRUCTURE: Law and Governance)
Principal supervisors: Prof. Dr. Thomas Schomerus, Prof. Dr. Jens Newig

This position focuses on legal and policy analysis regarding food/agriculture and energy, and its dynamics in a multi-level institutional setting (case study regions, countries, EU). Tasks may include: systematic review and meta-analysis of productive functions of institutional failure and decline for sustainability transformation; study of institutional redundancies and inconsistencies within study regions; compare sustainability-relevant institutional change; study of the role of citizen and stakeholder participation in institutional change, i.e. regional resistance against renewable energy and citizen’s financial participation. More detailed information on this position is available here PhD2.

PhD3: Human-Nature Connections and Institutional Dynamics
Principal supervisors: Dr. Julia Leventon, Prof. Dr. Joern Fischer

This position has a primary focus on conceptualising and quantifying human-nature connections and how changes in such connections relate to sustainability outcomes, in food and energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and Transylvania (RO). In addition, the position links to considerations of institutional change for restructuring food and energy systems and will address dynamics (transformations) in institutional arrangements. Social structures embodied in institutions (rules, regulations and policies) enable, constrain and guide human action and thus are of central concern to sustainability transformations. This position will consider how institutions reflect connections, and the implications for guiding human action. More detailed information on this position is available here PhD3.

PhD4: Conceptualising and quantifying human-nature connections (conceptualization)
Principal supervisors: Dr. Dave Abson, Dr. Julia Leventon

This position focuses on conceptualising human-nature connections and how changes in such connections relate to sustainability outcomes, in food and energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and Transylvania (RO). This will involve the conceptualisation and quantification of actors’ aspirations and appreciation of local ecosystems; consumer choices in obtaining energy and food; and how behaviour, attitudes and knowledge influence individuals ‘connectedness’ to their environments. More detailed information on this position is available here PhD4.

PhD5: Conceptualising and quantifying human-nature connections (quantification)
Principal supervisors: Prof. Dr. Henrik von Wehrden, Dr. Dave Abson

This position focuses on quantifying human-nature connections and how changes in such connections relate to sustainability outcomes, in food and energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and Transylvania (RO).Tasks and responsibilities may include: the creation of a literature review of the connections between people and ecosystems and quantifying ecosystem service flows within the empirical study regions. More detailed information on this position is available here PhD5.

PhD6: Sustainability-related knowledge creation and use (opportunities for change)
Principal supervisors: Prof. Dr. Daniel Lang, Prof. Dr. Ulli Vilsmaier

This position focuses on consolidating and further developing conceptual foundations related to new forms of knowledge production and use, and will apply these to local transdisciplinary case studies. The themes of the case studies will revolve around the food and energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and Transylvania (RO). Tasks and responsibilities may include: Systematic review of the (types of) knowledge needed for regional sustainability transformations; review of existing knowledge and experiences related to designs and opportunities of different forms of knowledge production to foster sustainability transformation; empirical analysis in how and how far knowledge and experience gained in specific contexts can be transferred between regions and themes and contribution to the organization and management of one of the transdisciplinary case studies. More detailed information on this position is available here PhD6.

PhD7: Sustainability-related knowledge creation and use (sustainability conceptualization and opportunities for change)
Principal supervisors: Prof. Dr. Daniel Lang, Prof. Dr. Henrik von Wehrden

This position focuses on consolidating conceptual foundations related to new forms of knowledge production and use, and will apply and investigate these in local transdisciplinary case studies. The themes of the case studies will revolve around the food and energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and Transylvania (RO). Tasks and responsibilities may include: Reviewing the state of sustainability related knowledge production and use in the study regions; analysis of sustainability conceptualisations in different contexts in the specific case study regions; identification and design of opportunities for creating new forms of knowledge production and use for regional change; and contribution to the organization and management of a transdisciplinary case study. More detailed information on this position is available here PhD7.

PhD 8: Inter- and transdisciplinary Knowledge Creation in Action
Principal supervisors: Prof. Dr. Ulli Vilsmaier, Prof. Dr. Daniel Lang

This position will analyse the processes of knowledge production in the inter- and transdisciplinary research processes in Leverage Points. It will generate a more profound understanding of integrating different epistemics, life worlds and objectives, in particular in transdisciplinary sustainability science, and transdisciplinary case studies. The cooperative team of Leverage Points and the two transdisciplinary cases studies in Lower Saxony/Germany and Transylvania/Romania will serve as principal research space. More detailed information on this position is available here PhD8.

To apply

The official job adverts for all eight positions and details of how to apply can be found at http://www.leuphana.de/bewerben/jobs-und-karriere/forschung-lehre.html

New Masters and PhD positions in Canada (grazing and climate change)

Update 26 May 2015: Please note this position has been filled.

(Introductory note by Joern: Kate Sherren and I have published together on holistic management. It’s an exciting field, and Kate is in the process of setting up a new project on this. The following positions are nice opportunities for motivated individuals looking to work in Canada!)

By Kate Sherren

Resolving the schism in the science and practice of holistic grazing management

Up to 4 Positions – mix of Masters and PhD

Expressions of interest are being sought for Masters and PhD positions. Please register your interest by sending your CV, transcript, and a brief statement of interest to Kate Sherren (kate.sherren@dal.ca) including desired level of study. To all readers of this blog: please help distribute this note — thank you!

Holistic management (HM) is an approach to grazing decision-making based on explicit goal-setting and careful monitoring, often characterized by native pastures and high-intensity but short-duration rotational grazing. Science is bitterly divided on its utility: experimental scientists see no benefits from the constituent practices in controlled experiments, while management-oriented agricultural scientists report benefits at the farm scale, including during drought. To date, producer experience and perceptions have been neglected, but also untested in appropriate ways. This project combines quantitative and qualitative social and information science methods, grounded with insights from agricultural science, to help resolve the schism: drawing a comprehensive picture of a polarized field of study; establishing the value of qualitative methods and producer perceptions in agricultural science; and, exploring HM as a viable climate adaptation strategy for the Canadian Prairies. Aspects of this issue were previously featured on this blog here.

Funded project areas

Several student opportunities are available, with the level flexible (Masters or PhD) depending on the student mix:

• At Dalhousie, to study global scholarship and policy on grazing and climate using: measures of scientific influence (bibliometrics) to understand the structure of the HM literature; qualitative investigation of its key texts to establish the influence of producer perceptions on science and policy; and/or statement sorting via Q-methodology to identify polarizing concepts as well as common ground.
• At the University of Alberta, to study Prairie HM trainers, their students, non-HM producers and experts/scholars using quantitative methods and cognitive mapping to understand and compare world views and decision-making.
• At either university, for a landscape-scale study of livestock producers, using qualitative methods including landscape elicitation, such as farm tours, to explore producer perceptions of their landscape and climate, how these drive management decision-making, and how they align with scientific evidence.

The above topics would suit students with an environmental studies, rural sociology, or agricultural science background, but we are not prescriptive. More important is a strong academic record, an interest in agricultural futures and/or the science/policy interface, and a working style compatible with interdisciplinary team research, as described on this blog here and here. Read more details (including those above), here: http://myweb.dal.ca/kt072488/HolisticMGMTstudent_final.pdf.

Yet another two new junior professorships in sustainability at Leuphana!

By Joern Fischer

The Faculty of Sustainability at Leuphana University Lueneburg is continuing to grow in size and quality — again, we’re able to fill two new junior professorships — and, this time specifically encouraging applicants from the Global South! (I interpret this to mean that one of the two positions might go to somebody from the Global South.)

These positions typically involve three years of funding (i.e. salary), plus another three years subject to a good mid-term evaluation (total duration = six years). The teaching load is light (about 20% or so full-time equivalent). Successful applicants are usually within 5 or so years of their PhDs. Exceptionally strong candidates can make it straight out of their PhDs, but this is not particularly common and requires a strong publication record.

The full advertisement for these new positions is available on the Leuphana website. Some of the key text is copied here for your information:

Applicants should have a university degree in a relevant field for sustainability science, and should have an in-depth understanding of this emerging field. Their current and future profile specifically should complement the existing expertise of the Faculty of Sustainability – in its core research areas (i.e. ecosystem services, energy transition, social challenges related to sustainability, physical resources), related areas, or in other relevant cross-cutting themes (e.g. social and cultural dimension of sustainability, gender and diversity, sustainability transformations, innovation and sustainability). Applicants should outline how their future research and teaching will contribute to the further advancement of sustainability science in general and the Faculty in particular. Proven interest and expertise in collaboration with colleagues from other disciplines, as well as with stakeholders from outside academia, is expected. Either a strong publication record relative to opportunity or exceptional experience with outreach is a requirement.

Successful candidates (m/f) are expected to become actively involved in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects and to further develop the profile of the Faculty in the field of (transformative) sustainability science. It is envisioned that at least one of the candidates will be affiliated with a planned joint institute of Leuphana University and Arizona State University, which is in the process of being set up. Hence, experience in working in international research and teaching environments is an advantage. Furthermore, the Faculty acknowledges that major sustainability challenges concern the global south. Therefore applicants from countries in the global south are especially invited to apply for the positions.

Leverage Points for Sustainability: Four Postdoc Positions

The official advertisement will be available on the Leuphana website (here, to be precise!) — it will be identical. 

Please help to distribute this widely! Thank you!

DEADLINE for all four positions: 10th of March — very soon!!

About the project

Understanding how changes in interconnected social-ecological systems facilitate the transformation to sustainability represents one of the key challenges of sustainability science. Drawing on insights from systems thinking and solution-oriented transdisciplinary research, this project will focus on hitherto under-recognized leverage points – system properties where a small shift can lead to fundamental changes in the system as a whole. Leverage Points will focus on changes in relatively intractable, but potentially highly influential, system properties that could help to realign complex social-ecological systems to the normative goals of sustainability. Specifically, we will analyse three sustainability-relevant leverage points: (1) institutional dynamics (RESTRUCTURE); (2) human-environment interactions (RECONNECT); and (3) sustainability-related knowledge creation and use (RETHINK). The three leverage points will be studied individually and with regard to their interdependencies, on two key themes (food and energy) in two contrasting case study regions (Transylvania in Romania, and Lower Saxony in Germany). For details, see www.leveragepoints.org The following four positions are postdoctoral associate positions within the Leverage Points project.  You will be expected to work closely with the research consortium, including eight Principal Investigators, and eight PhD students.

PD1: RESTRUCTURE: Institutional dynamics in sustainability transformation This position focuses on processes of institutional change for restructuring food and energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and Transylvania (RO). RESTRUCTURE will address dynamics (transformations) in institutional arrangements. Social structures embodied in institutions (rules, regulations and policies) enable, constrain and guide human action and thus are of central concern to sustainability transformations. Different from most existing research, Leverage Points will not only consider institutional innovation and ‘successful’ institutional arrangements, but will specifically investigate what can be learnt from institutional failure, and assess how purposeful institutional decline could foster sustainability. Full details are available here.

PD2: RECONNECT: Conceptualising and quantifying human-nature connections This position focuses on conceptualising and quantifying human-nature connections and how changes in such connections relate to sustainability outcomes, in food and energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and Transylvania (RO). Full details are available here.

PD3: RETHINK: Sustainability-related knowledge creation and use (Germany) This position focuses on consolidating conceptual foundations related to new forms of knowledge production and use, and will apply these to local transdisciplinary case studies.  The themes of the case studies will revolve around the food and energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and Transylvania (RO).  This position focuses on the Lower Saxony case, but contributes to the Transylvania case. Full details are available here.

PD4: RETHINK: Sustainability-related knowledge creation and use (Romania) This position focuses on consolidating conceptual foundations related to new forms of knowledge production and use, and will apply these to local transdisciplinary case studies.  The themes of the case studies will revolve around the food and energy systems in Lower Saxony (DE) and Transylvania (RO).  This position focuses on the Transylvania case, but contributes to the Lower Saxony case. Full details are available here.