Call For Post-Doctoral Fellows In Climate Change Research

The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) invites applications for Post-Doctoral Fellows to participate in a 5-year international interdisciplinary research programme on Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation in the Semi-Arid Areas of South Asia. Appointments will be for a year, extendable to two years. Currently IIHS is looking to fill 4 Post-Doctoral positions in the following areas:

• Hydrology, preferably with expertise in Urban Hydrology
• Water Energy Nexus
• Knowledge Systems
• Social Science

Background
Climate change is one of the defining existential and development challenges of our time and IIHS is building cutting-edge scientific, policy and implementation capacity to address these challenges in India, South Asia and across the globe. Towards achieving this, IIHS works with a host of global and local partners through innovative research programmes, including the ASSAR (Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions) project which is part of CARIAA (Collaborative Adaptation Research in Africa and Asia), a 5-year IDRC/DFID funded frontier international research programme. More information about CARIAA|ASSAR and Climate Change research at IIHS are provided in the links below.

The prospective Post-Doctoral Fellows will be joining this project one year into the program when the second phase begins – the Regional Research Phase (RRP). The RRP will emphasize the dynamics of: i) ecosystem services ii) social differentiation and iii) governance. The two dimensions of Gender and Knowledge Systems serve as cross-cutting themes. It is expected that the RRP would be undertaken in two phases: Phase 1 that would consolidate on the diagnostic (Year 1) research and build a nuanced understanding across the research streams in the present, and Phase 2 that would investigate potential change (including vulnerability) and adaptive response pathways over 2015-2030. Both phases will be co-created with relevant secondary and primary stakeholders.

The CARIAA|ASSAR project will build capacity within IIHS on Environment and Sustainability including climate change related issues. IIHS also has a practice team that works on other issues of sustainability, including disaster risk reduction. Prospective Post-Doctoral Fellows will have a great opportunity to work with professionals involved in various related areas, in addition to working with people involved in institution building.

Terms of Reference
The Post-Doctoral Fellows will be responsible for research, policy analysis, publication and teaching around climate change vulnerability, impacts and adaptation strategies around issues at the interface of development-adaptation-mitigation nexus across urban, peri-urban and rural contexts of India.

The Post-Doctoral Fellows will report to a team of senior IIHS faculty including: Dr. Sumetee Pahwa Gajjar – Programme Lead and one of the Contributing Authors of the IPCC Assessment Report 5 (2014), Dr. Amir Bashir Bazaz, Dr. Neha Sami, and Amlanjyoti Goswami.

The positions listed are open only to Indian citizens or Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and will be based out of the IIHS, Bangalore office. Successful candidates will be expected to join no later than 1st January 2016. IIHS encourages women, people with disabilities and those from economically and socially excluded communities with the requisite skills and qualifications to apply for the positions.

The Post-Doctoral Fellows are expected to

• Work within a multi-disciplinary team that includes development practitioners, climate scientists, ecologists, economists, hydrologists, social scientists and urbanists across multiple field sites.
• Help investigate and test new approaches, tools and methods to assist in reducing climate vulnerability and enable climate adaptation at scale.
• Co-author journal articles, policy briefs and disseminate research findings via multiple channels.
• Participate in developing teaching material on issues related to climate change vulnerability, impacts and adaptation, including teaching through the Urban Practitioners Programme at IIHS.
• Lead an independent research plan across the agreed ASSAR research streams.

Qualifications

• A PhD in Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Agriculture Science, Climate and Sustainability Science, Hydrology, Energy Studies, Environmental/Resource Economics, Technology, Political Science, or relevant related areas, from an internationally acknowledged University/Research Centre.
• A minimum of one year of post-qualification research, typically at the interface of climate change and a relevant research theme (more information in the links provided below).
• Quality internationally peer-reviewed academic publications.
• A strong grasp over recent climate change related academic literature, policies and adaptation practices, especially in South Asia.
• Fluency in at least one of the following languages (apart from English): Hindi, Marathi, Kannada or Tamil

Applications must include

• A cover letter that explains precisely how the applicant’s qualifications and research converges with this call and what s/he plans to do during the Fellowship.
• CV not exceeding three pages (emailed as part of the application AND uploaded to IIHS online system).
• Writing sample (a peer-reviewed article or the introduction and chapter of PhD dissertation).
• Names and full contact addresses (including e-mail and telephone numbers) of three referees.

Links to additional information: CARIAA|ASSAR programme and IIHS and Climate Change Research. Applications must be submitted by email to postdoc@iihs.ac.in and completed online here.