The PhD position is part of the European Training Network TERRANOVA (H2020 ITN) in which 15 PhD fellows will collaborate to increase long-term understanding of landscape histories and land use strategies in Europe.
The objectives of this ESR position are to: (1) identify the geographic distribution and rewilding potential of abandoned agricultural land across Europe; (2) analyse the potential and constraints to alternative development trajectories of these areas particularly in relation to high risk cultural heritage or agro-biodiversity values; (3) conduct agent-based model analysis of abandonment areas at EU scale and of archaeological data generated by other researchers in the Terranova research project at regional scale to understand how changing human-environment interactions lead to alternative development pathways.
As a result, this ESR position will create an inventory of the costs of land abandonment for agro-biodiversity and cultural heritage, scientific papers documenting the drivers of alternative abandonment trajectories, an operational agent-based model to assess the human-environment interactions that lead to abandonment, and evaluated instruments and policies to guide the transition in directions that minimise negative trade-offs.
The ESR will be jointly supervised by Chantal van Ham (IUCN, Brussels), Marie-Alice Budniok (ELO, Brussels) and Prof. Peter Verburg (VU Amsterdam, Netherlands). Three secondments will take place: one at the European Landowners’ Organisation (ELO) on decision making and planning (3 months), one at the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg for training in ecology and rewilding (2 months), and one at VU Amsterdam, Netherlands, for experience in land system analysis (3 months). The candidate will be enrolled at VU Amsterdam for the doctoral degree.
Your duties
Under the direct supervision of the IUCN European Programme Manager Nature Based Solutions, the ESR will complete the research needed for the doctoral degree, participate in secondments and training required by the Terranova research project, and assist with other tasks as necessary. This assignment will include the following tasks and responsibilities:
• Complete the research tasks specified above and fulfil the requirements of the doctoral programme at VU Amsterdam;
• Analyze literature, conduct regional analysis and agent-based modelling;
• Publish scientific papers and deliver synthesis;
• Interact and collaborate with other PhD students in the project;
• Interpret and reconstruct scientific analysis in terms of landscape histories and (shifts in) climate and energy regimes;
• Participate in secondments, field schools and collaboration required by the Terranova project;
• Attend relevant agriculture, land use, climate change and nature conservation events and workshops as necessary;
• Follow relevant EU and international policy developments related to rewilding, nature conservation, agriculture, climate change and land use and interact on a regular basis with key actors in these fields.
Application Steps
• Check that you meet the conditions specified in “Eligibility Criteria” to qualify for applying: http://change-itn.eu/vacancies/eligibility-criteria/
o All researchers recruited in a Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN must be Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs). A ESR shall, at the time of recruitment by the host organisation, be in the first four years of their research careers and not yet have been awarded a doctoral degree. The four years start to count from the date when a researcher obtained the degree which would formally entitle him/her to embark on a doctorate.
o Researchers are required to undertake transnational mobility (i.e. move from one country to another) when taking up their appointment. One general rule applies to the appointment of researchers: At the time of recruitment by the host beneficiary, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date. Note that the mobility rule applies to the beneficiary where the researcher is recruited, and not to beneficiaries to which the researcher is sent or seconded.
o For all recruitment, the eligibility and mobility of the researcher will be determined at the time of their (first) recruitment in the project. The status of the researcher will not evolve over the life-time of a contract.
• Please provide evidence that you meet the above mentioned eligibility requirements as an annex of your CV.
|
