Doctoral Student needed
Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts.
The Contribution of Local Knowledge to Climate Change Research
(LICCI)
Duration of contract: January 2019- January 2023
Project description: We invite applications for a doctoral position in the ERC funded project “Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts. The Contribution of Local Knowledge to Climate Change Research”. The selected student would register in the PhD program of the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology at UAB and work under Prof. V. Reyes-García supervision. The research project aims to bring insights from indigenous and local knowledge to climate research by 1) providing data on local climate change impacts on natural and on human systems and 2) testing hypotheses on the global spatial, socioeconomic and demographic distribution of local climate change impacts indicators. The position will be located at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Functions: The selected student will be responsible for the collection of qualitative and quantitative data on local reports of climate change. Data will be collected among Indigenous peoples and local communities living in remote areas. The student will also participate in the creation of a network of people who might participate in the project. The student will also be expected (1) to collaborate training workshops and (2) to participate in a policy conference to disseminate project’s results. The student will be encouraged to pursue his/her own research ideas, within the topic of the project.
Profile: Candidates should have an official master’s degree in a field relevant for this research (i.e., anthropology, geography, environmental sciences, or biology). Candidates should be fluent in written and spoken English (fluency in other languages is a plus). Candidates should also 1) be able to travel internationally for long periods of time (i.e., minimum fieldwork duration 8 months), 2) have the ability to work across disciplines, and 3) be comfortable with the idea of living in remote areas (e.g., heat, cold, monotonous diet, bad communications) and tolerance for bouts of medical problems common when travelling (e.g., parasites, altitude sickness). Candidates should also show interest to learn from other cultures. Previous field experience would be highly valued. Candidates should be familiar with the use of ICT. Statistical training is a plus.
Contract terms: Student will be hired full time during four consecutive years by ICTA-UAB. The annual gross salary is of 20.000€, and includes social security (i.e., health and pension benefits). Off-campus medical insurance and field expenses will be covered by the project.
To apply: Applicants should send a cover letter and examples of their previous work (e.g. Master thesis) and an updated CV to by December 19th, 2018. The cover letter should include a personal statement explaining the applicant interest in the project and the name, position and e-mail contact of three potential referees. Candidates that do not fill the requirements will not be considered.
Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed beginning January 2019, and a final decision will be communicated by mid of January 2019. Selected students are expected to join the team by end January 2019.
This project is funded by a Consolidator Grant of the European Research Council (FP7-771056-LICCI)