The climate needs bright minds. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact
Research (PIK) addresses crucial scientific questions in the fields of global
change, climate impacts and sustainable development. It is one of the world‘s
leading research institutions in its field and offers natural and social scientists
from around the world an inspiring environment for excellent interdisciplinary
research.
For a project convened under the International Climate Initiative (IKI), PIK is
offering
2 PhD Positions
in the field of Climate Migration
65%, TV-L E13
(Position number: EPICC-Phd position-11-2018)
The envisaged starting date for this position is as soon as possible and subject to
approval of funding. The position is expected to terminate on the 28th of
February 2021. Remuneration is in accordance with German public tariff scheme
(TV-L Brandenburg), salary group E 13. This is a part-time position with a weekly
working time of 26 hours per week. Appointment is conditional on approval by
the funding agency.
Key responsibilities
The complex relationships between climate change and human mobility
(migration, displacement, planned relocation, and entrapment/immobility) have
received increasing attention in policy and planning, underpinned by more and
more robust scientific knowledge. Yet the science-policy gap is still tangible in
the subject area, and much can be done to improve institutional frameworks as
well as local capacities to address the phenomenon comprehensively.
In this context, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is
looking for two PhD candidates to conduct research on climate migration and
related regional policy solutions and capacity development — one with a country
focus on India, one with a focus on Tanzania.
Both candidates require a completed Master‘s degree in migration studies,
international relations, political science, international development, sociology,
human geography, or a related field. An additional prerequisite is work experience
on climate migration in research, policy or planning. Ideally, the candidate should
also be well-experienced in stakeholder engagement and enthusiastic to transfer
the research results to application in policy and planning through active
collaboration with governmental and private partners in the target countries.
The positions are part of an international, multi-year project with several fellow
researchers at PIK and beyond. The project offers a special opportunity to
transform scientific research into user-oriented climate services and policy,
working together with the governments of India and Tanzania, as well as several
research institutes and nongovernmental and intergovernmental institutions. (A
third partner country outside of the scope of the two announced PhD positions is
Peru). As an applied research project, it seeks to enable each country to better
adapt to climate change in the complementary fields Climate, Hydrology and
Water Resources, Agriculture and Migration. The project, which will be named
EPICC, is funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI), a program of the
German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and
Nuclear Safety of Germany (BMUB).
The PhD positions are located in the field of climate change-induced migration,
and research should focus on policy-relevant insights about migration flows under
the different climate impact scenarios developed in the project. The PhD
candidates will be key contributors to this project‘s climate migration module,
where they will be working together with an experienced Postdoctoral Researcher
and another PhD candidate focusing on climate migration in Peru. We are looking
for two researchers who are excited to actively engage in crossdisciplinary
research, dialogue and team work, and collaborate with social and natural
scientists across all project components to investigate dimensions of climate
migration dynamics in the three partner countries, respectively.
Requirements
- Master‘s degree in migration studies, international relations, political science,
international development, sociology, human geography or a related field
- At least one year experience working on the nexus of climate change and
migration, ideally both in research and policy
- Substantial knowledge on physical climate change impacts as well as their
interaction with livelihoods and social systems
- Fluent in English and proficient in a language of the select partner country
(either India or Tanzania)
- Keen to engage with partner institutions and transfer results to the policy
level
We expect
- the ability to work independently and on your own initiative
- a methodical and systematic approach
- structured and goal-oriented thinking
- capacity to familiarise quickly yourself with new topics
- creativity and openness to new approaches
- a high level of competence in oral and written English
- reliability, the ability to cope with stress and a high level of motivation
- willingness to travel for work (project meetings, workshops etc.) and take part
in further training
- capacity for teamwork
- organizational talent
We offer
- the chance to be part of a creative, interdisciplinary team
- a stimulating working environment in an internationally recognised research
institute on Potsdam‘s beautiful, historic Telegrafenberg campus, a short
commuting distance from Berlin
- a collective pay scheme and associated benefits
PIK seeks to increase the share of women in scientific positions and therefore
explicitly encourage women to apply. In cases of equal qualification and within
the given legal scope, women will be given preference. Applications by persons
with a migration background, provided they fulfill the conditions for appointment,
are expressly encouraged. Applications of disabled persons with equal
qualifications will be regarded favourably. PIK is also encouraging applications by
parents returning from parental leave within the availability of financial resources.
Application
Please send your full application
as a single PDF document (not more than
15 MB) by Email to the
Project Coordinator Claudia Meintzinger
(meintzinger@pik-potsdam.de), using the the reference subject:
EPICC-Phd
position-11-2018 and mentioning where you read about the position by
31.03.2018 at the latest.
For further informationen or to discuss the
position please contact
Ms. Claudia Meintzinger via Telephone +49
(0)331 288-20848.