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.