Student Assistant (m/f/d) Adaptation in Agricultural Systems

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 the Working Group “Adaptation in Agricultural Systems” within Research Department 2 - Climate Resilience, PIK is offering a

(Position number: 01-2024 SHK Agricultural Systems)

in the field of research support, starting as soon as possible.

The position is funded for 6 months with the option of extension. The remuneration is determined according to the guidelines of the TdL. The current hourly rate for a student assistant with a Bachelor's degree is 12,72 € (without a Bachelor's degree 12,41 €) This is a part-time position with a weekly working time of 15-20 hours per week.

Key responsibilities:

• Contribute to literature reviews in the field of adaptation to climate change, agricultural systems in sub-Sahara Africa, food security, smallholder farmers and climate policy, to inform agricultural questionnaire development and survey design.
• Support the design and implementation of household surveys and randomized controlled trials.
• Support data pre-processing and cleaning of quantitative socio-economic data, agricultural data and climate data.
• Transcribe interviews and focus group discussions for further scientific analysis.
• Support project reporting, project management and communication activities for ongoing projects.
• Help organise workshops and events at PIK.

Requirements:

• You are studying (agricultural) economics, geography, agricultural science, political science, sociology, development studies, or another relevant field.
• You have knowledge on statistical methods and familiarity with programmes and programming languages such as Stata, R, or Python.
• You ideally have experience with multiple types of data (e.g. socio-economic surveys, biophysical data, agricultural data, climate data).
• You are familiar with academic literature, citation databases and literature search.
• You are able to document your work clearly and accessibly to other users.
• You have excellent communications skills and are fluent in oral and written English. Proficiency in other languages, in particular French, are an asset.

We expect:

• a methodical and systematic approach,
• capacity to familiarise yourself quickly with new topics,
• ability to work independently, goal-oriented and on your own initiative
• creativity and openness to new approaches,
• capacity for teamwork
• organisational 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,
• flexi-time and mobile working (up to 50% of your hours),
• a collective pay scheme and associated benefits as well as a subsidized travel card or Deutschland-Ticket Job.
• participation in user-driven research projects with international partners.

PIK values equality and diversity. We encourage applications without photo. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of ethnic and social origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, care responsibilities, or age. PIK seeks to increase the share of women in scientific positions and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply. In cases of equal qualification and within the given legal scope, women will be given preference. PIK also encourages applications by parents returning from parental leave.

Please apply directly via our application form . The job posting will remain open until the position is filled.

For further information or to discuss the position please contact Julia Tomalka at tomalka(at)pik-potsdam.de .