Postdoctoral Researcher in Global soil conservation, nutrient management and agricultural production

Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. We are committed to identifying and solving grand societal challenges and building an innovative future. Aalto University has six schools with nearly 11 000 students and nearly 400 professors. Our campuses are located in Espoo and Helsinki, Finland.

Water & Development Research Group (http://wdrg.aalto.fi/ ) at Aalto University School of Engineering, Department of Built Environment invites applications for:

Position for Postdoctoral Researcher in ‘Global soil conservation, nutrient management and agricultural production’

We seek a highly qualified and motivated individual with an enthusiastic attitude towards high-quality interdisciplinary research to work as a Postdoctoral Researcher in our team. Position is for a period of 2.5 years beginning from September 2022 (or as agreed).

Project description: The research will be part of the ERC funded research project SOS.aquaterra , led by Associate Professor Matti Kummu. The project aims to identify feasible food system opportunities to meet the future food demand with sustainable use of natural resources. The five-year project develops a novel integrated global food system model to allow us to map different scenarios towards environmentally sustainable and socio-economically feasible food futures.

Main responsibilities: The main objective of the postdoc would be to assess how soil conservation and nutrient management strategies would impact on agricultural production globally, using global scale spatial datasets as well as relevant meta-analyses. The postdoc will need to be able to both work with large datasets (both spatial and tabular) as well as develop novel methods for assessing the potential of soil conservation and nutrient management on various aspects such as agricultural production, erosion, GHG emissions and biodiversity. This analysis will then be integrated to the global food system modelling scheme developed within the project. The postdoc will be working closely with the entire project team of four postdocs and three PhD candidates. The postdoc will collaborate internationally with other research teams, and participate in teaching (~5-10% of time) and instructing PhD and MSc students in Aalto University.

Research environment: The successful candidate will work in an interdisciplinary team of enthusiastic researchers. The Water & Development Research Group is among the world leading groups in global water and food issues. The key focus of the group is on integrating sustainable use of natural resources with other topical global challenges, such as food security and urbanisation. The group is energetic with good and supportive working atmosphere.

Contract terms: The monthly salary for the position follows the university salary system. The contract includes occupational healthcare as well as university’s support services.

Qualification requirements: Applicant should have completed a doctoral degree from a relevant field, including but not limited to physical geography, soil sciences, agricultural sciences, geoinformatics, or Earth system sciences. The applicant is expected to have a strong drive towards excellence in science and have an ability for innovative thinking both individually and within a team. Excellent skills in spoken and written English are required.

Assessment criteria: In the evaluation process, attention will be given to research skills, particularly working with global scale spatial datasets related to the subject, process level understanding of soil and nutrients, as well as sustainable food production systems.

In addition, the following are particularly meriting

Strong quantitative skills Experience in food system research Experience with high-level programming languages such as Python, R, or Matlab Good publication record Experience and interest in working in an interdisciplinary project

To apply, an application must include:

• Motivation Letter, including full contact information (max one A4 page)
• CV including publications and contact information for two reference persons (max four A4 pages)
• Summary of the Doctoral Thesis (max one A4 page)
• Copy of PhD diploma

All material should be submitted in English in a single pdf-file (in the order listed above). Please, include only the items requested.

The application should be submitted through the eRecruitment system (link 'Apply now!' below) no later than 30.6.2022. Email applications will not be taken into account. Please note: Aalto University’s employees and visitors should apply for the position via our internal system Workday -> find jobs (not external aalto.fi webpage on open positions) by using their existing Workday user account.

For more information: Associate Professor Matti Kummu ([email protected]; +358 50 407 5171), and in questions related to the recruitment process, HR Coordinator Kirsi Kärkkäinen ([email protected]).

General information for international candidates: As a living and working environment, Finland consistently ranks high in quality-of-life. For more information about living in Finland:
https://www.aalto.fi/en/careers-at-aalto/for-international-staff

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