Postdoctoral Fellowship (Brazil-Fapesp) – Biota Synthesis #8 – Collaborative environmental policy design

1. Job Description:

Fields of knowledge: Environmental policy, Science-based Stakeholder Dialogue, decision making support

FAPESP process: 2020/06694-8

Project title: BIOTA SYNTHESIS – Nucleus of Analysis and Synthesis of Nature-Based Solutions

Principal investigator: Jean Paul Metzger

Postdoctoral project title: Supporting decisions for forest landscape restoration and forest-based economy

Supervisor for this position: Gerd Sparovek

Unit/Institution: Institute for Advanced Studies, University of São Paulo, São Paulo.  

Working area: Multidisciplinary applied research.

Number of scholarships: 1

Duration: The position is offered for 24 months, starting on May/2022. 

Grant: BRL 7,373.10 (monthly) plus a research contingency fund equivalent to 10% of the value of the scholarship (to purchase items directly related to research activity)

Deadline for submissions: March 13th, 2022

Publishing date: April 2022

Selection process: The selection process will happen in two phases: curriculum vitae evaluation and interview. Only the 3-5 candidates presenting the best evaluated CVs will be interviewed (remotely).

Local: IEA-USP: Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of São Paulo, Rua Praça do Relógio, 109, ground floor, Cidade Universitária, Zip Code 05508-050, São Paulo, SP. 

Link for submission:  https://forms.gle/yVECcrK4eyq3Y5h16 

E-mail for contact: [email protected] 

2. General Postdoctoral fellowships ‘profile:

The Biota-Synthesis initiative seeks eight highly qualified postdoctoral fellows to be part of a “Nucleus of Analysis and Synthesis of Nature-based Solutions.” This Nucleus will be funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP, for five years (2022-2026) and brings together researchers from 5 Universities, 7 Research Institutes of the State of São Paulo, and 4 Non-Governmental Organizations, as well as technicians and decision-makers from the State Secretariats of Infrastructure and Environment, Public Health, and Agriculture. The Nucleus will be based at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the University of São Paulo, Brazil’s city of São Paulo (SP). 

The goal of the Nucleus is to support the state of São Paulo in the development of socio-environmental public policies related to agricultural sustainability, ecological restoration, zoonosis control, and disease prevention in urban areas, considering essentially nature-based solutions.

The Nucleus will work following a “synthesis science” approach, with heterogeneous and collaborative working groups, which will meet periodically in an immersive way for brainstorming discussions. These meetings will be intercalated with the analysis and modeling of existing databases, where the active participation of postdoctoral fellows is expected. See here for further details. 

The desired profile for these postgraduates is of professionals with great ability to work collaboratively in teams, with high capacity for listening and dialogue with researchers and social actors with different backgrounds and professional experiences, and the modeling and analysis capabilities that will be detailed for each profile. The post-doctoral position is open to Brazilian and foreign researchers with a Ph.D. degree. However, fluency in Portuguese is desired to facilitate the discussion and dialogue with the different actors involved in the project. Each postdoctoral fellow will have a specific research project and supervisor. Still, it is expected that this group of fellows will work together in close collaboration with the coordination team of the Biota-Synthesis Nucleus.

FAPESP postdoctoral fellowships are competitive (R$ 7,373.10, approximately US$ 1,340.00) and granted for 24 months, with the possibility of extension for two additional years. The fellowship includes a research contingency fund, equivalent to 10% of its annual value, which should be spent on items directly related to the research activity.

3. Application procedure:

Applications must be submitted until March 14, 2022, 10 am, Brasilia Time (BRT), UTC -3, through the following link: https://forms.gle/yVECcrK4eyq3Y5h16. If you have any further questions, please contact us at [email protected]. The same applicant can apply for more than one scholarship simultaneously.

•Curriculum Vitae following FAPESP format, including Lattes (for Brazilian candidates), ORCID, and Publon links, as well as citation indicators (e.g., number of publications and citations, H index); please indicate experience in teamwork and with the development of public policy, if applicable;

•Research statement specifying why the candidate is suitable for the fellowship position;

•Three reference persons can be consulted if the candidate is selected for an interview.

Please contact us again if you don’t receive the subscription confirmation by March 20th. 

For each of the eight fellowships, 3-5 candidates will be selected for an interview (to be done virtually). The initial selection will consider the adequacy of the candidate to the fellowship profile and the candidate's professional experience and publication records. 

The interviews are expected to occur at the end of March/beginning of April. The fellowship will begin in May, after validation of the selective process by FAPESP, according to the Institution's norms. All postdoctoral fellows will be formally linked to the postdoctoral program of the University of São Paulo. 

4. Summary of Fellowship #8 project (collaborative environmental policy design): 

Science-based policy design is necessary to sustain effective environmental governance strategies in reversing the current world scenario of rapid loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems. Science-based Stakeholder Dialogues aim to achieve the connection between scientific knowledge and applied policy design by establishing a structured communication process between scientific and non-scientist actors. The co-production of knowledge with social relevance and applicability to establishing environmental policies through these dialogues becomes possible. The main objective of this postdoctoral project is to facilitate the approximation between the actors involved in the development of BIOTA SÍNTESE and allow the establishment of effective collaboration between them to combine scientific knowledge with the design and implementation of social and environmental policies in the state of São Paulo. To this end, theoretical (e.g., Theory U) and methodological approaches (e.g., Brainstorming) will be used for participatory processes and conflict resolution. During the process, cycles of meetings will be held to allow a continuous feedback process between the scientific and non-scientist actors, including steps such as (i) demand surveys; (ii) prioritization of demands; (iii) model proposals, and (iv) review and adjustments to the proposed models. The results of this project will allow the production of robust scientific information oriented to the policy formulation process in the State.

5. Requirements for the position: 

•Ph.D. in areas related to ecology, ecosystem services, environment analysis, applied social science, obtained no longer than 7 years before the grant acceptance date, obtained no longer than 7 years before the grant acceptance date;

•Excellent skills and experience with policy design support, multidisciplinary research, data analysis, statistics, and modeling;

•Ability to work collaboratively in a group, including non-academic stakeholders;

•Excellent oral and written communication skills; 

•Good knowledge of Portuguese and English.