PhD Student in Integrated Economic Modelling for Sustainable Business Planning in Agriculture at ZALF

The mission of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) as a nationally and internationally active research institute is to deliver solutions for an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable agriculture – together with society. ZALF is a member of the Leibniz Association and is located in Müncheberg (approx. 35 minutes by regional train from Berlin-Lichtenberg). It also maintains a research station with further locations in Dedelow and Paulinenaue.

The research group “Farm Economics and Ecosystem Services” is a team of dedicated postdocs and PhD students who want to make a difference through good science, mutual support and exchange with other disciplines and practitioners. We are offering a PhD position within the PRIMA funded project DIONYSUS. The project aims to establish cross-sectoral demonstration and replication sites across Mediterranean regions, focusing on agricultural resilience in the face of diminishing resources. It engages local stakeholders through action panels, fostering dialogue and innovation. Utilizing participatory approaches, the project co-designs water-energy-food-ecosystem (WEFE) adaptation solutions. Central to the methodology is the development of a web-based Decision Support System (DSS) that facilitates co-designed business models for sustainable market solutions. A strong focus of this PhD position will be the development and implementation of a comprehensive modelling chain within the DIONYSUS project, integrating bio-economic and Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models to assess the cross-sectoral effects of climate change and population growth scenarios on water, energy, food, and ecosystem sectors in the Mediterranean region, ultimately contributing to the design of optimal sustainable business models.

We are offering a temporary part-time position (65% of regular weekly working hours) (earliest start date is June 2024) subject to funding for 3 years as a

PhD Student in Integrated Economic Modelling for Sustainable Business Planning in Agriculture (f/m/d)

25-2024

Your tasks:

develop and refine the modelling chain of the project to design sustainable business model canvases for demonstration farms in the Mediterranean region

introduce new modules for optimizing farm-level value chains and calculating financial ratios within the existing bio-economic farm model DAHBSIM

establish bidirectional linkage between DAHBSIM and IFPRI's CGE model for cross-sectoral investigation of macroeconomic effects of different shocks

facilitate an interactive process within an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework for stakeholders to co-create operational adaptation solutions and policy options

utilize the SWOT method to develop a long-term quantitative strategic planning matrix (QSPM) emphasizing adaptation capacity to dwindling WEFE resources

This PhD position is carried out in collaboration with the Doctoral Program in Agricultural and Forestry Research at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain, under the research line of "Integrated Economic Modelling for Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry Development”.

Your qualifications:

a completed master's degree in agricultural economics, environmental economics, applied mathematics, or a related field

good background in bio-economic modelling, computational modelling, and optimization techniques

experience with dynamic modelling frameworks and familiarity with CGE models is highly desirable

good background in mathematical programming in GAMS for model development

excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with interdisciplinary teams

strong interest in scientific writing

as an internationally research institution, located in Germany we require good to very good written and spoken English skills and the willingness to take part in further training as part of the language courses in German offered internally

What we offer:

an interdisciplinary working environment that encourages independence and self-reliance

a collegial and open-minded working atmosphere in a dynamic research institution

institutional commitment to a good work-life balance

classification according to the collective agreement of the federal states (TV-L) up to E13 (including special annual payment)

in-house language courses in German and English

company ticket

Women are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications from severely disabled persons with equal qualifications are favoured. It is generally possible to work in the position on a part-time basis. Please send your application preferably online (see button online application below). For e-mail applications, create a PDF document (one PDF file, max. 5 MB; packed PDF documents, archive files like zip, rar etc. Word documents cannot be processed and therefore cannot be considered!) with the usual documents, in particular motivation letter, CV, proof of qualification, certificates and full transcripts, stating the reference number 25-2024 until 21 April 2024 to (see button e-mail application below).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Seyed-Ali Hosseini-Yekani, [email protected]  or

Dr. Peter Zander, [email protected] .

For cost reasons, application documents or extensive publications can only be returned if an adequately stamped envelope is attached. If you apply, we collect and process your personal data in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of the EU GDPR only for the processing of your application and for purposes that result from possible future employment with the ZALF. Your data will be deleted after six months.

View or Apply: https://jobs.zalf.de/jobposting/d701a8801fce0b9cc2cfd04d9c39fce9aa1802f10?ref=homepage