PhD: Climate Adaptation and Climate Justice for vulnerable coastal households

1 Mar 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)

Research Field

Economics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Netherlands

Application Deadline

7 Apr 2024 - 21:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Those who contribute the least to climate change are the first to suffer from its impacts. This is especially true for vulnerable and marginalised groups in coastal areas, who live in hazardous locations prone to flooding, salt intrusion or coastal erosion. Meanwhile, adaptation measures are often aimed at areas with high economic value, neglecting the most vulnerable and further increasing inequality. With your PhD thesis, you will improve our empirical understanding of the drivers, conditions, and dependencies of household (in)equality in coastal climate risk, in relation to government adaptation decisions.

The PhD project contributes to a larger project on pathways towards equitable coastal climate adaptation. As part of your PhD, you will develop, implement and statistically analyse household surveys to investigate (1) whether and how households are included in the governmental adaptation decision processes, (2) how different households adapt to coastal climate risk themselves, and (3) how government or household adaptation measures influence the distribution of risk for households with different socio-economic characteristics. You will implement the household surveys on climate justice and coastal climate risk during fieldwork in Africa and Asia.

To bring science to society, you will also use the survey results to develop and implement a serious game on the effects of adaptation on equality. With the serious game, you create an excellent tool to aid adaptation decision-makers in understanding how the complex interacting decisions lead to increases or decreases in equality to coastal climate impacts. You will test the serious game during workshops in Africa and Asia.

In the PhD project, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with other PhDs and societal partners that work on issues of Climate Justice , climate adaptation, and climate risks. You will be based at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), where you are part of a vibrant PhD community of about 40 PhD Candidates.

Your duties

• you will advance our scientific and societal understanding of equitable coastal adaptation for vulnerable households
• you will set up and maintain professional contact with societal partners in the case-study areas
• you will disseminate your research findings through academic publications, conference presentations, and engagement with relevant stakeholders
• you will have to contribute to teaching activities at IVM

Requirements
Specific Requirements

• you love to do empirical research and are dedicated to generate knowledge on climate justice, coastal risks, adaptation measures, and adaptive behaviour
• you completed a master’s degree in social sciences, for instance human geography, sociology, economics, econometrics, development studies, anthropology or otherwise related to the position
• you have the aptitude and quality to plan and execute survey fieldwork in diverse cultural regions
• you possess good planning skills, you take initiative, and you are a capable communicator
• you have experience with applying statistical techniques to analyse (survey) data
• you like to engage with adaptation decision-makers and are able to translate complex dynamics to understandable results

As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

Additional Information
Benefits

An interesting position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• a salary of € 2.770,00 (85.0) and maximum € 3.539,00 (85.3) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment
• an employment contract of initially 1 year. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and arrangements. Some examples:

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• solid pension scheme (ABP)
• contribution to commuting expenses
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package

Additional comments

Are you interested in this position and do you believe that your experience will contribute to the further development of our university? In that case, we encourage you to submit your CV and motivation letter. Interviews will be held at VU Amsterdam on 15 and 16 April 2024.

Submitting a diploma and a reference check are part of the application process.

Applications received by e-mail will not be considered.

Acquisition in response to this advertisement is not appreciated.

Website for additional job details

https://www.academictransfer.com/338445/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Country

Netherlands

City

Amsterdam

Postal Code

1081HV

Street

De Boelelaan 1111

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://www.academictransfer.com/en/338445/phd-climate-adaptation-and-climate-j…

Contact

City

Amsterdam

Website

http://www.vu.nl/

Street

De Boelelaan 1105

Postal Code

1081 HV

STATUS: EXPIRED