PhD student in Sustainability Science

Ref. No. SU FV-4755-23

at Stockholm Resilience Centre . Closing date: 4 February 2024.

The Stockholm Resilience Centre is a joint initiative between Stockholm University and the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Founded in 2007, the Centre is part of the Faculty of Science at Stockholm University.

The mission of the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) is to advance research for biosphere stewardship and innovation. Research at the SRC applies a social-ecological systems perspective and resilience thinking to generate knowledge and understanding to enable social-ecological transformations towards sustainable futures. Research is advanced through transdisciplinary collaboration with international leading researchers, research environments worldwide, and environmental actors.

The SRC aims to foster new generations of researchers and academic leaders through our Resilience Research School. The school equips students with a theoretical and practical foundation in Sustainability Science with a focus on resilience in social-ecological systems. Students are encouraged to develop new approaches that integrate methods and concepts from the social, natural and applied sciences. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to define a problem, develop research methods, and communicate research findings within international scientific and science-policy discussions.

Project description
We seek an enthusiastic and committed PhD student to develop science-based approaches to Nature Positive investments, as part of the research project MISTRA Finance to Revive Biodiversity (www.finbio.org ). The FinBio program aims to provide cutting-edge transdisciplinary research to support the capacity of the financial sector to contribute to enhancing the resilience of the biosphere, while also rapidly reducing the drivers of biodiversity loss.

Financial and public sector actors are increasingly focussing on nature positive investments, with the hope that such investments can contributing to halting the biodiversity crisis. However, there is currently no scientifically defined criteria for what would constitute a nature positive investment. This PhD will focus on developing scientifically grounded techniques to plan, design, implement, and evaluate nature positive investments. It will build on the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Nature Future Framework (www.ipbes.net/scenarios-models ) that proposes that definitions of nature positive must consider pluralistic value perspectives on how nature benefits and enhances the resilience of the Earth and human societies. The PhD Student will extend and apply the IPBES Nature Future Framework to the concept of nature positive investments and develop science-based methods to design, plan, and evaluate Nature Positive investments.

The PhD student performing this research will need a good scientific understanding of nature and its functioning, such as ecosystem ecology, as well as a broad understanding of multiple dimensions of biodiversity. The student should also have experience, or keen interest, in analyzing and assessing how people and economic activities impact and benefit from nature. The student will need strong foundations in both qualitative and quantitative methods as this project will rely on mixed methods. The student will also be expected to participate in FinBio program's engagement with the financial sector, and should therefore be comfortable engaging with non-academic stakeholders, and producing non-academic publications, in addition to peer reviewed research articles.

This PhD project is led by Prof Garry Peterson, Director of FinBio, and will be co-supervised by Prof. Beatrice Crona, Director of the Global Economic Dynamics of the Biosphere programme at the Swedish Royal Academy.  The student will collaborate with other researchers at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, and the international network of scholars and impact partners that are part of the FinBio project. The selected PhD student will be employed at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and will be based in Stockholm.

The PhD student will be linked to several of the research themes at Stockholm Resilience Centre, as well as to the Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere program at the Royal Swedish Academy of Science.  Furthermore, as part of the transdisciplinary environment of Stockholm’s Resilience Centre, the student will collaborate with, and benefit from, other students and researchers with diverse research interests and perspectives. 

Qualification requirements
In order to meet the general entry requirements, the applicant must have completed a second-cycle degree, completed courses equivalent to at least 240 higher education credits, of which 60 credits must be in the second cycle, or have otherwise acquired equivalent knowledge in Sweden or elsewhere.

Specific entry requirements for admission to postgraduate studies in Sustainability Science are that the applicant has a total of at least 30 credits, or equivalent, at advanced level in Natural Science, as well as a thesis of at least 30 credits at advanced level in a relevant subject, or equivalent knowledge.

The qualification requirements must be met by the deadline for applications.

Selection
The selection among the eligible candidates will be based on:

• Relevant knowledge for the research tasks, especially knowledge of social-ecological systems, resilience, biodiversity, business, finance, and IPBES Nature Futures Framework.
• Familiarity and demonstrated competence in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
• Analytical ability as demonstrated by, e.g. a scientific report, research articles, or degree project thesis.
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to work in teams and in an inter- or transdisciplinary setting, particularly in collaboration with domain experts in Earth system science, biodiversity science, finance, and sustainability accounting.
• Fluent in English, and skilled in written and oral communication.
• Strong writing skills (in English).
• Demonstrated experience in developing non-academic communications material.
• The applicant’s personal references.

Admission Regulations for Doctoral Studies at Stockholm University are available at: www.su.se/rules and regulations .

Terms of employment
Only a person who will be or has already been admitted to a third-cycle programme may be appointed to a doctoral studentship.

The term of the initial contract may not exceed one year. The employment may be extended for a maximum of two years at a time. However, the total period of employment may not exceed the equivalent of four years of full-time study.

Doctoral students should primarily devote themselves to their own education, but may engage in teaching, research, and administration corresponding to a maximum of 20 % of a full-time position.

Please note that admission decisions cannot be appealed.

Stockholm University strives to be a workplace free from discrimination and with equal opportunities for all.

Contact
For more information and questions regarding the project, please contact the main supervisor Prof. Garry Peterson, [email protected] .

For more information about the Resilience Research School or Sustainability Science at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, please contact the Director of PhD programme Victor Galaz, [email protected] , telephone: +46 8 674 70 83 or Head of Subject, Prof Örjan Bodin, [email protected] , telephone: +46 8 674 76 71.

Union representatives
Ingrid Lander (Saco-S), telephone: +46 708 16 26 64, [email protected] , Alejandra Pizarro Carrasco (Fackförbundet ST/Lärarförbundet), telephone: +46 8 16 34 89, [email protected] , [email protected]  (SEKO), and PhD student representative, [email protected] .

Application
Apply for the PhD student position through Stockholm University's recruitment system. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the advertisement, and that it is submitted before the deadline.

Please include the following information with your application

• Your contact details and personal data
• Your highest degree
• Your language skills

and, in addition, please include the following documents

• Cover letter (1 page maximum).
• CV – degrees and other completed courses, work experience and a list of degree projects/theses (2 pages max.).
• Sketch of a research idea/research proposal describing (2 pages max.):
  • what you would be interested to investigate within the framework of the project
  • how you plan to bring in your own background
  • how you envision to carry out the project (approach, methods, case studies, etc.)
• Degree certificates and grades confirming that you meet the general and specific entry requirements (please combine into 1 file)
• Most relevant degree projects/theses and publications (max. 3, please combine into one file).

The instructions for applicants are available at: How to apply for a position .

You are welcome to apply!

Stockholm University contributes to the development of sustainable democratic society through knowledge, enlightenment and the pursuit of truth.

URL to this page
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