Doctoral student in Environmental Science - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Modelling insect-based ecosystem services in agriculture

This a four-year PhD project in Environmental Science located within an attractive interdisciplinary research environment at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, with opportunities for collaboration with research groups across Europe. The project is rooted within ecological research but offers unique possibilities to collaborate beyond disciplinary boundaries to advance ecosystem service research.

Job assignments

A productive agriculture that is sustainable and less dependent on inputs such as synthetic fertilisers and pesticides is a key societal challenge. Current research efforts are aiming to establish the scientific basis and applicability of ecological intensification of agriculture in different regions of Europe. Ecosystem service models for pollination and biological control of pests are increasingly used to link investments in natural capital (maintaining populations of beneficial insects) to expected benefits. Major challenges are the transfer of models from one region to another, from the current climatic and socio-economic context to the future, and to taking into account year-to-year variability. The project will address this by: (1) calibrating and validating ecosystem service models using empirical data and expert networks from across Europe, (2) applying combinations of different climate and socio-economic scenarios to assess supply and demand of ecosystem services, and (3) considering how different approaches to consider uncertainty, including extreme events (climatic, socio-economic), compare in terms of assessing and communicating uncertainty, using quantitative risk assessment tools.

The PhD students in Environmental Science are located at different departments at the faculty of Science. The PhD education will thus include interactions with other PhD students across subjects and departments.

Eligibility/Entry Requirements

We are looking for a person with a Master’s degree (including a degree project of 30 credits or more) in environmental science, biostatistics, ecology, geography, agronomy or similar areas. Documented experience in statistical and/or process based modelling, and good command of R, Matlab and/or python are required. Knowledge of agro-ecology, landscape ecology and ecosystem services such as pollination and/or biological control are merits. Courses in or experience from analyses of spatial data is also qualifying. The applicant must be able to work both individually and in a team.

Students with basic eligibility for third-cycle studies are those who - have completed a second cycle degree - have completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from second-cycle courses, or - have acquired largely equivalent knowledge in some other way, in Sweden or abroad.

Basis of Assessment

The employment of doctoral students is regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. When an appointment to a doctoral studentship is made, the ability of the student to benefit from PhD-studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral studentships may be required to work with educational tasks, research and administration, in accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance.

Type of employment
Limit of tenure, four years according to HF 5 kap 7§.