Lund University, Faculty of Science, Centre for Environmental and Climate Research

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world’s top universities. The University has around 47 000 students and more than 8 800 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard gender equality and diversity as a strength and an asset.

Background

Ecological compensation is a land use policy developed to mitigate adverse effects of exploitation, on biodiversity and ecosystem services. In practice, it means that values that are lost when exploiting an area are compensated elsewhere. Compensation measures usually consist of restoration, creation of new values or protection of protected nature. Ecological compensation is the last step in the so-called mitigation hierarchy which requires exploiters to; avoid, minimize or restore biodiversity injuries before considering compensatory measures.

As a doctoral candidate you will be part of several multidisciplinary projects examining Ecological Compensation as a policy, which involves collaboration between the Center for Environment and Climate Research (CEC), AgriFood (economy) and Political Science at Lund University. The projects include environmental and political scientists, economists and ecologists. The position will be located at CEC, and the position is a PhD education in environmental science.

The overall objective of the projects is to increase our understanding of how ecological compensation can help (or not) to achieve biodiversity goals and how social and economic factors are involved in such and achievement. The PhD student project will focus on how ecological knowledge materializes through policies and practice, developed around ecological compensation, with a major focus on its implementation in Sweden.

Duties

You will start exploring existing forms of ecological compensation, from a Swedish as well as an international perspective. This will be done by studying scientific publications (literature review) as well as "grey" literature (reports, guidelines, etc.). The point of departure is to increase the understand of what the scientific and the grey literature write about how ecological compensation may/should be organized/designed. As theoretical point of departure there are various possibilities where the candidate's background and interest can influence the choice, but implementation research, various parts of the governance literature or natural resource management are possible points of departure.

During the latter steps of the PhD project you will in debt examine already completed compensation projects in Sweden. The purpose will be to understand which ecological knowledge that, so far has been integrated into these projects, but also which institutional barriers and drivers that exist in relation to the implementation of ecological compensation. The theoretical point of departure will, among other things, be inspired by sociology of science, how in this case models, checklists and assessment tools affects how we understand and frame what should be compensated and not. The empirical material will include written decisions regarding ecological compensation as well as interviews with actors involved in the preparation of such written material.

The research will result in the writing and publication of scientific articles in international journals. The articles will be compiled into the PhD thesis. Interaction with different stakeholders and relevant organizations is an integral part of the PhD candidate’s tasks.

Qualifications

We are looking for a highly motivated person with an interest in performing research on land use policies. You are expected to have good collaborative abilities as well as abilities to develop and run projects independently.

The position requires;

  • A background in political science, environmental science or comparable subject.
  • Documented knowledge of social science methods including how to conduct a literature review, text analysis and semi-structured interviews.
  • Excellent skills in written and oral communication in Swedish (considering also applicants with the same skills in other Scandinavian languages)
  • Excellent skills in written and oral communication in English.

 Merits for the position are;

  • Documented knowledge in the field sociology of science or knowledge of neighboring fields.
  • Experience in practical management work and land use planning and implementation
  • Knowledge of environmental law, including planning and building law
  • Ecology and nature conservation biology
  • Working experience with different types of stakeholders relevant for this project

 It is an advantage if you can start work as soon as possible.

Eligibility

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.

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§.

Type of employment Temporary position
First day of employment Enligt överenskommelse.
Salary Monthly salary
Number of positions 1
Full-time equivalent 100
City Lund
County Skåne län
Country Sweden
Reference number PA2018/3612
Contact
  • Johanna Alkan Olsson, universitetslektor, 046-222 17 93; johanna.alkan_olsson@cec.lu.se
Union representative
  • OFR/ST:Fackförbundet ST:s kansli, 046-222 93 62
  • SACO:Saco-s-rådet vid Lunds universitet, 046-222 93 64
  • SEKO: Seko Civil, 046-222 93 66
Published 08.Nov.2018
Last application date 30.Nov.2018 11:59 PM CET

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