PhD position in Environmental Science, Department of Political Science - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Duties
The doctoral student will be enrolled in the PhD programme in Environmental Science at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC), an attractive research environment which aims at developing scientific competence and interdisciplinary research across departments and faculties at Lund University.

The PhD programme in Environmental Science consists of 240 credits (equivalent to four years of full-time studies) and is concluded with the public defense of a doctoral thesis. The appointed doctoral student will receive a salary from the University during four years, and their primary obligation is to complete their PhD studies. The position may involve departmental duties, mainly in the form of teaching, up to 20 per cent of fulltime working hours, in which case the appointment will be extended by the equivalent number of hours. The terms of employment for doctoral students are regulated in the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance (HF), Chapter 5, Sections 1– 7.

For more information about the PhD programme in Environmental Science at CEC see: https://www.cec.lu.se/education/postgraduate-studies/phd-programme-environmental-science

The doctoral student will be employed at the Department of Political Science and will be part of the research project “Green forest policies: a comparative assessment of outcomes and trade-offs across Fenno-Scandinavia (GreenPole)”. The project is highly interdisciplinary, employing multiple models and methods from ecology, environmental science, and social sciences and combines them in an overarching socio-ecological framework. The overarching aim of the project is to assess effects of forest policies through a modular, integrated policy assessment model, and derive evidence-based policy advice. The doctoral student is expected to analyze the behavioral responses of forest owners and other land users to (changes in) Fenno-scandinavian forest policies through theory-based, data calibrated agent-based modelling. A goal is to model both past land use patterns and develop a calibrated model for making scenario analysis. The PhD project is to be developed in close collaboration with the project team. In particular, data input and output from the ABM to and from other modules in the overall project modelling architecture shall be taken into account in model development. 

Qualifications
The requirements for admission to third cycle courses and study programmes (in accordance with HF, Chapter 7, Section 35) are that the applicant

• meets the general and specific entry requirements that the higher education institution may have laid down, and
• is considered in other respects to have the ability required to benefit from the course or study programme (Swedish Code of Statutes 2010:1064).

A person meets the general entry requirements for third cycle courses and study programmes if he or she:
• has been awarded a second cycle qualification,
• has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second cycle, or
• has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad. 

Other requirements
In addition to the general entry requirements, the applicant must have completed at least 30 second cycle credits within the main field of environmental science, political science, sustainability studies, ecology, economics, or computer science, or acquired equivalent knowledge in Sweden or abroad.

Assessment criteria
Only applicants who are eligible for third cycle studies may be appointed to a doctoral studentship. Admission is primarily to be based on the applicant’s ability to benefit from the third cycle programme. Candidates should be proficient in working with statistical or mathematical modeling, e.g. in, R, Python, NetLogo, C++, Java, or Julia. Experience with and/or a strong interest for agent-based modelling is desirable, as well as knowledge of model parameterization and validation, inferential statistics, or machine-based learning. In addition experience or a strong interest in land-use questions, green economy, and or forest policy are desirable. 

Application procedure
Applications are to be submitted electronically via the Lund University application portal. The application must include:

• a cover letter;
• a CV that demonstrates your qualifications for the third cycle programme in Environmental Science;
• degree and grade certificates;
• Master’s degree thesis in Swedish or English or a thesis deemed equivalent;
• name and contact information of two personal references;
• a research plan in English of max 1 000 words. 

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