Agenda 2030: Postdoctoral researcher in Biodiversity and health - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Vacancy announcement for postdoc fellowships focusing on Agenda 2030 and sustainable development: Nature-based solutions at the climate-biodiversity-health nexus

The 2030 Agenda is the framework for sustainable development that the world’s nations have signed to end extreme poverty, reduce inequalities, solve the climate crisis, promote peace and equity and much more. In order to achieve the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, research has several important roles: to identify challenges and conflicting objectives, contribute to new solutions, generate dialogue and learning between different societal stakeholders and critically analyse the goals. Lund University aspires to be a part of the solution and has therefore initiated a research programme on sustainable development with postdoc fellowships in various interdisciplinary projects. The projects will not only constitute platforms for the postdocs’ career development, but also form a basis for national and European applications, and for future environments for excellence and profiling. The programme is also to develop the postdocs’ expertise in teaching and learning in higher education. More information on the research programme is available here: https://www.sustainability.lu.se/researchers/available-positions

We now welcome applicants who want to take an active role in 2030 Agenda research to apply for the postdoc fellowships starting 2022-01-01.

Project information

In this project, researchers at the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Medicine will work together to develop a conceptual framework for how nature-based solutions – actions that protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems – generate synergies and mitigate trade-offs between biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, population health and human wellbeing. The framework will employ biodiversity science, ecosystem process understanding, environmental psychology and epidemiology, to provide a joint pathway to address these global challenges in practice. We are now recruiting three post-doctoral researchers to join the project team and coordinate the research.

This is a truly interdisciplinary project, which from its start will integrate the constituent subdisciplines as participants inform about their respective research field and jointly identify potential links between endpoints. This is done in order to develop a shared understanding of how the different endpoints are mechanistically related and of the task at hand. Initially the team will also systematically map the existing evidence of how trade-offs and synergies between climate, biodiversity and health are moderated by nature-based solutions.

The post-doc position (2 years) hosted by the Faculty of Medicine will be placed at the Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, and will serve as a coordinator of the epidemiological expertise within the project. For this task, we are looking for an epidemiologist, public health scientist or similar, with good understanding of scientific methods for knowledge synthesis, a keen interest in transdisciplinary research, a dedication to developing evidence-based and multifunctional solutions to global challenges of sustainability and public health, and a motivation to contribute to the development of a novel research field in the climate-biodiversity-health nexus. One important aspect of this is how socioeconomic conditions, lifestyle and other factors in the population interact with the built and natural environment in a broad sense to increase or protect against chronic diseases in the population, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other associated health problems.

Qualifications

Appointment to a post-doctoral position requires that the applicant has a PhD, or an international degree deemed equivalent to a PhD, within the subject of the position, completed no more than three years before the last date for applications. Under special circumstances, the doctoral degree can have been completed earlier. These circumstances refer to leave due to illness, parental leave, clinical work, positions of trust within trade union organizations or other similar circumstances.

For appointment to a post-doctoral position, the ability to develop and conduct high quality research and also teaching skills will be evaluated as part of the assessment criteria. The assessment of the applicants will primarily be based on their research qualifications and potential as researchers.

The following are also required for the position:

• PhD in epidemiology, public health, or other relevant sub-discipline within the medical or social sciences
• Documented knowledge and experience of research within epidemiology, public health, or a related sub-discipline
• Experience of knowledge synthesis (e.g. systematic literature reviews, meta-analysis)
• Documented ability to produce and publish high quality research output
• Excellent ability to work in a team
• Fluency in spoken and written English

Special emphasis will be placed on certain personal qualities. We are looking for someone who is knowledgeable, willing to work together also in teams, and with broad interest in the environment and human health.

The following items is considered to be a merit:

• Experience in using registers, biobanks or other large data sources for research
• Experience of transdisciplinary work
• Experience in environmental epidemiology/medicine, social epidemiology/medicine, spatial epidemiology/human geography and GIS, or research on climate changes
• Experience from evaluation of community-based interventions
• Experience of stakeholder interactions

Terms of employment

This is a full-time, fixed-term employment of a maximum of 2 years. The period of employment is determined in accordance with the agreement “Avtal om tidsbegränsad anställning som postdoktor” (“Agreement on fixed-term employment as a post-doctoral fellow”) between Lund University, SACO-S, OFR/S and SEKO, dated 4 September 2008.

Instructions for your application

The application must contain a personal letter describing how you fulfill the desired qualifications, a CV and a PhD diploma.