PhD Student (f/m/d) Integrated Economic Modelling for Sustainable Subsoil Management in Agroecological Systems

The mission of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) as a nationally and internationally active research institute is to deliver solutions for an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable agriculture – together with society. ZALF is a member of the Leibniz Association and is located in Müncheberg (approx. 35 minutes by regional train from Berlin-Lichtenberg). The institute also maintains locations in Dedelow and Paulinenaue.

The research group “Farm Economics and Ecosystem Services” is a team of dedicated postdocs and PhD students who want to make a difference through good science, mutual support and exchange with other disciplines and practitioners. We are offering a PhD position within the Horizon Europe-funded SUS-SOIL project, which aims to establish 15 Subsoil-Living Labs across Europe to study and benchmark land management practices. A key focus of this project is identifying optimal sustainable subsoil management practices within business models for land managers. To realize this objective, the PhD will center on developing and implementing a comprehensive modeling chain. This will involve integrating existing bio-economic and Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models to account for the macroeconomic effects of subsoil degradation, as well as fluctuations in input costs and product prices, in the optimal design process of these business models.

We offer a temporary part-time position (26 hours per week) subject to funding for 4 years – earliest starting date is October 2024:

PhD Student (f/m/d)

in Integrated Economic Modelling for Sustainable Subsoil Management in Agroecological Systems

The successful candidate will:

1. develop and refine the integrated modeling framework to create sustainable business plans and innovative business models for dynamic living labs in diverse contexts, including agriculture, forestry and urban areas
2. implement and customize the existing bio-economic farm model MODAM tailored to the specific conditions and objectives of each living lab
3. establish a bidirectional linkage between MODAM and IFPRI's CGE model for a comprehensive assessment of subsoil health's economic implications and the effects of demand-side fluctuations on input costs and product output prices
4. facilitate interactive processes within a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework to optimize strategies for subsoil health enhancement
5. utilize SWOT method to develop long term, quantitative strategic plans emphasizing sustainable subsoil health improvement

This PhD position is carried out in collaboration with the Doctoral program in Agricultural and Forestry Research at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain, under the research line of "Integrated Economic Modelling for Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry Development”.

The candidate should have the following profile:

• a completed master's degree in agricultural economics, environmental economics, applied mathematics, or a related field
• good background in bio-economic modelling, computational modelling, and optimization techniques
• experience with dynamic modelling frameworks and familiarity with CGE models is highly desirable
• good background in mathematical programming in GAMS for model development
• excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with interdisciplinary teams
• strong interest in scientific writing
• as an internationally research institution, located in Germany we require good to very good written and spoken English skills and the willingness to take part in further training as part of the language courses in German offered internally

We offer:

• an interdisciplinary working environment that encourages independence and self-reliance
• a collegial and open-minded working atmosphere in a dynamic research institution
• institutional commitment to a good work-life balance
• classification according to the collective agreement of the federal states (TV-L) up to E13 (including special annual payment)
• in-house language courses in German and English
• company ticket

Women are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications from severely disabled persons with equal qualifications are favoured. It is generally possible to work in the position on a part-time basis. Please send your application preferably online (see button online application below). For e-mail applications, create a PDF document (one PDF file, max. 5 MB; packed PDF documents, archive files like zip, rar etc. Word documents cannot be processed and therefore cannot be considered!) with the usual documents, in particular motivation letter, CV, proof of qualification, certificates and full transcripts, stating the reference number 71-2024 until 23 August 2024 to (see button e-mail application below).

https://jobs.zalf.de/jobposting/1d8d5ebb9808cc0e4ac43046c64375c05bed5be00

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact: Dr. Seyed-Ali Hosseini-Yekani, Hosseini(at)zalf.de or Dr. Peter Zander, Peter.Zander(at)zalf.de

For cost reasons, application documents or extensive publications can only be returned if an adequately stamped envelope is attached. If you apply, we collect and process your personal data in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of the EU GDPR only for the processing of your application and for purposes that result from possible future employment with the ZALF. Your data will be deleted after six months.