PhD Position (Agroecological Decision-Support / Policy Analysis)

University of Bonn, Germany

We seek a PhD student for the project “Wetlands in East Africa - Reconciling future food production with environmental protection ". She/he will develop a decision tool for assessing options for wetland uses in East Africa. Human, agricultural and environmental wetland characteristics are studied since 2014 by an interdisciplinary team comprised of African and German researchers. Regional and topical priority areas were defined together with East-African policy institutions. The project has reached a stage in which the scientific findings can be integrated and implemented. In collaboration with policy analysts and modellers, the incumbent is expected to initially refine requirements for the design of the decision support tool, to balance them against available research information and establish options for the tool design. Subsequent prototyping and implementation will be carried out with the scientific impact assessment and modelling platform SIMPLACE (www.simplace.net) following the agile development approach. A review of the development process will be an integral part of the study.

She/he must have strong experiences in agroecology and computer programming. Candidates with knowledge in interaction design are particularly invited to submit their applications. We are looking for a curious, energetic and self-motivated candidate willing to become part of an interdisciplinary research team composed of African and German researchers.

The PhD student will be based in the Tropical and Subtropical Plant Nutrition lab at the Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation in the University of Bonn (www.inres.uni-bonn.de). She/he is expected to travel and work in East-Africa.  The 40-month position is available immediately and will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate has been identified. The financial renumeration is a stipend corresponding to the German salary level TV-L 13 -60% (1500 €/month). Please send your applications (One-page motivation letter, CV certificates) as PDF files to Prof. Dr. Langensiepen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "sans serif"; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); text-decoration: none;">Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

PDF-File of this advertisement:

http://www.langensiepen.net/PhDDecisionSupportEastAfricanWetlands.pdf