Postdoctoral Fellow in Sustainability Science

The Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) is a leading international centre in sustainability science for biosphere stewardship, at the Stockholm University. The SRC currently employs around 130 members of staff. It was founded in 2007 and is a joint initiative between Stockholm University and the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Project description
The MISTRA FinBio program will conduct cutting-edge transdisciplinary research to support the capacity of the financial sector to contribute significantly and meaningfully to a nature-positive economy that contributes to enhancing the resilience of our planet and societies by halting and reversing nature and biodiversity loss. Becoming nature-positive requires the development of techniques for identifying business models that safeguard existing biodiversity, as well as those that integrate and enhance biodiversity through their practices.

We are hiring a Post Doctoral Research Fellow to work on modelling of ecosystem services and their dependence on biodiversity. The candidate will work within the MISTRA FinBio program and develop tools to assess how activities by companies and financial actors impact the biosphere and their ecosystem services, as well as how changes in the biosphere could feedback and amplify financial risk.

Main responsibilities
The main responsibilities of this post doc position will be to combine existing datasets and modelling techniques to identify where the provision of ecosystem services is at risk due to biodiversity loss. Building on the methods and expertise of the team, then we will identify which actors influence change in these vulnerable locations, as well as their social networks (e.g. shareholders, investors, insurance). The candidate will be working with existing research infrastructure such as the InVEST modelling framework, the regime shifts database, or global datasets such as climate and biodiversity essential variables. Besides scientific publications, the candidate is also expected to co-produce data explorers to communicate scientific insights to the non-scientific audience.

The candidate will be employed at SRC, at Stockholm University, but will work with researchers across the globe, with some flexibility in terms of location depending on the tasks being undertaken and collaborations. The main supervisors will be Dr. Juan C. Rocha, Dr. Megan Meacham, and Prof. Garry D. Peterson (SRC).

Interaction across working groups and research partners are welcome and encouraged. The consortia includes the Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL), University of Gothenburg (UG), the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment (CGFI), the Swedish Natural History Museum, the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group (Oxford University), and the Natural Capital Project (NatCap, Stanford). The postdoctoral fellow will also be part of a group of early career scientists connected to the program who will serve as a peer group supported by regular meetings and interactions.

Qualification requirements
Postdoctoral positions are appointed primarily for purposes of research. Applicants are expected to hold a Swedish doctoral degree or an equivalent degree from another country.

Assessment criteria
The degree must have been completed at latest before the employment decision is made, but no more than three years before the closing date. An older degree may be acceptable under special circumstances. Special reasons refer to sick leave, parental leave, elected positions in trade unions, service in the total defense, or other similar circumstances as well as clinical attachment or service/assignments relevant to the subject area.

• In the appointment process special attention will be given to research skills needed for the position. We seek a candidate with the following qualifications
• A track record demonstrating excellence in empirical analyses and synthesis research on ecosystem services and biodiversity demonstrated in academic publications
• Experience in working on ecosystem service models, remote sensing products, or causal inference frameworks
• Skills in geocomputation and programming literacy in at least one open source scientific programming language (e.g. R, Julia, Python). Demonstrated experience in caring for reproducibility and FAIR data management
• Shown ability to formulate own original research ideas and conduct research independently
• Willingness to work as part of a transdisciplinary team, and evidence of previous work with researchers from different disciplines
• Ability to communicate research ideas and results and an interest to engage with stakeholders outside the academic community
• Excellent written and spoken English skills (Swedish is not a requirement).

In the recruitment, emphasis will be placed on personal suitability. We are looking for a person who has the ability to work in an international, fast-paced environment. You are responsible, responsive, and a good team player. You are self-motivated, take responsibility for your tasks and have a structured way of working. You are used to prioritizing and can keep an overview of a complex organization while delivering on concrete tasks.

Terms of employment
The position involves full-time employment for a minimum of two years and a maximum of three years, with the possibility of extension under special circumstances. Start date as per agreement.

Stockholm University strives to be a workplace free from discrimination and with equal opportunities for all.

Contact
Further information about the position can be obtained from Juan Rocha, telephone: +46 73 074 77 66, juan.rocha@su.se, or Prof. Garry D. Peterson, telephone: +46 8 674 77 42, garry.petersson@su.se.

Union representatives
Ingrid Lander (Saco-S), telephone: +46 708 16 26 64, saco@saco.su.se, Alejandra Pizarro Carrasco (Fackförbundet ST/OFR), telephone: +46 8 16 34 89, alejandra@st.su.se, and seko@seko.su.se (SEKO).

Application
Apply for the position at Stockholm University’s recruitment system. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the job advertisement, and that it is submitted before the deadline.

Please include the following information with your application

• Your contact details and personal data
• Your highest degree
• Your language skills
• Contact details for 2–3 references

and, in addition, please include the following documents

• Cover letter
• CV – degrees and other completed courses, work experience and a list of publications
• Research proposal (no more than 3 pages) describing:
  – why you are interested in the field/project described in the advertisement
  – why and how you wish to complete the project
  – what makes you suitable for the project in question
• Copy of PhD diploma
• Letters of recommendation (no more than 3 files)
• Publications in support of your application (no more than 3 files).

The instructions for applicants are available at: How to apply for a position.

You are welcome to apply!

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