Postdoc position in Integrating Stakeholder Perspectives for Sustainable Agriculture Transformation

The Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, Denmark, is offering a postdoctoral position starting on 1st September or as soon as possible thereafter. The position will be available for a 3-year period.

Join us in advancing sustainable agriculture through interdisciplinary research at Aarhus University's Department of Agroecology. We seek applicants for a postdoctoral position, focusing on the socio-economic aspects of Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) of GHG emissions in Danish and European agri-food systems as a foundation for decision support and improving management strategies. This position offers the opportunity to contribute to reducing GHG emissions in Denmark while also addressing broader challenges of promoting sustainable agri-food futures taking knowledge of greenhouse gas mitigation options - at both the farm and landscape scale into account.
About the position:
The postdoc will be connected to the Land-CRAFT.dk Center for Landscape Research in Sustainable Agricultural Futures and related research and innovation platforms for Nitrogen and GHG emission mitigation in agriculture (in particular in relation to N2O emission), where you will join a project team with an exciting international interdisciplinary research environment and industrial collaborators.
The primary purpose of this postdoctoral position is to actively support the development of low emission management systems and technologies by identifying and addressing implementation barriers. This particularly involves integrating socio-economic considerations, scenarios, and stakeholders’ perspective into the project's framework, and the additionally funded Land-CRAFT.dk Pioneer Center.
Tasks and responsibilities
As the suitable candidate, you will be an important part of achieving the overarching goals of our research group, which aims to construct a diverse platform for documenting and assessing synergies and trade-offs relevant to sustainable agricultural development. Your responsibilities will be closely aligned with the research goals, as outlined below:

1. Engage in Science-Policy Forums:
Participate in structured forum meetings to effectively represent diverse stakeholder interests. Contribute substantively to discussions concerning the prerequisites for establishing an MRV platform, devising pathways for achieving emissions reductions, identifying obstacles to implementing low emission management systems, and formulating strategies for the sustainable continuation of the MRV platform beyond the project's timeframe. These discussions will directly inform the development of our research platform, ensuring its relevance and effectiveness in addressing socio-economic, biodiversity, and land use management concerns at both national and local scales.

2. Aligning Stakeholder needs and perspectives:
Collaborate closely with project partners and stakeholders (farmers, advisors, researchers, as well as policy makers at various levels) to ensure alignment of stakeholder needs including perceptions of risk and uncertainty with the development of the MRV system. This involves addressing challenges associated with acquiring activity data at the field level as a basis for targeted decision support. By integrating stakeholder perspectives into the design process, you will facilitate the development of a platform that addresses the specific needs and concerns of various stakeholders, thereby enhancing its utility and effectiveness.

3. Enabling decision support for GHG mitigation:
Analyzing the conditions for adopting advise and changing practices will work to improve the utility of the MRV system as a basis for decision support and policy interventions. Your contributions will be instrumental in ensuring that our platform is informed by the latest research findings and methodologies, enabling us to accurately assess the synergies and trade-offs associated with different agricultural practices and interventions.

4. International stakeholder engagement:
Work collaboratively with a stakeholder group to explore avenues for integrating research outcomes into global initiatives aimed at improving N2O emissions accounting. This includes organizing and facilitating international webinars and workshops, fostering knowledge exchange, and promoting cross-cultural dialogue. By engaging with stakeholders from diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds, you will contribute to the development of a platform that is applicable and adaptable across different regions and contexts, thereby maximizing its impact and relevance on a global scale.

5. High-Impact publication:
Publish influential papers based on the project's outcomes, bridging the realms of social and natural sciences. Your contributions will play a crucial role in disseminating project findings and informing policy and practice in the field of sustainable agriculture. By highlighting the socio-economic, biodiversity, and land use management implications you will contribute to a more holistic understanding of the risks and opportunities associated with sustainable agricultural development, thereby guiding future interventions and policy decisions.
Qualifications and requirements:
A Ph.D. in a relevant field such as environmental management, human geography, environmental science, organization studies, agricultural science, agroecology, political science, or related disciplines. The ideal candidate will possess expertise in policy engagement, stakeholder consultation, and socio-economic analysis within an agri-food contexts.

• Strong communication skills and the ability to engage effectively with diverse stakeholders.
• Experience in policy engagement, stakeholder consultation, and interdisciplinary research.
• Capacity to work independently and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team environment.

We expect that you will be an important part of the research environment and that you will contribute positively to the social working environment.
Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University at Campus Viborg, Blichers Allé 20, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Deadline:
Deadline for application: 3 June 2024.
Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact Assistant Professor Morten Graversgaard ([email protected] ) or Assistant Professor Martin Thorsøe ([email protected]) or professor, section manager Tommy Dalgaard ([email protected]) +4520706132.

Application procedure
Shortlisting is used. This means that after the deadline for applications – and with the assistance from the assessment committee chairman, and the appointment committee if necessary, – the head of department selects the candidates to be evaluated. All applicants will be notified whether or not their applications have been sent to an expert assessment committee for evaluation. The selected applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee, and each applicant is given the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that concerns him/her self. Once the recruitment process is completed a final letter of rejection is sent to the deselected applicants.
Letter of reference
If you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application. We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in question before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.
Formalities and salary range
Technical Sciences refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any). Guidelines for applicants can be found here.

Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.

Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Associations.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

Research activities will be evaluated in relation to actual research time. Thus, we encourage applicants to specify periods of leave without research activities, in order to be able to subtract these periods from the span of the scientific career during the evaluation of scientific productivity.

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Read more here. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here.

Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU. You can read more about it here.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

Aarhus University
Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/

Department: Jordbrugssyst.,og Bæredygtighed/Agricultural Systems and Sustainability

Deadline: 03 June 2024

Location: Tjele Blichers Allé 20