PhD Position (m/f/d)
Ecosystem Services and Climate Change in Mountainous Viticulture

08.07.2024

The interdisciplinary research group of the Professorship of Ecological Services (PES), University of Bayreuth, aims at better ecological management of agriculturally dominated landscapes facing climate change. Towards this goal, a PhD position is currently available:

We are seeking a dedicated individual to join our team for the European funded project “RESPOnD - Climate resilient Alpine Wine Orchards” (Interreg Alpine Space Programme),  which aim is to mainstream Ecosystem-based Adaption (EbA) approaches to address the multiple challenges faced by traditional wine orchards in the Alpine Space.

The selected candidate will focus on developing knowledge on key benefits and climate vulnerabilities of alpine wine orchards by working with various stakeholders in the wine sector. Responsibilities include modeling ecosystem services and climate change impact indicators and establishing the knowledge foundation for adaptive change pathways and resilience strategies in alpine viticulture.The role requires organizing workshops with stakeholders (e.g., wine growers and consortia) and traveling for project meetings in the countries of the Alpine Space.

The PhD position, starting October 1, 2024, or later is offered for 3 years.

Your qualifications for the open position:

• Holding a MSc in environmental/natural sciences, or geography
• Excellent academic record
• Methodological knowledge in modeling ecosystem services (e.g., InVEST), and working with climate data (e.g., agroclimatic indicators)
• Proficiency in GIS and R (the knowledge of additional programming languages, e.g., Python, is a plus)
• Very good English and German language skills (German is required for stakeholder involvement)
• Previous experience in stakeholder involvement is a plus
• Previous experience or knowledge in viticulture is a plus

Working environment:

The Professorship of Ecological Services (PES) offers an interdisciplinary working environment:

• Membership in the Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER) of the University of Bayreuth with more than 60 senior researchers and postdocs with a research focus on biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services.
• PhD students will be enrolled in the PhD program for Ecology and Environmental Research PEER, which offers support by mentoring, structured course program and access to workshops & seminars.

Handicapped persons will be given preference in cases with equal qualification. The University of Bayreuth is dedicated to increasing the proportion of women employed in science, and requests explicitly applications from women.

Applicants should send in one pdf a motivation letter, curriculum vitae, certificates with transcripts of grades, list of publications (if applicable), and contact addresses of 2 referees via email to sebastian.candiago@uni-bayreuth.de (Dr. Sebastian Candiago, Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Geosciences, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany).

Date of publication July 8, 2024 - open for applications until August 15, 2024 or until position filled. See status on PES webpage or contact Dr. Sebastian Candiago for further information.

Notes for applicants concerning General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) information requirements >>