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). It also maintains a research station with further locations in Dedelow and Paulinenaue.

The DFG-funded project “Fair institutions for sustainable agricultural landscapes: An empirical investigation of procedural equity in incentive-based policy instruments“ aims to generate a better understanding of the importance of procedural equity, i.e. fair decision-making processes in local level implementation of incentive-based policy instruments for the sustainable provision of ecosystem services. The project follows an embedded multi-method case study design focusing on Vietnam’s national Payments for Forest Ecosystem Services scheme, as ‘typical’ PES with collective decision-making in local level benefit-sharing mechanisms.

The position is part of the working group “Governance of Ecosystem Services”. The central question of this working group is which governance approaches allow for the targeted and equitable provision of societally desired ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation objectives.

We are offering a 65% part time position temporarily limited for 36 month with a desired starting date in December 2023 at our location in Müncheberg as

• conceptualisation and empirical stocktaking of local level decision-making processes, in rural Vietnam
• design and implementation of a multiple method research design including complementary qualitative and quantitative methods for the investigation of procedural equity perceptions, in rural Vietnam
• contribution to the design and implementation of behavioural lab-in-the-field experiments on the instrumental value of procedural equity, in rural Vietnam
• extensive field work in Vietnam
• presentation of research results at national/international conferences
• publication of results in peer-reviewed scientific journals

• excellent completion of a Master (or equivalent) in the field of (environmental/ecological/agricultural/ behavioural) economics, conservation policy, natural resource management, human geography, political sciences, (rural) sociology or related subjects
• knowledge of environmental justice theories and concepts and / or economic fairness, is an advantage
• knowledge of major incentive-based policy instruments, such as REDD+ on the global level or the national Vietnamese Payments for Forest Ecosystem Services (PFES) scheme is an advantage
• empirical research experience (qualitative or quantitative)
• experience and interest in conducting behavioural lab-in-the-field experiments is an advantage
• proficiency in both Vietnamese and English

• an interdisciplinary and international working environment that encourages independence and self-reliance
• a collegial and open-minded working atmosphere in a dynamic research institution
• Being part of an international team with internationally leading researchers in the field of environmental justice, agricultural and behavioural economics
• access to training courses for PhD students (in-house training and a budget for additional training)
• an opportunity to start a PhD at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• salary classification according to the collective agreement of the federal states (TV-L) up to E13 (including special annual payment)
• opportunity to partly work mobile
• company ticket

Women are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications from severely disabled persons with equal qualifications are favored. 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 CV, proof of qualification and certificates, stating the reference number 94-2023 until 12 October 2023 to (see button e-mail application below).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us: Dr. Lasse Loft, lasse.loft@zalf.de, Phone: 033432/82-486.

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.