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). The institute also maintains locations in Dedelow and Paulinenaue.

The Working Group “Governance of Ecosystem Services” is seeking a motivated and qualified researcher to join our team. Our group focuses on the analysis of market- and community-based instruments designed to incentivize the provision of ecosystem services as public goods—both for specific beneficiaries and for society at large. Our research is inter- and transdisciplinary, with a strong emphasis on empirical case studies in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

We are currently offering a position within the European research project SAFER, which aims to mobilize a network of living labs across six European countries to: (i) co-design best-suited agroecological practices adapted to local social-ecological conditions through a participatory approach that actively involves stakeholders in each living lab; (ii) quantify agronomical, environmental and socio-economic benefits and risks of scaling up agroecological practices from the field to the landscape scale using a harmonized landscape-scale design; (iii) forecast system-wide impacts of different landscape-scale deployment strategies for both farmers and local stakeholders; and (iv) identify how local policies, stakeholder demands and the living lab methodology can enhance or limit the wider adoption of agroecological practices at the landscape level.

SAFER is a collaborative project involving 11 European partners and is coordinated by INRAE (France). ZALF is responsible for the German living lab and will contribute to the socio-economic research of the project to understand different social-ecological conditions and to quantify the socio-economic benefits and risks of scaling up agroecological practices. In particular, ZALF will lead the design and implementation of a factorial survey experiment to better understand stakeholders’ needs and expectations regarding cooperation and collaboration in living labs.

We offer a part-time position (60% full-time equivalent) for three years (from 01.10.2025 until 30.09.2028).

• Coordinating the empirical work in the German living lab and collaborate with the five other living labs around Europe
• Preparing and conducting a factorial survey experiment in all six living labs in collaboration with the other European partners including the analysis of quantitative data (with STATA or R)
• Conduct literature reviews and analyses
• Publication of results in peer-reviewed journals as lead and co-author
• Preparing results for communication to stakeholders (e.g. project workshops) and the scientific community (e.g. presentations at national and international conferences, journal publications).
• Active cooperation with ZALF´s new Innovation Centre for Agricultural System Transformation (IAT)

• MSc degree in agricultural economics, geography or related subjects with a focus on social science
• Doctoral degree or prior research experience is an advantage
• Proficiency of quantitative methods of empirical social science research
• Knowledge of the EU common agricultural policy and agroecological principles is an advantage
• Strong organizational skills and ability to work independently
• Excellent command of the German and English language (oral and written)
• Strong interest in working in an interdisciplinary group and project team
• Scientific curiosity and, if applicable, a strong motivation to pursue a doctoral degree

• The opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary and international team that values independence and self-initiative
• Possibility to pursue a doctoral degree at Hannover University under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Bettina Matzdorf
• A collegial, supportive, and open-minded working atmosphere in a dynamic research institution
• Access to excellent technical infrastructure and research facilities
• Project funding to support data collection and travel activities
• Integration into national and international research networks (e.g., the REECAP network)
• Salary according to the German public sector wage agreement (TV-L), up to E13 level, including an annual special payment
• The option to work remotely for up to 40% of your monthly working hours
• Support in reconciling work and family life
• Access to a subsidized job ticket for public transportation.

ZALF promotes equality among all employees and welcomes applications regardless of ethnic, cultural, or social background, age, religion, ideology, disability, gender, or sexual identity. The filling of the position in part-time is possible in principle. 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 54-2025 until September 10, 2025 to (see button e-mail application below).

Please note that invitations for job interviews will be sent out on September 14, 2025.  Job interviews are tentatively scheduled for the end of September 2025.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us: Prof. Dr. Bettina Matzdorf (matzdorf@zalf.de) and Dr. Tobias Vorlaufer (tobias.vorlaufer@zalf.de)

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.