Postdoc in Risk and Environmental Studies with a focus on indirect effects of disasters - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Description

Since postdoctoral appointments are a career-development positions for junior researchers, the target group for this position are candidates who have completed the degree no more than three years before the application deadline.

The position is a postdoctoral appointment in Risk and Environment Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The discipline comprises approximately 30 researchers and teachers, and courses are offered at bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels. The postdoc will be active within the Centre for Societal Risk Research, CSR (www.kau.se/en/csr), a research centre conducting interdisciplinary research related to societal risks and how to manage them. Approximately 40 researchers from various disciplines are involved in CSR. CSR places great importance on communicating research findings, and that the research is connected to practice and policy development. One important tool in the efforts to communicate our research findings and contribute to spreading knowledge about societal risks, is RiskLab, which is based on our well-developed and flexible teaching methods. The appointment is tied to the Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science, CNDS (www.cnds.se), which is a national, interdisciplinary research centre for doctoral students and postdocs, organised by three Swedish universities.

The objective of the postdoctoral appointment is to examine indirect effects of climate-related disasters. It includes effects that are temporally and spatially beyond a disaster event and the area that is more directly affected. The research will be focused on a Swedish or Nordic context.

You will work in an interdisciplinary environment with good opportunities for collaboration with Swedish and international researchers, as well as with different societal actors.

Duties

You will primarily contribute to CSR and CNDS by conducting research within an interdisciplinary field that combines knowledge about climate change and extreme weather, with their effects on people, ecosystems and society. Understanding disaster risk is the first priority of the global Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, but the understanding of indirect effects of disasters is very limited. It is important to develop knowledge of these complex effects, in collaboration with researchers from different disciplines. The indirect effects can be linked to theories of cascading effects, combined risks and integrated risk management. The research will be focused on a Swedish and/or Nordic context. Included in the duties are all the regular tasks associated with research: academic and popular publications, applications, project management, administration, teaching, supervision, collaboration, etc.

The employment can include teaching bachelor’s and master’s level courses, as well as doctorate level courses, although no more than a maximum of 20% of full time.

One important task is to collaborate with the wider community for a mutual exchange, and to ensure that the knowledge and expertise available at the university is of benefit to society.

In order to contribute to a positive working environment and help further the subject’s activities, we expect you to be a present and active part of the day-to-day operations and workplace community.

Qualification requirements

To be eligible for the postdoctoral appointment, applicants are required to hold a PhD in Risk and Environmental Studies, Risk management, Environmental Sciences, Public Health Sciences, Geography, Economy, or another related subject relevant for the appointment, or have equivalent qualifications achieved abroad. The PhD must be completed before a decision to appoint an applicant is made. The candidate must have completed the degree no more than three years before the application deadline.

Qualifications obtained earlier may be considered if there are special grounds, such as sick leave, parental leave, clinical service, service as a union representative, military service or similar, or service/ assignment of relevance to the appointment.

Proficiency in spoken and written English is required.

Assessment criteria

In the selection of eligible applicants, special weight will be given to the applicants’ research qualifications—primarily international scientific publications—in relation to the focus of the appointment towards indirect effects of disasters.

Considerable weight will be given to a documented ability to successfully apply for external research funding, as well as the ability to establish networks and research collaborations. Considerable weight will also be given to personal qualities such as the ability to cooperate, being responsible, taking initiative, and the ability to build good relations with colleagues. Knowledge of Swedish or other Scandinavian languages is also of considerable weight.

Weight is given to international work experience, as well as to the ability to collaborate and communicate with private organisations, government agencies and the wider community.

Documented experience of teaching at university level is a valuable qualification.

Terms

Fixed-term full-time employment of 2 years, starting at the earliest convenience. In special cases, extensions could be considered.

Application

Submit the application via the University’s web-based recruitment tool, Varbi. For advice on how to draft your application, refer to “What should be included with my application?”, available on kau.se/en/work-us/work/vacancies.

Applicants are responsible for submitting a complete application in accordance with the advertisement, for providing translations of any documents written in a language other than Swedish or English, and for ensuring that the documentation allows for objective and qualitative assessments. A complete application should be submitted by the application deadline. An incomplete application may jeopardise a fair assessment of qualifications.

The application should include:

• CV
• a cover letter describing the your qualifications
• a research plan, as a separate document, covering the two years of employment, where you describe how you want to contribute to the development of the research conducted at CSR and CNDS (2-3 pages)
• a list of publications (in multi-authored publications, the role of the applicant must be specified)
• copies of relevant transcripts, degree certificates, certificates to corroborate previous employment, and letters of recommendation
• copy of doctoral thesis and other relevant publications
• language proficiency certificates
• two references, at least one of which is a current or former supervisor

Attach all the documents and publications you wish to be considered to the electronic application (do not provide links only). Name each uploaded document to clearly indicate its content. Documents that cannot be submitted electronically, such as books or publications, should be sent to:

Karlstads universitet
HR-avdelningen
Att: Erika Bergare
651 88 Karlstad

State the ref.no: REK2023/67

Application deadline: May 9, 2023

We look forward to your application!

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