Applications are invited for a 3 year PhD fellowship at The Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Denmark within the Environmental Science programme under the subtheme Environmental Economics. The starting date is 1 May 2021, or by agreement.
Title:
Cost-efficient policies for carbon sequestration in EU
Research area and project description:
Increased carbon uptake in forest and agricultural land can contribute to climate change mitigation at comparatively low costs. Increased agricultural carbon sequestration can both remove carbon from the atmosphere and enhance soil quality. For the potential of carbon sequestration to be realized, it is necessary to have well designed policies and economic policy instruments in place.
The PhD student will investigate a transition towards cost-efficient policies for carbon sequestration in forestry and agriculture in the EU, with a particular focus on agriculture. This is done by modelling the potential cost savings from carbon sequestration measures with respect to a successively more stringent climate policy, given EU targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030, and to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050. The modelling takes into account the relationship between carbon sequestration on one hand, and the simultaneous need to move from a fossil fuel based economy to an economy based on renewable sources on the other. Also, the analysis will consider challenges to design cost-efficient policy instruments, that arise because the effect of sequestration measures in nonpermanent, and because of the transaction costs that are associated with the policy instruments.
Qualifications and specific competences:
Applicants to the PhD position must have a Master’s degree in Economics or equivalent. Good knowledge of English and good communication skills are required, as well as the ability to work both independently and in groups. Documented knowledge of quantitative methods and environmental economics is an advantage.
Aarhus University encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, age and ethnic background.
Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Department of Environmental Science, Section for Environmental Social Science, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000-Roskilde, Denmark. The city of Roskilde (www.roskilde.dk) is located close to Copenhagen. The area provides immediate access to a wealth of cultural and recreational pursuits.
The Department of Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary department under the Faculty of Technical Sciences at Aarhus University. The expertise ranges from social science, geography, economics and policy analysis to mathematical modelling, physics, chemistry, and microbiology. Both pure and applied research is conducted on some of the major challenges facing society, such as pollution and pollution control mechanisms, management of land, soil, water, air and biodiversity, protection of ecosystem services and climate change. Advisory services within these areas are offered to ministries and other stakeholders. Currently, about 150 staff and PhD-students are working at the department. Further information may be found at http://www.envs.au.dk.
Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact:
Professor Katarina Elofsson, katarina.elofsson@envs.au.dk.
Application procedures
Before you apply
Information and attachments:
Please be aware that you must have all relevant appendices, attachments, addresses for referees, etc. ready when you apply, as the entire application must be uploaded to the system in one go.
Documentation of language skills:
The English language requirement at the graduate school is comparable to an “English B level” in the Danish upper secondary school (“gymnasium”).
English language qualifications comparable to an “English B level” are documented by one of the following tests:
When to take the test and how to upload the documentation:
The test result must not be more than two years old at the time of application.
The English language test should be taken before applying for admission and uploaded under “language skills documentation” in the online application form.
It is possible to apply for admission before you have taken the test. In this case documentation stating that you have signed up for a test (please state expected submission date) must be uploaded. If the test result is not part of the original application the test result is to be sent to gsts@psys.au.dk no later than one month after the application deadline.
The following applicants are exempted from documenting their English qualifications/taking a test:
The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
How to apply:
1) Find the application form:
Go to https://phd.tech.au.dk/for-applicants/apply-here/ - Note, the online application system opens on 1 December 2020.
Choose February 2021 Call with deadline 1 February 2021 at noon (11.59 AM CEST).
You will be directed to the call, and must choose the programme “Environmental Science”.
2) Fill in the following information:
Next to some of the information fields you will find a number. Click on the number to get further directions on how to fill in the information field/what information is needed.
3) Application attachments:
Please be aware that you cannot submit the application if one or several of these documents have not been uploaded.
If you wish to upload more than one document under each section, you must scan/merge all documents into one large PDF file and upload this. Please note that we reserve the right to remove scientific papers, large reports, theses and the like. Instead you can indicate a URL where the information is available.
All information in the application must be in English or Danish, preferably English. A certified English translation is required for documents written in languages other than English or one of the Scandinavian languages (i.e. Norwegian, Swedish or Danish) languages.
As a minimum all applications must include (pdf-files only, max. 20 MB, no zip):
After submission of the application, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with an application ID, you should use for reference if needed.
The graduate school reserves the right to verify the authenticity of your educational diploma and transcripts:
Please note:
All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background.
