Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Ecoscience programme. The position is available from 1 November 2024 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title:
Identifying barriers in implementing nature-based solutions

Research area and project description:
We are seeking a highly motivated PhD student to Aarhus University’s Center for Nature-based Solutions (NbS), who will become part of a dynamic and cross-disciplinary research group, aiming at using NbS to address complex societal challenges. While the PhD project will be rooted in social sciences, it should be carried out in close collaboration with relevant research environments within both social and natural sciences at Aarhus University.

In your PhD project, you will study collaborative interactions, and their institutional framing, in relation to the use of NbS in Denmark to identify potential barriers to implementation and upscaling. You should cover NbS activities involving a wide range of actors, including research, public management, NGOs and private enterprises. The core will be mapping existing collaborations, identifying central actors and assessing the effectiveness of ongoing transdisciplinary efforts.

Expected outcome of the project is to identify ways on how collaboration and partnerships can be structured and facilitated to ensure an upscaling in the use of NbS that can meet societal needs. This includes identifying potential areas for new collaborative initiatives, ways to strengthen knowledge exchange among actors and pinpoint current research gaps that need to be addressed.

Project description. For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Qualifications and specific competences:
Applicants to the PhD position must have a master’s degree in social sciences or have worked with social science methods after graduating with a master in natural sciences

• It is an advantage if you already have experiences working inter- and transdisciplinary with actors in public management, private enterprises etc.
• You know what Nature-based solutions is about and have a wish to work with these.
• The project context is national (Denmark) and, as you need to engage with a wide range of actors, you must be fluent in a Scandinavian language.
• You should be structured, analytical and be able to work independently in an interdisciplinary group.
• You will need to have good collaborative skills and have the ability to interact with a range of different people.

Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Department of Ecoscience, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark.

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact:

• Nikolai Friberg, niko@ecos.au.dk (main supervisor)

How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application.

Application deadline is 15 August 2024 at 23:59 CEST

Preferred starting date is 1 November 2024

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide.

Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be taken into account.
• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
• Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.