Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Agroecology programme. The position is available from 01 October 2025 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title:
Socio-cultural foundations for pollinator restoration actions in the agrifood system

Research area and project description:
Pollinators are essential to the resilience and productivity of agri-food systems, yet their populations are under increasing threat from intensive land use, pesticide exposure, climate change, and habitat loss. The European Commission has set the ambitious goal to reverse the decline and ensure the long-term conservation of pollinator diversity and the ecosystem services they provide. While ecological and technical solutions for pollinator conservation have received considerable attention, the socio-cultural dimensions of restoration efforts remain underexplored. Understanding the values, knowledge systems, and the underlying foundations for farmers' practices is critical to designing effective and locally meaningful pollinator restoration actions. This PhD project will address the need to integrate socio-cultural perspectives into agroecological research and contribute to more inclusive and sustainable approaches to biodiversity recovery in agricultural landscapes. The position is further part of a broader effort to promote interdisciplinary, stakeholder-driven restoration strategies in line with agroecological principles.

This PhD is one of two PhD fellowships funded as a part of the European research projects RestPoll (Restoring pollinator habitats across European agricultural landscapes based on multi-actor participatory approaches) and Butterfly (Mainstreaming pollinator stewardship in view of cascading ecological, societal and economic impact of pollinator decline). You will join the project team with an exciting international and interdisciplinary research environment and industrial collaborators. We seek a highly motivated PhD student who will explore the configuration of the agri-food system as a basis for care and improving the delivery of ecosystem services.

The PhD project more specifically should aim to investigate the socio-cultural foundations of pollinator restoration action in the Danish agri-food system. Specifically:

• Organize research activities in Living Labs to identifying and working with social norms, cultural values, and local knowledge influencing restoration practices and priorities.
• Examine how farmers, land managers, and rural communities perceive and relate to pollinators and manage or restore woody landscape elements important for their habitats.
• Explore how participatory and co-designed approaches can enhance the relevance and uptake of pollinator-friendly conservation measures.

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 relevant master’s degree (or graduate in the very near future – documentation for final thesis and date of examination must be enclosed in the application) or equivalent.

The applicants shall preferably have a background, for instance, anthropology, sociology, anthropology, geography or political science with a focus on, or knowledge of, agriculture and food production.

Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is AU Viborg, Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark.

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further informatioregarding the PhD position are invited to contact:

• Martin Hvarregaard Thorsøe, martinh.thorsoe@agro.au.dk (main supervisor)
• Claus Rasmussen, claus.rasmussen@agro.au.dk (co-supervisor)

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:

• admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk

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

Application deadline is 05 August 2025 at 23:59 CEST

Preferred starting date is 01 October 2025

Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be considered.
• 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.