43 FB 6 Research Assistant / PhD Candidate (m/f/d) DFG-funded Research Training Group ECORISK C5b

The DFG-funded Research Training Group "Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems" (ECORISK), which has been running since 2024, brings together perspectives from behavioural economics, ecological modeling, environmental systems science, geography, geoinformatics, political science and sociology. Within the framework of three thematic clusters (Ecosystem Dynamics, Human activities and Governance), ECORISK deals with the causes of ecological regime shifts and the systemic risks they pose as well as their consequences in socio-ecological systems. Intensive agriculture serves as a guiding example. The Research Training Group is located at Osnabrück University, whose diverse research attracts students and scholars from around the world to a liveable city.

In the subproject (C5b) “Multi-method modelling of farmers adopting agricultural practices: How do policy instruments tip collective action?” at the Institute of Mathematics and its working group of Applied Systems Science, a position as

Research Assistant / PhD Candidate (m/f/d)
(Pay grade 13 TV-L, 75%)


is to be filled on a fixed-term basis for three years, starting on October 1, 2026.


Your Duties:

  • Modeling regional land use change (land use patterns, agricultural practices) as result of farmer decisions shaped by policy instruments, using agent-based models.
  • Investigating the adoption of policy instruments (esp. individual and collective agri-environmental schemes) and revealing its dependence on the behavioural type of the farmers, the natural landscape context, and socio-economic conditions.
  • Through linking with an ecological model, determination of ecological impacts of the induced land use change that will bring insight into the cost-effectiveness of the considered policy instrument (will it actually mediate ecological benefits?; will there be fail incentives?; what degree of adoption is sufficient for assuring an improvement of the situation with preventing regime shifts and related systemic risks?).
  • Peer-reviewed publication of your research results, which also forms the basis for your own academic qualification in the form of a doctoral degree
  • Participation in and contribution to the events of the Research Training Group

Requirements:

  • An above-average academic degree in environmental systems science, applied mathematics, theoretical ecology, physics, or in a related discipline or interdisciplinary study program
  • Expertise in the development and application of simulation models for complex ecological or social-ecological systems (e.g. with individual-based population models or agent-based models of human behaviour).
  • Very good written and spoken English language skills

Additional Qualifications:

  • Very good knowledge of one or more of the following methods
    • Modeling of farmer behaviour for different farmer types using social theories of human behaviour (e.g. theory of planned behaviour, reinforcement learning, descriptive norms) 
    • Ecological modelling with incorporation of land use patterns
    • Application of dynamical systems modelling
  • Experience with the use of heterogenous data (e.g. data from remote sensing products or from behavioural experiments) and knowledge of strategies for model-data-fusion (ideally using methods from machine learning)
  • Experience in interdisciplinary and international collaboration

We offer:

  • Participation in an exciting and highly topical research project
  • A structured doctoral program at Osnabrück University with interdisciplinary and subject-specific support
  • A highly motivated and international team
  • Tailored training opportunities
  • Flexible working hours and excellent facilities

Osnabrück University is a family-friendly university and is committed to helping working/studying parents balance their family and working lives.

Osnabrück University seeks to guarantee equality of opportunity for women and men and strives to correct any gender imbalance in its schools and departments.

If two candidates are equally qualified, preference will be given to the candidate with disability status.

Please send your application (motivation letter of max. two pages, CV, transcripts of academic degrees (Bachelor/Master), transcripts of records, and the contact details of a potential reference) by email in a single PDF file to  ecorisk@uni-osnabrueck.de (subject: PhD position C5b) no later than April 30, 2026.

For questions regarding this job advertisement, please contact the subproject leader Prof. Dr. Karin Frank (phone +49 341 6025 2535,  karin.frank@uni-osnabrueck.de).

Further information about this subproject and the Research Training Group can be found at:  https://www.uni-osnabrueck.de/ecorisk