Un profesor de la Universitatea Lueneburg coordonează studii doctorale în domeniul dezvoltării durabile şi conservării biodiversităţii în România. Proiectul cuprinde două poziţii pentru ecologi şi două pentru specialişti în ştiinţe sociale.
Eventualii doritori trebuie să trimită CV-ul şi o scrisoare de intenţie, ca primă fază a procesului.
Vă redau mesajul original, pentru clarificări suplimentare:
“Expressions of interest are being sought for four new PhD positions,
for commencement in 2011 (details to be
negotiated). Please register your interest and send your CV to Joern
Fischer (Joern.Fischer@uni.leuphana.de ,
also see https://sites.google.com/site/joernfischerspage/). Do not
send complete applications at this stage.
The project
Unprecedented global change poses an urgent challenge to humanity
because it threatens ecosystems and human well-
being, especially in poor countries. We will implement a
transdisciplinary research agenda to foster sustainable
development in ancient agricultural landscapes in Central Romania. The
area is fascinating because ancient agricultural
practices without machinery or artificial fertilisers have maintained
unusually high biodiversity, from large carnivores to
rare orchids. Following its recent inclusion in the European Union,
Central Romania now faces a delicate balancing act
between the aspirations of local people for greater economic
prosperity and the region’s unique heritage values. You will
be part of a team involving natural scientists, social scientists and
regional stakeholders. We will map biodiversity and
the ecosystem services generated by it, and will identify formal and
informal institutions that can provide leverage points
for enabling sustainable land use practices.
The project is funded through a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award by the
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (through funds by
the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research). Visit
https://sites.google.com/site/landscapefutures/Home
PhD 1: The future of birds and large carnivores
Primary focus: ecology. This component will gather data on birds and
large carnivores, will map their distribution,
quantify habitat relationships, and analyse likely changes under
different scenarios of future development. Methods will
include field surveys, statistical modelling, and GIS applications.
PhD 2: The future of plants and butterflies
Primary focus: ecology. The study area is exceptionally rich in plants
and butterflies. This component will gather original
field data, will map the distribution of the groups, quantify habitat
relationships, and analyse likely changes under
different development scenarios. Methods will include field surveys,
statistical modelling, and GIS applications.
PhD 3: Cultural ecosystem services and historical changes
Primary focus: social sciences, humanities. This component will
analyse land use changes since the middle ages, and
will quantify the cultural benefits that people derive from nature.
The possible impacts of different future trajectories on
the provision of cultural ecosystem services will be assessed.
Methodology will be broad and flexible, potentially
including literature reviews, analysis of historical sources (e.g. old
maps), interviews and workshops with local people,
and GIS analysis. Experience with some of these methods, and ability
to speak Romanian, will be advantages.
PhD 4: Changes in institutional arrangements
Primary focus: social sciences. This component will analyse informal
and formal institutions, and their dynamic changes
in the past – with a particular emphasis on recent changes since
Romania joined the European Union. How can
institutional arrangements foster the sustainable development of the
region? Methods are flexible, including participatory
methods with local people, and analysis of official policy documents
(e.g. regarding EU agri-environment schemes).
This well-funded project includes collaborative links with St. Andrews
University, Cambridge University, the
Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the Mihai Eminescu Trust (Romania).
All components will be theoretically
grounded in a shared conceptual framework of ecosystem services,
resilience theory, and social-ecological
systems analysis. The research team will also involve more senior
scientists who will focus on other,
complementary aspects.”
