Job: 2 PhD students in Human Geography on Labour and agroecological transitions in sub-Saharan Africa
University of Bern, SNF Project
Project Description:
The 2 PhD students will be part of the LASET group (“Labour and Socio-ecological Transitions”) and the SNF-funded AgroWork project (“Why do we work? Assessing sub-Saharan farmers’ motivations and labour in agroecology”). The research project explores the links between farmers’ motivations, values and institutions associated to labour/work in the perspective of an agroecological transition in West Africa (Senegal). The team investigate the capacity of agroecology to improve both labour conditions (through the concept of “contributive justice”) and sustainable livelihoods (in particular, food security) in the current context of globalized food systems.
Specific job description:
PhD student 1 will work in subproject 1: 1. Evaluate farmers’ motivations for adopting agroecological farming compared to conventional farming. The PhD student will work from a social science perspective but in interaction with research from other discipline (mainly agro-economics) on several innovative concepts such as: contributive justice, work life quality, subjective wellbeing, food security and sustainable livelihoods. The research will include a long field work in Senegal (at least 6 months) during which she/he will collect qualitative and quantitative data in different socio-ecological regions of Senegal (mainly in the North but also in the southern parts of the country).
PhD student n°2 will work in subproject 3 & 4: 3. Measure the effects of agroecological practices on farmers’ labour conditions, contributive justice and food security. The PhD student will work from a social science perspective but in interaction with research from other discipline (mainly agro-economics) on several innovative concepts such as: contributive justice, work life quality, subjective wellbeing, food security and sustainable livelihoods. The research will include a long field work in Senegal (a least 6 month) during which she/he will collect qualitative and quantitative data in different socio-ecological regions of Senegal (mainly in the North but also in the southern parts of the country).
Requirements:
Applicants for these 2 PhD positions should hold a master in social sciences (human geography, psychology, sociology or equivalent) oriented on the study of the environment or a related topic (agriculture, land use, sustainability, consumption, environmental behavior, etc..). As the position require a lot of field work in West Africa, similar experience of work or research in rural areas in developing countries will be considered a relevant asset. Excellent knowledge of English (written and spoken) and a good knowledge of French (at least spoken) is required.
Other preferable skills:
- Good basis of statistics in social sciences (a relevant asset but not mandatory)
- Qualitative methods in social sciences
- R programming language for statistical science (an asset but not mandatory)
- Competences in communication with academic as well as non-academic partners (such as farmers’ organization, NGO, etc...)
Knowledge of the Wolof (language spoken in Senegal) would be an asset but not mandatory as we will work with translat
We offer:
- PhD position in an exciting transdisciplinary international environment
- Good salary conditions (SNSF standards)
- High potential for innovation and publication in international journals
- Possibility to get experience in teaching
Application procedure:
Send your full application preferably in English (but acceptable also in French) before May 15 th in one single pdf including: 1 motivation letter (precising the date of your earliest availability)+CV to Prof. Patrick Bottazzi patrick.bottazzi@giub.unibe.ch
Please add in the subject of your e-mail: “APPLICATION AGROWORK PHD”
For more details on the positions see the 2 links below (or the bottom of this e-mail):
Further information:2 phd positions