How can the EU Green Deal help to make EU agriculture more sustainable and equitable? Contribute to answering this question by joining the Data science in agricultural economics group. We are looking for one doctoral student (TV-L E13, 65%) starting Nov, 1st 2022, fixed-term, initially for three years, to join our group.
Detailed job description: The Ph.D. position is embedded in the large international and multi-disciplinary Horizon Europe project Brightspace. The Brightspace collaboration consists of 14 leading European research institutes. It aims to design effective and sustainable strategies to navigate within a Safe and Just Operating Space (SJOS), where the Safe component reflects the biophysical boundaries of the ecosystem and the Just component the requirements for the well-being of the people involved.
To reach this aim, data frameworks and modeling toolboxes are developed for forward-looking projections of possible SJOS futures. The support for effective and sustainable actions will include the identification of critical pathways for EU policies in agriculture, climate change, trade, and energy.
This Ph.D. project aims to develop and leverage novel data sources as well as econometrics and machine learning tools to 1) describe field and landscape structures, 2) identify the economic and political drivers leading to changes in those structures, and 3) link those structures to environmental, particularly biodiversity, outcomes, and aims.
Your responsibilities
- Building novel databases of and working with field-level data (Parcel delineation data from remote sensing or the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS)
- Build and run econometric / machine learning models
- Data collection and preprocessing, including geospatial datasets and official statistics
- Engage actively in exchange within Brightspace, support project management tasks
- Publication of scientific results
Your profile
- M.Sc. (or equivalent) in the field of Agricultural Economics (or related fields) with interest in Agricultural or Environmental Economics and Policy
- Experience in applied econometrics/statistics. Knowledge of or interest in machine learning techniques
- Knowledge of or strong interest in working with geospatial data
- Programming skills for econometrics/data science applications (Python, R, or similar)
- A background or interest in natural sciences
- Eagerness to learn
- Excellent command of written and spoken English
- An open, flexible, team-oriented player
We offer
- A motivated, diverse, young, and dynamic research group providing an inspiring and supportive environment for your research
- The integration into a high-level, interdisciplinary, and international network in the Brightspace project
- An individual, active, and goal-oriented Ph.D. supervision
- Optional, advanced training from the Doctorate Plus program of Bonn University and (subject to admission) the BIGS – Land and Food graduate school
- Participation in international project meetings and conferences
- Numerous benefits for university employees and Ph.D. students (e.g., sports programs, discounted public transportation, institutional support for applicants with families)
- Salary scale 13 TV-L, retirement benefits (VBL)
Questions? Please get in touch with Dr. Hugo Storm (hugo.storm@ilr.uni-bonn.de)
Are you interested? Please send one pdf file (including motivation letter, CV, and master program transcript) to hugo.storm@ilr.uni-bonn.de by Aug 21, 2022.