Research Fellow – CLEVER Project

The Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), offers a full-time Research Fellow position. BC3is looking for candidates who can support its activities related to the analysis of the impacts of supply changes on biodiversity and land use using Life Cycle Assessment methods and other modelling tools such as Integrated Assessment Models. The selected candidate will contribute to different research projects carried out by the Low Carbon Research Line of BC3, in particular in the CLEVER Horizon Europe project.

About the project:

CLEVER investigates how international trade in agricultural and forest products affects global supply chains and associated biodiversity impacts, focusing on animal feed, energy crops, tropical timber and aquacultures. The aim is to identify hotpots for biodiversity loss embedded in international trade, as well as trade-offs with other land-use mediated impacts, by developing indicators and quantitative approaches for environmental footprint analysis and forward-looking assessments of policy interventions and. The final goal is to develop solutions for more sustainable production and consumption, influencing decision-making, in collaboration with policy stakeholders, the private sector and the civil society.

The candidate will contribute to the development of new features for the GLOBIOM model for a system-wide assessment of biodiversity impacts of different policy options and supply chain initiatives by capturing the linkages between biomass production systems, value chains, and trade responses, as well as other impacts on SDGs. In particular, (1) improving the representation of non-food biomass production and supply chains for sectors of interest (namely soy and forest products) in a global modeling framework, (2) distinguishing supply chain actors in selected sectors when relevant for the policy implementation, (3) implementing improved indicators on the impacts of biodiversity loss driven by both land occupation and transformation at regional and global scales, consistent with the LCA methodology, (4) introducing additional environmental and socio-economic impacts indicators covering SDG dimensions based on impact assessment methods for LCA and specific global databases, and (5) enhancing the existing modeling framework by capturing existing linkages between production location, land use change, environmental degradation and subsequent biodiversity impacts.

Job description:

Key responsibilities:

The candidate is expected to:

• Lead the contribution of BC3 to the CLEVER project.
• Contribute to the development of existing IAM such as GLOBIOM or GCAM.
• Contribute to the development of database for the assessment of global supply-chains of agricultural products
• Provide rigorous assessment of policies and scenarios based on quantitative and qualitative information at different scales.
• Contribute to other activities and projects of the Low Carbon group and collaborate with other Research lines of BC3
• Write reports and scientific publications and disseminate results in different meetings and forums.
• Supervise PhD students.

Main requirements/skills:

• PhD and international professional/academic experience after the completion the PhD degree.
• Solid background with Life Cycle Assessment tools and Integrated Assessment Models capturing biodiversity and land use dimensions such as GLOBIOM or GCAM.
• Knowledge on other modelling tools for supply chain analysis such as Multi-Regional Input-Output is also valued.
• Skills in quantitative methods and programming
• Experience working in national/international research projects.
• Excellent interpersonal as well as communication skills (both written and oral) in English.
• Knowledge of Spanish and Basque language (Euskara) is also valued, but it is not compulsory.

Benefits and work environment:

• Interdisciplinary and inspiring work environment
• Quiet and spacious workspaces
• Possibility of participating in internal training and academic activities of the center
• 35-hour week work calendar
• 30 days of vacation per year

Term of contract

Starting in September 2024, the position will extend along the whole duration of the project (until the 31st of August, 2025), with a six-month probation period.

Salary

The position will carry competitive salary, matching the academic and professional profile of the applicant, and excellent work conditions.

Location

Basque Centre for Climate Change, Leioa, Spain.

As an HR Excellence awarded institution, BC3 is committed to conciliating research-academic requirements and family duties. BC3 is particularly concerned with creating equal opportunities for people independently of gender, culture, and race. Anyone with relevant qualifications is therefore strongly encouraged to apply for the position.

Application procedure:

Fill the form below and upload one PDF document with the following information:

1. Motivation letter
2. CV

Deadline

15 July, 2024

Informal enquiries can be made to Prof Iñaki Arto (inaki.arto@bc3research.org) noting in the subject of the message “RESEARCH FELLOW – CLEVER Project”.

Please consider that only applications sent through the form included at the bottom of the BC3 web page will be considered (https://info.bc3research.org/job-offers/).