IESS Post Doctoral Research Fellowship 2020

The Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS) is a member of the African Research Universities Alliance Centre of Excellence in Climate and Development (ARUA-CD), in partnership with the African Climate and Development Initiative (University of Cape Town) in Southern Africa and the Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation (University of Nairobi) in East Africa (https://aruacd.org/). Recently, ARUA-CD received funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) for the project Transforming Social Inequities through Inclusive Climate Action (TSITICA) which addresses the nexus of climate change, sustainable livelihoods,
poverty and inequality.

The IESS wishes to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (PDRF) who will work with an
international team of scientists on two IESS-led work packages (WP3 and 4) that are part of a large multi-institutional project that explores the nexus between climate change, sustainable livelihoods and multidimensional poverty and inequality (MDPI) in Africa. For WP3, the PDRF will work with a team to develop a catalogue of examples of local climate change mitigation and adaptation actions and that assesses these in relation to their livelihood and inequality outcomes, as well as other metrics related to their implementability in terms of financial, political and cultural factors. This deskbased work will draw on grey literature and expert elicitation processes. The resulting catalogue will
be used to inform the selection of some on-the-ground case studies that will be evaluated in terms of their MDPI. The second component of the PDRF’s work, will involve support to WP4 that aims to evaluate a selection of local cases of adaptation and mitigation across partner African countries. The PDRF will work together with the WP4 team to help develop a framework to assess the selected cases in relation to 1) their livelihood benefits; 2) the extent to which they have promoted MDPI reduction; 3); what has resulted in positive and negative outcomes for different social groups; and 4) whether they can be considered transformative, and then assist with the fieldwork and write-up for cases across Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.

IESS Post Doctoral Research Fellowship Eligibility

Required

A PhD, awarded within the previous four years, in a field relevant to developing country adaptation and mitigation: climate vulnerability, risk and adaptation; rural energy; rural livelihoods, poverty and inequality; and/or climate and development.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
Experience in literature searches and use of reference management software.
Experience in field data collection – using quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies.
Excellent organisational capability, interpersonal abilities, and ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.

Selection process:

Only eligible and complete applications will be considered by the selection committee.
Interviews will likely take place in the week of the 20 July 2020 and the successful candidate is expected to start as soon as possible thereafter.

Desirable

A growing scientific publication record, commensurate with experience.
Experience in synthesising insights from multiple sources, including peer-reviewed and grey literature.
Statistical analysis skills.
Experience working in Ghana.

Duration