Research Scholar in Economic Modeling of the Global Food System and Forestry for Sustainable Development

The IIASA ESM Program adopts an integrated approach taking into account i) interactions between different economic sectors, including agriculture, forestry, bioenergy, and fisheries, ii) synergies and trade-offs between multiple societal objectives, including, but not limited to, GHG emissions and climate change mitigation, climate change impacts and adaptation, food security, sustainable nutrient and water management, and biodiversity, iii) across different spatial and temporal scales, going from pixel through the country level up to the global scale, and from annual to a hundred year time horizon. 

The program comprises a multidisciplinary team where quantitative analysis plays a strong role with a particular focus on development of novel spatially explicit datasets and a wide spectrum of applied models; from detailed process based biophysical models to global economic models. ESM is strongly connected to the international academic community, placing emphasis on transdisciplinary synergies and applied approaches. The work accomplished has long been recognized through regular publications in high-ranking scientific journals, and the team includes several top 1% highly cited researchers. In addition, the ESM Program is recognized as a reliable partner in support of national policy making and international multilateral processes.

THE POSITION

The successful candidate will join the team working with the partial equilibrium model GLOBIOM, and further develop and apply this model in the framework of international research and policy projects on one or more of the following topics: 

• Agriculture, aquaculture, and forestry production systems
• International trade
• Climate change impact analysis, including the impacts of extreme events
• Food security, nutrition and poverty impact analysis
• Biodiversity and restoration analysis
• Climate change mitigation in the agriculture and forestry sectors
• Food, water and energy nexus issues and solutions.

MAIN TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop new modules for GLOBIOM, incl. data analysis and processing
• Contribute to methodological and structural development of the model
• Implement new scenarios, incl. policy impact assessment, and analyze their economic, environmental, and social impacts
• Contribute to project deliverables, reports, stakeholder communication
• Publish relevant results in peer-reviewed journals and participate in scientific conferences and workshops.