As an interdisciplinary centre of the University of Bern, the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) has the mandate to foster research, implementation, and teaching concerned with sustainable development and global change, together with its academic partners in the global North and South.
CDE invites applications for two four-year PhD positions in the COMPASS project.
Is environmental justice necessary for human well-being? Comparative analysis of certification schemes, inclusive business, and solidarity economy strategies (COMPASS project)
Unprecedented market concentration in agri-food value chains increases global inequality. Land grabbing threatens the livelihoods of millions. Therefore, reshaping the impacts of agricultural investments, land use, and trade on human well-being is an urgent challenge. To this aim, innovative private sector strategies are needed. The COMPASS project compares the strategies of inclusive businesses, solidarity economy and certification schemes. It analyses their governance arrangements, impacts on human well-being and assesses them from an environmental justice perspective. The empirical focus is on the cacao and coffee sectors of Peru and Switzerland. COMPASS is funded by the European Research Council as an ERC Starting Grant (PI: Prof. Dr. Christoph Oberlack).
For further information, please follow the link to the COMPASS project.
In the first phase of COMPASS, both PhD researchers will collaborate to identify and compare the instruments that enterprises, cooperatives, standard-setters and other private-sector organizations use in their certification, inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies in the cacao and coffee sectors of Peru and Switzerland. In the second phase, the two PhD candidates will focus on human well-being or environmental justice, respectively. "PhD Human Well-being" will analyze the impacts of these strategies on human well-being of farmers, workers and communities in Peru by means of household surveys and process tracing. "PhD Environmental Justice" will conduct institutional analysis to identify the rules that selected organizations create to regulate land use, investment and trade, assess their environmental justice, and explain how they influence well-being. Furthermore, both PhDs will contribute to the project's synthesis and our wider scientific and policy engagement in Peru, Switzerland and beyond.
PhD Human Well-being
Tasks "PhD Human Well-being"
- Conduct a PhD in Geography and Sustainable Development
- Collect data and analyse instruments in certification, inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies in cacao and coffee value chains (in close collaboration with PhD "environmental justice")
- Collect data and analyse the impacts of these strategies on human well-being of farmers, workers and communities in Peru, using a mixed-methods approach of household surveys and process-tracing
- Conduct field research in Peru over extended periods of time (in total approximately 1 year across the PhD time; or more if desired), field research in Switzerland possible
- Closely collaborate with colleagues and partners at CDE, in Peru, Switzerland and beyond
- Present your research at scientific conferences
- Publish results in international peer-reviewed journals
Requirements "PhD Human Well-being"
- Master degree in (Human) Geography, Economics, Sociology or related social sciences/ sustainability sciences
- Methodological skills in comparative analysis (e.g. QCA), pertinent software (e.g. R) and with household surveys are desired
- Very good skills in Spanish and English (oral and written) are necessary, skills in German or French are a plus
- Practical or research experiences in Peru or Switzerland and/or in cacao or coffee sectors are a plus
- Team orientation, working in a precise, engaged and self-organized manner
PhD Environmental Justice
Tasks "PhD Environmental Justice"
- Conduct a PhD in Geography and Sustainable Development
- Collect data and analyse instruments in certification, inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies in cacao and coffee value chains (in close collaboration with PhD "human well-being")
- Collect data and analyse how private sector organizations in Peru and Switzerland institutionalize environmental justice in their strategies
- Conduct field research in Peru and Switzerland over extended periods of time (in total approximately 1 year across the PhD time; more if desired)
- Closely collaborate with colleagues and partners at CDE, in Peru, Switzerland and beyond
- Present your research at scientific conferences
- Publish results in international peer-reviewed journals
Requirements "PhD Environmental Justice"
- Master degree in (Human) Geography or related social sciences/ sustainability sciences
- Methodological skills in comparative analysis, semi-structured interviews are desired; experience in institutional analysis (e.g. Institutional Analysis and Development framework) is a plus
- Very good skills in German and English, advanced levels in Spanish (oral and written) are necessary, skills in French are a plus
- Practical or research experiences in Peru or Switzerland and/or in cacao or coffee sectors are a plus
- Team orientation, working in a precise, engaged and self-organized manner
WE OFFER FOR BOTH PHD POSITIONS
- A highly motivated, dynamic, and intercultural research environment, committed to inspire sustainable futures
- Become an integral team member in the ERC frontier research project "COMPASS" (ERC Grant)
- Close and supportive supervision and collaboration of the PI and project partners for your PhD research, support by research assistants
- Participation in the International Graduate School North-South (www.igs-north-south.ch)
- Fully funded 4-year PhD position, including fieldwork budget
- Employment terms of the University of Bern, Switzerland
Dr. Christoph Oberlack