The IIASA Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation (BEC) Research Group, within the Biodiversity and Natural Resources (BNR) Program</a> is looking to recruit a highly motivated and enthusiastic ecological modeller in spatial conservation prioritisation. The incumbent will work within the BNR programme and the BEC group, and in close collaboration with Dr. Martin Jung and Dr. Piero Visconti. They will be applying spatial prioritisation methods for integrated land-use planning at national and continental scale as part of two international projects. Although we are looking for researchers that can contribute to existing projects and outputs, ideal candidates will develop their own research profile within the area of applied ecological and conservation research in alignment with BEC research objectives.
Tasks and responsibilities:
• Developing workflows for integrated conservation planning using optimisation frameworks
• Large geo-spatial data preparation for spatial planning and assessment of protected area effectiveness
• Leading the dissemination of project results via high-quality journal publications and conference presentations
• Contributing to the organisation of project-related workshops and/or webinars
• Supporting all project partners in the drafting of reports, grant proposals and other scientific outputs as needs arise
• In line with the team spirit that prevails at IIASA, the incumbent may occasionally work on other tasks assigned by their superiors, that might not be directly related to this appointment but where the post
holder has relevant experience and skills, and/or a shortage of immediate personnel capabilities requires such.
Skills and Qualifications:
• PhD or equivalent experience plus a qualification in advanced spatial prioritisation, and interest in developing a career in science
• Optimisation methods: e.g., use of integer programming or global search algorithms to solve multi-objective problems in R environment. Experience of applying them to conservation problems would be
beneficial
• Advanced geo-spatial analyses in R. Knowledge of Google Earth engine would be advantageous
• Experience in ecological modelling for species and ecosystems response to land use and climate change is desirable
• Good understanding of current applied ecology and conservation research
• Familiarity with at least one scientific coding language (R, Python, Julia). Experience in parallel computing and version control (e.g. Git) would be advantageous
• Excellent organisational skills, pro-active and results-oriented, and the capacity to deliver on allocated tasks and respond in a timely manner to deadlines
• The ability to work independently as well as with an international team distributed across different institutions and time-zones
• First-authored publication and scientific output commensurate to career stage
• Excellent communication skills (both written and oral) in English
• IIASA offers an interdisciplinary and international workplace, and the possibility to interact with researchers of different nationalities, with strong ties to a world-wide network of research institutions engaged
in environmental systems research. The successful candidate must be able to work in, and have respect for, an intercultural environment, and IIASA core values.
Appointment terms:
The selected candidate should be available to take up the position as soon as possible. We offer an initial fixed-term, one year, full-time (40 hours per week) employment contract, with the possibility of extension after the first years’ work. Eligible applicants wishing to work part-time hours will also be considered.
Duties will be carried out at the IIASA premises in Laxenburg, near Vienna in Austria (up to 100 days per year home office working within Austria possible).
Further details can be found on the IIASA web.
Deadline for receipt of applications: None (until filled).
