The focus of the advertised position is on identifying and engaging actors and stakeholders within agri-food value chains and on providing methodological guidance (co-creation and collective intelligence methods) for promoting the development of new Agroecology Living Labs.

Your tasks:

• Conducting systematic literature review and contribute to other scientific publications
• Developing a methodology for putting the concept of “regionalization” into practice
• Conceptualizing, conducting and analyzing semi-structured interviews on e.g. best practices of co-creation in agroecology living labs
• Identification of and engaging with experts, stakeholders and actors on agroecology in Europe
• Organizing workshops with international experts
• Joint representation of ZALF in the AGROECOLOGY Partnership and attending international project meetings
• Discussing, integrating, and sharing results within ZALF and the AGROECOLOGY Partnership

• PhD in environmental / agricultural science, (rural) sociology, human geography, political sciences, or related subjects
• Knowledge of transdisciplinary approaches and methods in theory and practice; research experiences in living labs will be an advantage
• Knowledge of systemic agroecology and agroecological transformation processes
• Experience in qualitative research methods that might integrate spatial analytical methods
• Excellent command of the English language (written and oral)
• Strong organizational skills and ability to work independently
• Love for working in an interdisciplinary and international project team
• Passion for agroecology, expanding your academic horizon, and contributing to a positive work environment and investing in strong communication

• Joining an open and enthusiastic project team at ZALF
• Opportunity to connect and exchange with living lab experts and the broader agroecological community at EU-level
• An interdisciplinary and international working environment that encourages independence
• Classification according to the collective agreement of the federal states (TV-L) up to E13 (including special annual payment)
• A collegial and open-minded working atmosphere in a dynamic research institution
• Company ticket
• In-house language courses and resources for career development

Women are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications from severely disabled persons with equal qualifications are favored. The filling of the position in part-time is possible in principle. Please send your application preferably online (see button online application below). For e-mail applications, create a PDF document (one PDF file, max. 5 MB; packed PDF documents, archive files like zip, rar etc. Word documents cannot be processed and therefore cannot be considered!) with the usual documents, in particular CV, proof of qualification and certificates, stating the reference number 31-2025 until 1 June 2025 to (see button e-mail application below).

https://jobs.zalf.de/jobposting/d1aefd9fc9a513b0224b415584abf9aaac0ebb7f0

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Dr. Kerstin Seier (administrative questions), Tel. +49 (0) 33432/82-258; e-mail: kerstin.seier@zalf.de or
Dr. Maria Busse (content related questions); e-mail: maria.busse@zalf.de

For cost reasons, application documents or extensive publications can only be returned if an adequately stamped envelope is attached.

If you apply, we collect and process your personal data in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of the EU GDPR only for the processing of your application and for purposes that result from possible future employment with the ZALF. Your data will be deleted after six months