Postdoctoral Position in Social Science Perspectives on Climate Change in South Korea

The Department of Population and Social Geography, University of Bayreuth, Germany invites applicants for a one-year Postdoc appointment, beginning in June 2011 (negotiable). The successful candidate will undertake original research in South Korea from a qualitative social science perspective in cooperation with a currently ongoing PhD thesis project on climate change adaptation.

This position is part of an interdisciplinary project (TERRECO) that ties together research activities in plant ecology, biodiversity, soil science, hydrology and social science which will be the domain of research. TERRECO (Complex Terrain and Ecological Heterogenity) started in 2009 as a German- Korean research cooperation including Gangwon National University, Seoul National University, Yonsei University and other major research institutes in South Korea. All research activities are conducted in South Korea with a particular interest for Gangwon Province. By filling this vacancy, we aim to intensify the social science component of this interdisciplinary project.

Therefore, the focus of investigation should concentrate on theory driven questions that are on target for political discourses and practices labeled under the frame of climate change from a constructivist research perspective. The aim is to critically examine the relations of power and their implications for the governance of climate change. Explicit topics could be the negotiation processes of environmental law in relation to climate change, the role of ministries for the processes of adaptation and mitigation, or the recently implemented `Green Growth` strategy with a local case study area in Gangwon Province. We expect the empirical examination by qualitative social science methods like participant observation, interpretative text analysis, (expert) interviews and other ethnographic methods.

Qualifications
The department invites Postdoc applicants with a research background in human geography, political science, sociology and/or ethnography and possibly with an interest in critical theory. Moreover, both experience of the above mentioned qualitative methods and a good command of Korean and English are required. The empirical research will be conducted in South Korea, but some time will also have to be spent in Bayreuth, Germany, in order to participate in interdisciplinary meetings and workshops.

The salary depends on age, marital status and number of children and will be approximately between 3000 and 4000 Euro (pre-tax)/ month.

Application
Applicants should send a CV, letter of application, and the final chapter of their PhD thesis until end of February 2011 to both of the following addresses:
muellermahn@uni-bayreuth.de (Prof. Detlef Müller-Mahn)
s.trabert@gmail.com (Susann Trabert)
http://www.bevsozgeo.uni-bayreuth.de/en/index.html

• MSc Scholarships, Climate Change & Development / Policy, University of Sussex, Institute of Development Studies, UK
• MSc Climate Change Scholarships, University of Sussex, UK
• Summer School on Global Warming and Sustainable Water Management, Germany
• PhD Studentships in Requirements Engineering and Climate Change, The Open University, UK
• PhD Project on Spatial Sustainability and Climate Change, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Spain
• International Climate Protection Fellowships, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany
• PhD Scholarship, Right Livelihood College, University of Bonn, Germany
• PhD Position on Weather Insurance Design Project at ETH Zurich, Switzerland
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Scholarships, Switzerland
• Master, PhD & Postdoctoral Positions in Structural Engineering, Kunsan National University, Korea

Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to ensure the above information is current and correct. However, applicants should contact the appropriate administering body before making an application, as details do change frequently.