Postdoctoral Researcher Political Ecology at KITLV - KNAW - Leiden

Location: Leiden
Max hours per week: 38,00
Max salary: 5.090
Duration of agreement: 1 year
Apply until: 06/30/2024

What you will be doing
This research project puts the role of grassroots institutions, local communities, and local actors central in climate governance. As actors and institutions (re)shape their adaptation strategies, they also (re)configure existing power relations, and vice versa. Focusing on cases in Southeast Asia, it aims to identify and better understand various forms and types of grassroots knowledge and institutions, including how they evolve over time. Placing rights-based approaches and inter-scalar dynamics at the center of climate adaptation, it emphasizes the questions of adaptation for whom, by whom, and for what. Combining archival research, oral history, and ethnographical research, it seeks to link past adaptation practices with present and future adaptation strategies. This research project is led by KITLV in collaboration with various partners in the Global South including national universities and civil society organizations in Indonesia and Thailand. The project will start in October 2024  and has a total duration of 3 years.  

KITLV is looking to hire a Postdoctoral Researcher for this project. The appointment will initially be for 1 year, with the possibility of extension, depending on the candidate’s work performance and budget availability. 
The postdoc will carry out ethnographic research on the role of grassroots knowledge and institutions in climate adaptation in the past and at present, with Southeast Asia as geographical focus. The goal of this role is to focus the research on identifying, tracing, and understanding current adaptation practices, and their local, social and cultural embeddedness, including how these practices derive from past and existing knowledge and their interactions. 

What you will be contributing

• A PhD in Social Sciences, specializing in the fields of Human Geography, Natural Resource Governance, Anthropology, and/or Development Sociology;
• Experience in conducting ethnographic field research in natural resource governance, in particular in the context of sea nomads and marine governance and skilled in in-depth, qualitative, participatory research methods;
• Experience in conducting multiple level institutional and policy analysis;
• Willingness to learn how to work with large data bases to understand long term patterns related to (but not necessarily limited to) climatic change (e.g. rainfall pattern, food production patterns, forest covers, and land use change);
• Strong interest in collaboration with local communities and other key partners in the country you will be working in (e.g. national universities, civil society organizations) in co-designing and conducting the research;
• Fluency in at least one of these four languages: Dutch, English, Indonesian, Thai; 
• You are a team player and have strong affinity to work in interdisciplinary and multi-cultural (research) team. 

How to apply and more information
Candidates are invited to submit their application in English or Dutch. Applications must include, in three PDF files:

• A motivation letter. 
• A short research proposal (max 800 words) explaining how the candidate will design the postdoc research and how this would be relevant for the aims of the project.
• A Curriculum Vitae.

The deadline for submitting your application is June 30, 2024. Please submit your application via the Apply Now button, you can address the application to the Principal Investigator, Prof. dr. D. Suhardiman. For questions you can contact her at suhardiman[at]kitlv.nl.

About the KITLV
The Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV-KNAW) is an Academy research institute. The KITLV conducts interdisciplinary and comparative historical research. Its research focus is Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, with an emphasis on Indonesia and the ‘Dutch’ Caribbean. It is particularly interested in such issues as state formation, violence and citizenship, processes of mobility and the formation of ethnic and national identity. KITLV is active in the humanities, social sciences and comparative area studies and works closely with Leiden University.

Terms of employment
Depending on education and experience the minimum salary is 3.720 and the maximum salary is 5.090 gross per month for a full-time appointment (scale 10 cao Nederlandse Universiteiten/KNAW). This is exclusive of 8% vacation allowance, 8.3% year-end bonus, travel allowance, internet allowance, home working allowance and pension accrual with ABP.

The KNAW offers its staff an excellent package of secondary benefits. A package that meets the different needs of employees depending on their stage of life, lifestyle or career ambitions. For example, by working an extra two hours a week, it is possible to increase the number of days off from 29 to 41 days a year (with full-time employment).

For a complete overview of the terms of employment, please refer to the web page: werken bij de KNAW.

Non Dutch applicants are required to relocate to The Netherlands. If and when necessary, KITLV will apply for the residence permit. Non Dutch employees may qualify for a Tax break (30% Ruling).

Applying for a Certificate of Good Conduct can be part of the employment procedure.

Diversity & Inclusion
The KNAW considers a working environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated of great importance. A working environment in which attention is paid to individual quality and where development opportunities are paramount. Together we strive for an inclusive culture in which we embrace differences. We would therefore like to invite candidates who want to contribute to this through their background and experience. In the event of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who thus enhances diversity within the Academy.

We will not respond to any supplier enquiries based on this job advertisement.