Scientific domain:  Interdisciplinarity: interactions between social sciences, agronomy, geography

Requirements for admission: The candidates should have a Master in Agronomy, Forestry, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Economy or other related social sciences.

Preferential factors for admission: Knowledge on the Ecosystem Services framework will be particularly valued. Knowledge on social science analysis instruments are needed. Training and or experience with the use of participatory approaches is required. Engagement in previous transdisciplinarity projects will be particularly valued. Fluency in Portuguese is an advantage. 

Work Plan: PEGASUS aim at develop innovative, practical ways of making Public Goods (PG) and Ecosystem Services (ESS) concepts accessible and operational: it will identify how, where and when cost-effective mechanisms and tools for policy, business and practice can most effectively be applied, increasing the sustainability of primary production. More information on: http://pegasus.ieep.eu/

The Master Research scholar will be mainly focused of the Work Package (WP4), with the case study application in Portugal. PEGASUS includes 33 case studies and in Portugal there are two: the montado extensive silvo-pastoral system and intensive olive production in the Alentejo. The WP4 is devoted to exploring and developing innovative and participatory approaches for PG/ESS delivery in each case study. The goals of WP4 are:

• to achieve a detailed understanding of the functional inter and intra-relationships between farming and forestry management and the quantity and quality of PG/ESS associated with these activities, in order to identify how these relationships respond to different drivers or initiatives in policy and markets.

• to assess the societal demand and appreciation of PG/ESS in these contexts and to link measurements of appreciation to different groups (e.g. producers, food and agri-business, tourism operators, community, users, wider society)

• to identify the key motivational, institutional and socio-economic factors which are needed to enable transformative practice at the ground level, in respect of the mainstreaming of PG/ESS provision within farming and forestry of different levels of intensity.

• to identify approaches and methods to increase the awareness, appreciation and provision of PG/ESS from agriculture and forestry.

Within WP4 the following steps are to be developed:

Step 1: Map the social-ecological system, using participatory methods and local, regional or national data sets. This will involve workshops and field sessions (undertaking stakeholder mapping to determine the relevant groups and interests, and then engaging stakeholders to collectively undertake systems mapping).

Step 2: Analyse the conditions for successful PG/ESS provision or sustainability in that system, using the results of Step 1 plus interviews with stakeholders and triangulation with local environmental and socio-economic data.

Step 3: Looking to the future, identify potential for ‘common initiatives – common actions’ with stakeholders to reduce transaction costs and thereby increase PG/ESS provision (e.g. initiating participation, increasing sharing of values, increasing trust, finding the ways of overcoming costs associated with PG provision) using interviews and field sessions.

Step 4: Seek agreement on the actions and institutional arrangements needed for enhanced PG/ESS provision in the future (looking to the period post 2020) with stakeholders (based on results from Step 3). This shall be achieved via focus groups or workshops to build trust, find common interests and values, ways of sharing costs and benefits and avoiding damage to economic viability.

The Master researcher will be involved in all the remaining activities of the project, but particularly in WP4. Mainly, the Master researcher will be collecting the needed data for WP4 application and putting in practice the participatory approach defined within the project.  The researcher is expected to lead one scientific publication issuing from the WP4 results, and to participate in others. The research is to be developed in the University of Évora, ICAAM (Institute for Mediterranean Agrarian and Environmental Sciences), within the research group “Landscape Dynamics and Social Processes”.

Relevant legislation and regulation: This scholarship will be carried on the basis of a signed  contract between the University of Évora and the scholarship recipient, under the terms of the Research Scholarship Regulations of the University of Évora (Ordem de Serviço nº1/2011), the Scientific Research Grant Holder Statute  (Law nº40/2004 of the 18 of August and Decree-Law nº202/2012 of the 27 of August) and according to the Regulations and legislation for advanced training and qualifications for human resources of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).

Place of work: The work is to be developed at the ICAAM, Polo da Mitra of the University of Evora, under the scientific coordination of Teresa Pinto-Correia

Length of the scholarship: The scholarship will last for 12 months, with a foreseen start at the 1th February 2016 and possibly renewed for more 6 or 12 months, depending on the project development.

Payment: According to the scholarship values applied by the Portuguese Research Foundation (http://alfa.fct.mctes.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores): the monthly payment is of 980 Euros, not subject to taxes, and the contribution to the national social-medical insurance is paid by the project. The payment is done by cheque or bank transfer.

Selection: The selection is done based on the documentation sent, mainly the analysis of the CV. An interview may be required. The interview will be used to select between candidates equally ranked. When the candidates are not available to come to Évora, the interview may be undertaken using skype.

Selection Comitee: Professor Maria Teresa Amado Pinto Correia; Professor Nuno Manuel Cabral de Almeida Ribeiro; Professor Maria Paula Duarte Simões; Professor Gottlieb Basc; Professor Fátima de Jesus Folgôa Baptista

Announcement of results:  The results will be published through a ranked listed and disposed at the entrance of Colégio de Regentes Agrícolas do Núcleo da Mitra da Universidade de Évora. The candidates receive the information by e-mail.

Period for the call and presentation of application: The call is open in between the 23th November and the 4th December 2015, and the results will be announced until the 9nd December 2015.

The submissions may be done through a motivation letter, a CV, relevant certificates, sent to Prof.ª Doutora Teresa Pinto Correia - mtpc@uevora.pt