[EASST-Eurograd] PhD and PostDoc positions with environmental social science focus within the Excellence Cluster Future Forests
Michael Pregernig via Eurograd
Dear colleagues,
The upcoming DFG-funded Cluster of Excellence “Future Forests – Adapting complex social-ecological forest systems to global change” is announcing a series of PhD and postdoctoral projects. Some of the projects have a distinct focus on environmental social sciences, including the following two projects:
The Postdoctoral project (100%, 3 years) DM-frame (Framing decision-making for future forests: conceptualisation, coordination, and synthesis) aims to explore how societies navigate environmental uncertainty and ambiguity through practices that go beyond conventional notions of decision-making. The position offers the opportunity to engage critically with interdisciplinary debates at the intersection of political theory, sociology, science and technology studies, and environmental governance. The successful candidate will contribute to synthesizing and developing alternative conceptualizations of decision-making and examine how these frameworks illuminate decision processes in contexts of ecological complexity and contested knowledge. The call text for the DM-frame project can be downloaded here: https://uni-freiburg.de/unr-sugov/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/Call_DMframe.pdf - Deadline: January 31, 2026
The PhD project (75%, 3.5 years) EpistAD (Dynamics in epistemic authority and epistemic disputes under conditions of deep uncertainty and fundamental ambiguity) investigates how scientific evidence and epistemic authority are negotiated in radically changing, non‑analogue social‑ecological forest systems. The overarching goal of the project is to develop a critical, social‑science‑based understanding of the credibility, justification and translation of knowledge under conditions of deep uncertainty and fundamental ambiguity, thereby contributing to a more actionable but also better reflected form of evidence‑based forest management and governance. The call text for the EpistAD project can be downloaded here: https://uni-freiburg.de/unr-sugov/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/Call_EpistAD.pdf - Deadline: January 20, 2026
The official job announcement and the link to the job application portal can be found at: https://uni-freiburg.de/en/jobs/
Future Forests currently has numerous positions advertised, with more to follow in the coming weeks. Some of these positions also have a distinct focus on environmental social sciences. For an overview, see the Cluster's website at: https://uni-freiburg.de/futureforests-en/.
I would be very grateful if you could spread the word about these job vacancies among your colleagues!
With best regards,
Michael Pregernig
Prof. Dr. Michael Pregernig
Chair of Sustainability Governance
Program Director MSc Environmental Governance (MEG)
Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources
Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg
Tennenbacherstr. 4
D-79106 Freiburg im Breisgau
Tel.: ++49/761/203-3708
Skype: dapreg
Mail: michael....@envgov.uni-freiburg.de
URL: uni-freiburg.de/enr-sugov
Michael Pregernig via Eurograd
Dear colleagues,
Please allow me to remind you that the application deadline for two interesting doctoral and postdoctoral positions in the context of the Excellence Cluster Future Forests is coming up soon (see my previous e-mail below). Also, be aware that several other projects with an explicit environmental social science focus are currently hiring as well; for an overview see: https://uni-freiburg.de/futureforests-en/career/
Best,
Michael Pregernig