Postdoctoral Position in Social Simulation for Environmental Footprint Reduction (NIES, Japan)
Ryu Koide
Dear all,
We would appreciate it if you could share this announcement with colleagues or students who may be interested.
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The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan, is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher (Research Associate) position focusing on social simulation and behavioural change aimed at reducing environmental footprints.
This position may be of interest to early-career researchers who enjoy combining social science, simulation modelling, and sustainability research.
Research focus
The successful candidate will work on agent-based social simulation to study everyday behaviours with high environmental impacts, such as energy-intensive lifestyles, car and air travel, meat consumption, and/or linear consumption patterns.
Key research questions include:
- How do people transition away from high-environmental-impact behaviours?
- How do policies influence everyday decisions and environmental footprints related to energy, food, mobility, and consumption?
- Under what conditions do social tipping points occur toward decarbonized, circular, and nature-positive societies?
What we are looking for
- A Ph.D. (or close to completion) in a relevant field
- Experience with programming, modelling, or data analysis
- Interest in human behaviour and sustainability challenges
- Motivation to work in an interdisciplinary research environment
What we offer
- Research with strong real-world and policy relevance
- Access to high-performance computing clusters dedicated to agent-based simulation
- Dedicated institutional funding for behavioural data collection (e.g. consumer surveys) and engagement with the international research community (e.g. conference travel)
- A multi-disciplinary team with expertise in environmental footprint analysis and behavioural science, enabling close collaboration on high-impact research
- Opportunities to publish, grow an international research profile, and build global networks
- The chance to live and work in Japan, with convenient access to the Tokyo metropolitan area, while tackling global sustainability issues
Appointment details
- The position offers a maximum contract duration of up to five years (initial appointment through March 2027, with possible extensions)
- Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis; early applications by the end of January are encouraged
Full details and application instructions are available at:
https://www.nies.go.jp/osirase/saiyo/r08-e-008e.pdf
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For informal questions about the position or research environment, please feel free to contact Ryu Koide (koid...@nies.go.jp).
Kind regards,
Ryu
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Ryu Koide, Ph.D.,
Senior Researcher, Material Cycles Division
Group Leader, Consumption and Behaviour Change
National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan
email: koid...@nies.go.jp