Deadline:
As soon as possible
Location(s)
Croatia
Preobraženska 2, 10000 Zagreb
Overview
Each year IPE is offering a paid fellowship (optimally up to 9 months) both to junior and senior scholars through public competitive call or direct invitation, and engages scholars in IPE’s research and educational work in accordance with the current annual plan.
Details
The junior fellowship program aims to support research and advocacy work of young scholars who have demonstrated exceptional competence and motivation in tackling key social, political and environmental challenges of the 21st century.
Potential applicants should contact us at fellowship@ipe.hr for further information. IPE’s fellowship work is supported by Heinrich Böll Stiftung.
SUPER DONUT: Sustainability on the periphery – distilling numbers for tomorrow
The conventional metrics assumes uncontested perceptions and representations of sustainability challenges, which is criticized by the degrowth thinkers. “Crunching numbers” first, in a way of re-evaluating old metrics and exploring new metrics, is a mode of achieving novel perceptions and representations of sustainability issues (Giampietro, Mayumi, Sorman, 2012).The aim of our project is to improve the understanding of “the social context” in which environmental degradation occurs through combining various indicators in the web of societal-biophysical analysis from which the socio-ecological transition posed by the degrowth goals could be measured. Empirically, we connect different aspects of the material flow, comparative developmental attainments and prevalent social attitudes.
There is currently a lack of coherent and innovative localised strategies to address the challenges of rapid and thoroughgoing socio-economic transformation imposed by biophysical and social constraints of this century. This is particularly true of macroeconomic scenarios and associated data-based narratives. Unlike the recent industrial and socio-metabolic changes, this one is likely to occur in the context of low growth or secular stagnation. The related intellectual and empirical challenge is to evaluate resilience and transformation potential of societies and communities using the assessment metrics that better reflect the bio- and sociohistorical context upon which their resilience is built and from which transformation is expected.
We invite young researchers interested in working on critical assessment of dominant quantitative modelling manifolds (the justifying narratives) that inform strategies of knowledge creation and sustainability transition, when placed in post-growth and degrowth contexts. Recognising that metrics are still one of the most powerful and most widely understood ways of managing systemic changes, researchers on our team collect, analyse and re-present the indicators of material and social reproduction of societies operating in a globalised world, but in different local histories and geographies, to propose a fresh paradigmatic understanding of sustainability issues within a democratic context.
Researchers would join our interdisciplinary and international team and help with sourcing, selecting and presenting indicators of socio-metabolic transformation in a clear, widely communicable and internationally comparable way, all within the paradigm of democratic and culturally integrated degrowth. They will also participate in networking, dissemination and educational programmes integral to IPE's operations in 2018. An inclusive and historical understanding of the narrative construction within which sustainability, conviviality and development are framed is expected, but a basic command of international databases and IPE’s databases is necessary as well. An ability to frame these in the specific fields of materialist, commons-based and/or worldecology approaches within political ecology will be considered a benefit.
If you wish to tell a story of sustainability, in a way that is both emancipatory for ‘living well with less’ and informative for the global North and South, using words and graphics, put together a persuasive one page narrative and join our number-bending team.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
Eligibility
Candidates for the fellowship:
- must have a second degree (master or equivalent) in any academic discipline
- must display an active competence in English
We particularly invite candidates who can demonstrate high academic ambition, but have also been socially engaged and are willing to employ their research and scientific work in societal transformation close to IPE's mission. Candidates who have distinctive experience in connecting international and local perspectives in their work or who can demonstrate outstanding social engagement will be given preference.
Application
Applications must be submitted via email, to fellowship@ipe.hr, marked by the candidate’s name and phrase “FINAL APPLICATION” in the subject line. After the deadline expires all applicants will be informed that their application was received. An application must include:
- a project proposal in English (1 page, font 12)
- a curriculum vitae in English, including a list of publications (academic and/or those demonstrating social engagement)
- two letters of recommendation (minimum one academic)
- voice contact details (telephone, Skype) for elaboration of project proposal if necessary, indicating availability in case they will be shortlisted.
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Candidates are kindly asked to state their preferred date to start the Fellowship term in their application. Candidates are encouraged to develop their autonomous research proposals in line with the objectives set out in this call, and should not expect content feedback instructions concerning their applications from IPE staff and associates.
Dates
Deadline: As soon as possible
Cost/funding for participants
Fellowship Structure
The IPE junior research fellowship is a full-time, 6 months long paid fellowship with flexibility in implementation. It can start at your earliest convenience by the 1st of April or soon thereafter, and will be finished by the 31st of December at the latest.
The selected candidates will be invited to spend these 6 months at IPE to pursue their research within the framework of IPE research projects. Junior Visiting Fellows will receive a stipend of EUR 800 net per month (in HRK equivalent) to cover accommodation, living expenses, travel, health insurance and any incidental costs related to their stay in Zagreb. The modality of the payment will be defined at individual basis in agreement with the selected fellow.
In addition, IPE provides fellows with office space and in-house research and administrative facilities. Fellows will initially undergo orientation and introduction to IPE staff and associates, and the Institute’s ongoing activities. Fellows will cooperate closely with the IPE staff member who leads the respective research activity, attend monthly meetings with the Research Director and are expected to contribute to other ongoing research activities and public events. Depending on specific activities, fellows will work either from the IPE office in Zagreb, or temporarily from other locations conditional on agreement with the Research Director and the Executive Director of IPE. Halfway through their Fellowship, fellows will present their research project to the IPE team and should expect an evaluation of their outputs and cooperation with IPE team by the Academic Council.
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
