PhD Fellows in Climate Change Adaptation Policy

Project: Multi-level analysis of the science-policy-practice interface in climate change adaptation in East and West Africa
Location: 2 positions (one in Ethiopia and the other one in Senegal)
Duration: Three years

Background: With the increased urgency of adaptation to climate change in the agricultural sector, there is more and more experimentation with how to bring scientific insights into national policy discussions. Emerging science-policy interface platforms vary in their forms, but they all aim to be mechanisms to shorten the distance between the co-production of cutting edge applied science and scientifically informed policies that are equitable and effective. However, how and why such modes of science-policy interface work within the political economy of adaptation remains poorly understood.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is offering two 3-year PhD fellowships, one each for research in Ethiopia and Senegal. Each fellow will analyze the social dynamics of formulation and implementation of climate adaptation policy in one of these two countries. In particular, we are interested to examine how scientific information is (or is not) integrated into policy processes focused on or relevant to climate adaptation in the agricultural sector. More specifically, the research fellows will be charged with empirical analyses of policy formation and implementation processes, treating them as complex interactions between a wide variety of stakeholders, including global policy and research actors, donor agencies, national policymakers, government ministries and their staff at various levels, civil society stakeholders, sub-national political actors, and the pastoralists/ agropastoralists whose lives are ultimately affected by policies.

The two PhD fellows will be expected and assisted to interact with each other in order to foster comparability and capitalize on synergies between the studies. Both studies should approach two key dimensions of the topic.

First, both PhD fellows are expected to analyze extant national policy environments — the array of policies affecting rural livelihoods practice and climate change adaptation, including the synergistic and antagonistic interplay among those policies — and the influence those policy environments have pastoral and agropastoral systems in their respective field sites. Thus, while some particular policy or other may merit close investigation, the emphasis here is on the interplay among policies. Analysis of policy environments also includes examination of the linkages both upward (to supra-national dynamics such as changing scientific knowledge, global political pressures and changing donor priorities) and downward (to spaces where policy implementation occurs and affects the day-to-day practice of agropastoralism). This analysis might involve, for example, examination of the factors that have influenced the development of existing policies and the political spaces that exist for different stakeholders to engage in dialogue on and to influence policy choices around climate change adaptation and mitigation and agricultural development in general.

Second, the PhD fellows should analyze the real-time dynamics of national science-policy interface platforms, focusing on how scientific information is delivered, received, and drawn upon in the shaping of policies. This part of the study might use, for instance, a multi-sited ethnography approach to analysing how various stakeholders relate to and within the platforms/alliances. We expect to encounter examples of multiple ways that science is drawn upon in policy formulation and implementation processes, including both positive and negative examples.

These fellowship are deliberately designed as interdisciplinary social science projects with a strong qualitative emphasis, and we invite applicants from a broad array of social science backgrounds, including, but not limited to: human geography, political science, anthropology, science and technology studies, natural resource management, etc.

These fellowships are a part of the Policy and Governance theme within the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) program and will benefit from ILRI’s and CCAFS’ institutional support and access to existing science-policy platforms, as well as CCAFS’ local benchmark sites in both countries.

Terms of appointment: The successful applicants will receive an annual stipend of USD 33,000 per year for up to three years, as well as USD 22,500 for field research expenses. Over and above this amount for field research expenses, ILRI will also cover travel expenses for participation in meetings with ILRI staff and between the two fellows, as necessary.

In addition to their university-based academic supervisors, fellows will also receive substantive input from the commissioning ILRI social scientists. Through this collaboration, fellows are expected to produce peer-reviewed articles and policy briefs, as well as PhD dissertations.

Requirements and qualifications

The ideal candidates should:

• Be enrolled or accepted in a PhD program in a recognized university in a discipline such as anthropology, human geography, natural resources management, international development studies, political science, science and technology studies.
• Be prepared to begin field research no later than 1 October 2015.
• Have no health or other restrictions that would prevent them from carrying out field research in rural Ethiopia/Senegal.
• Have extensive knowledge of the climate change adaptation literature
• Have excellent English speaking and writing skills and strong motivation to produce peer-reviewed publications
• For Senegal only, have at least functional fluency in French

Helpful qualities

• Familiarity with or past experience in the relevant countries, particularly government and policy contexts
• Capacities with relevant national languages of Ethiopia (Amharic, Oromiffa) or Senegal (Wolof, Fulfulde)

Applicants need not have completed all university requirements for commencing field research (coursework, oral/comprehensive exams, etc.) at the time of application. However, the student should have advanced to PhD candidacy by the time of starting the fellowship, which should be no later than 1 August 2015. Fieldwork must start by 1 October 2015.

How to apply: All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com by the deadline of 15 November 2014. The following documents should be included in the online application:

• A cover letter describing the candidate’s interests in and qualifications for carrying out the research, referring to his/her CV as necessary. It should also describe at what stage the candidate has reached in his/her PhD program (i.e., course work completed? Comprehensive/oral exams completed?). The cover letter should indicate clearly which of the two countries the candidate is interested in.
• A CV including three references with contact information, one of whom should be the candidate’s academic supervisor
• An academic writing sample, preferably in English (course paper, master’s thesis chapter, etc.)

The above materials will be evaluated and a select number of candidates will then be asked to submit letters of support from referees, academic transcripts, and a short proposal outlining the research design. Candidates should also expect to have Skype interviews prior to final selection.

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer. Suitably qualified women and citizens of developing countries are particularly encouraged to apply.