Tenure Track Scientist; m​/f​/div) Global-Local Interactions in Agriculture Systems

Tenure Track Scientist (m/f/div) on “Global-Local Interactions in Agriculture Systems”
Reference No. T03-2026

The mission of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) as a nationally and internationally active research institute is to deliver solutions for an ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable agriculture – together with society. ZALF aims for excellent and integrated research with societal impact. The institute is a member of the Leibniz Association and is located in Müncheberg (approximately 35 minutes by regional train from Berlin-Lichtenberg).

It also maintains futher locations in Brandenburg (Dedelow, Paulinenaue) as well as Hesse (Giessen, Kassel, and Geisenheim).

With its Tenure Track System, ZALF aims to recruit excellent scientists with essential expertise by providing a guaranteed transitioning to a permanent contract subject to successful evaluation.

As part of Research Area 3:
Agricultural Landscape Systems, it is intended that a new agricultural economics modeling working group will be established focusing on the interplay between global forces and local agricultural systems sustainability. To eventually lead this new group, we are offering at our location in Müncheberg a full-time position as

This Classic Tenure Track Call invites modelers working at the interface between global forces affecting agriculture (e.g., markets and trade, climate change, food security) and local farming systems and agricultural landscapes. In this new position, we are looking for a candidate who can bridge between the global agricultural economics modeling community and researchers addressing sustainability and equity issues in agricultural production at local scales.

The position is associated with the prospect of establishing and leading the new working group.

The successful candidate will:

• Study the interactions between landscape level processes and national and global drivers (including markets, trade, policies, and system shocks) to better understand feedbacks and implications for local sustainability of climate change, biodiversity, and food security challenges
• Contribute to advance cross-scale modeling approaches integrating economic, ecological, and social dimensions
• Assess market, technological, governance, and policy developments and scenarios to support more sustainable agricultural landscapes
• Foster strong collaboration with external global agricultural economics modelers, as well as cooperate with a range of ZALF scientists across disciplines

The call is addressed to dynamic and highly motivated early career researchers with an interest in bridging economic modeling and sustainability research for real world impact. They have a PhD, ideally in agricultural or environmental economics or a similar field, and an excellent track record in agricultural system modeling. Bio-economic modeling skills are required, preferably with experience with integrated impact assessment models (either PE, CGE, or similar modeling approaches).

Previous experience assessing value chains, ecosystem services, or cross-scale interactions would be an asset. According to their career level, candidates must have demonstrated their capacity to independently carry out research, including an excellent publication record, successfully acquired competitive third-party funding, and visibility in their respective field of research.

The successful candidate will receive a Regular Tenure Track position (2 x 3 years) with transition to a permanent position, subject to successful evaluations (midterm and final tenure evaluation). If candidates are not legally eligible for two consecutive fixed-term contracts (according to German academic employment law – WissZeitVG), a Fast Tenure…