Doctoral Research Associate with a background in Sustainability Science, Ecology, Geography, or a related field relevant to Regenerative Sustainability

Visit our website to learn more about the five Key Subject Areas that are involved in the project: \“Climate Futures in Digital Cultures\“, \“Companies as Drivers of Sustainability Transformations\“, \“Democratic Resilience\“, \“Organizing in Times of Crisis\“, and \“Toward a Regenerative Society\“, complemented by a \“Psychology of Transformation\“ acting as a Hub Science. To create synergies between these various fields and explore new perspectives, the \“Leuphana Transformation Lab\“ will be established as a shared intellectual and physical space to promote collaboration among the researchers involved. The university is looking for a responsible, motivated and committed person for the Key Subject Area \“Toward a Regenerative Society\“ to fill the position of a Doctoral Research Associate with a background in Sustainability Science, Ecology, Geography, or a related field relevant to Regenerative Sustainability (salary group EG 13 TV-L, with 75 % of the regular weekly working time of a full-time employee for a limited period of 4 years to start on 1st October 2025, or depending on your availability) We invite you to become part of an exciting community of scholars and offer you the opportunity to advance your academic career by pursuing a doctorate. You will be able to refine your own disciplinary profile and work with a great number of participating Leuphana professors, postdocs, other doctoral researchers and international fellows in a stimulating interdisciplinary setting. You will thereby build an international network for the advancement of your career in the highly dynamic and future-oriented field of transformation research as well as management and organization studies. To fully benefit from the purpose and value of collaborative and interdisciplinary research facilitated by a shared physical space, an adequate presence on campus is expected. With the key subject area \“Toward a Regenerative Society\“, Leuphana seeks to take a leading position in the nascent field of regenerative sustainability. Research within this key subject area will be both empirical and conceptual, addressing (among others) regenerative material and resource flows, regenerative ecosystem management, regenerative education, regenerative entrepreneurship, and regenerative governance. The research associate advertised here will play a central role in delivering integrated research on regeneration by taking a social-ecological systems perspective. In addition to conducting original research that leads to a PhD thesis, the successful applicant will be expected to contribute to the writing of major follow-up funding proposals within the field of regenerative sustainability. The research associate will be part of the Social-Ecological Systems Institute within Leuphana\’s School of Sustainability and will work under the supervision of Prof. Joern Fischer. Your tasks: Write a doctoral dissertation (composed of original research papers) on regenerative sustainability, from the perspective of social-ecological systems science Contribute to the common objective of \“Embracing Transformation\“ by analyzing transformation processes and generating transformation knowledge Contribute to the development of the Key Subject Area \“Toward a Regenerative Society\“ and to drafting major follow-up funding applications Advance your own academic career, preparing for e.g. a postdoc position Participate in and co-organize regular meetings and workshops Contribute to teaching on regenerative sustainability (amounting to 1 German SWS = 0.75 hours regular teaching time per week during the term) Your qualifications: Master\’s degree or equivalent in Sustainability Science, Ecology, Geography, or a related field relevant to Regenerative Sustainability Experience in interdisciplinary settings, and experience or interest in taking a social-ecological systems perspective Excellent written and oral communication skills in English (having an at least basic command of German is an advantage) Strong personal initiative, excellent organizational skills, and ability to work in interdisciplinary and multicultural teams Our offer: An inspiring cutting-edge collaborative research environment with multiple established and early-career scholars and scientists working together in an attractive modern university building designed by Daniel Libeskind Green and inviting campus at the edge of the picturesque Hanseatic town of Lüneburg, close to the Northern German metropolis Hamburg Flexible and family-friendly working hours within a time frame between 6 am and 9 pm, including opportunities for remote working A wide range of additional (subsidized) benefits such as continuing education, sporting activities, catering service for lunch and dinner, and a public transport ticket valid in the whole of Germany An additional company pension scheme through the Versorgungsanstalt des Bundes und der Länder (VBL) Your application: For further information please contact Prof. Joern Fischer (). Leuphana University of Lüneburg promotes professional gender equality and heterogeneity among its members. Applications from people with severe disabilities will be given preferential consideration if they have the same qualifications. Please also note our data protection information for applicants. Please be available on the 17th and 18th of July 2025 for job interviews on campus. We look forward to receiving your application, including a research proposal and an outline of your research interests of up to three pages. In addition, please include a CV (without photo) and a motivation letter in which you briefly describe (1) your qualifications, (2) how your envisaged research project may contribute to the interdisciplinary concept and overall goals of \“Embracing Transformation\“, and (3) how working in this setting will be beneficial for your own academic career. Please send it by the 29th of June 2025 digitally (summarized in a PDF file) or by post to: Leuphana Universität Lüneburg Human Resources and Legal Affairs / Application Management Subject: Regeneration Society PhD Universitätsallee 1 21335 Lüneburg