Postdoctoral researcher - Promoting climate resilience in the science-policy-business interface

Are you interested in promoting climate resilience together with public and private actors? Are you an expert in climate change impact modelling and adaptation? Join us in co-creating solutions for more systemic climate risk management and adaptation.

In this postdoc position, you will analyse climate risks across sectors and co-develop the knowledge base supporting systemic risk management and adaptation together with public and private sector actors. The work can draw on a wide range of disciplines and research topics, for example environmental science, geography, sustainability science or adaptive management. The task will be linked to previous and ongoing projects and will involve the acquisition of project funding. Work tasks include conducting literature reviews (e.g., climate change impact models, science-policy interfaces and climate services), utilising and developing existing modelling data, collecting and analysing interview and quantitative data, writing scientific articles, organising workshops and other interactive events, conducting international assignments (presentation of work at international scientific meetings and research exchanges) and developing science-based climate risk tools that provide actual benefits to the end users outside of research.

This postdoc position is part of the Postdoctoral Programme for Research Institutes. The Programme has been granted 40 million euros in funding based on the Finnish government's multi-annual research and development (R&D) funding plan. This funding enables recruitment of 85 PhD-level experts to 12 Finnish government research institutes between 2025 and 2028. The aim of the Programme is to strengthen RDI competence in areas important to society. The postdoctoral researcher will conduct goal-oriented high-level research at the interface between the academic community, industry and administration. The Programme supports postdoctoral researcher’s networking and mobility between sectors.

The task will be positioned in the Climate Solutions unit. Finnish Environment Institute, Syke, maintains offices in Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, and Oulu, providing flexibility for the location of this role. You can express your wish concerning the office location. We work in an open space office and activity-based environment, but flexible remote working is our working standard today.

Our expectations of the applicant

A successful applicant will have a doctoral degree in environmental science, geography, sustainability science, social science or other relevant field. The applicant should have experience in working with climate change impact models and climate change adaptation. Experience in working with cross-sectoral and cross-border climate change impacts as well as systemic climate risk management will be considered an asset. Experience in working at the interface between science, policy and business will also be viewed favourably. The position involves a significant amount of cooperation and coordination with both Syke's experts and external actors, and therefore good interpersonal, cooperation and communication skills are required.

A Post Doc level researcher has completed their PhD within the last 10 years and has a minimum of 5 years of research work experience (including prior to completing the PhD and after it). They master the research methods in their own field and have the ability to work as a researcher relatively independently.

A person who has received permission to defend their dissertation before submitting the application can also be selected for the position. A person already working at the research institute can also be selected for the position.
This postdoc position can be filled by a younger researcher who has recently completed their doctorate, or a more experienced researcher who has already conducted independent research work, e.g. via leading small projects. A person's experience affects the determination of salary.

Personal qualities required for the position include an ability to work in an applied research context, where research is both of high quality and relevant for societal actors. The position involves a significant amount of cooperation and coordination with both Syke's experts and external actors, and therefore good interpersonal, cooperation and communication skills are required. Other key qualities include the ability to work using both quantitative and qualitative methods, to network with both national and international scholars and experts in different sectors and to be able to work independently but also as part of an international and multidisciplinary research group.

You need excellent English skills in the task.

Language skills needed in the position

• English
  • Speaking: Excellent
  • Writing: Excellent
  • Understanding: Excellent

We offer you 

Syke has a culture that supports learning and offers the opportunity for versatile competence development. We have flexible working hours and flexible remote working practices in Finland. In addition to a collective ways of doing research and supervision from the manager. We offer sports and culture benefits, a subsidised lunch in contract canteens and comprehensive occupational health care.

Clarifications

The person selected for the position might need to undergo concise security clearance vetting with the applicant’s consent (Security Clearance Act 726/2014). More detailed information on the procedure and the subject's rights is available at www.supo.fi.

Contact Information

Johan Munck af Rosenschöld , Group Manager
+358 (0)2 952 51513
johan.munckafrosenschold@syke.fi
(Available 11th November, 1-3pm EET and 15th November, 1-3pm EET)

How to apply

Primarily, we request applicants to submit their applications electronically via the Valtiolle.fi service. However, you can also apply for this job by delivering your application to the Registry Office’s postal address. Both the application and the envelope must feature the ID number of the position applied for. The letter must be delivered by the end of the application period.

Organisation

The Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) supports the building of a sustainable society with research, information, and services. We bear global responsibility and ambitiously seek to make an impact. Our objective is sustainability transformation! The society needs immediate decisions to build a better world fairly and cross-generationally. We offer our expertise for this change.

We are working to stop biodiversity loss and climate change. We promote a sustainable circular economy and urban structure, as well as a good state of the seas and inland waters. Our search for new, research-based solutions is creative and enthusiastic. We value constructive teamwork and the diversity of our work community: we invest in equality. Syke is a state research institute with 700 experts and researchers working in Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, and Oulu. Our research is largely funded through competitive research funding instruments.

Location
Oulu, Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä