Postdoc in Justice and Climate Policy Pathways for Societal Readiness

Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam; Den Haag; Hybrid; EUR 21,000 - 32,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

CAO-NU aligned salary

Remote work option

Expatriate support

Dual Career Programme

41 days leave

Holiday pay 8%

Year-end bonus 8.3%

Job summary

Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS) invites applications for a half-time role focused on co-designing Just Climate Policy Pathways (JCPPs) and assessing equity in climate policy readiness. The role involves leading a systematic review, data collation across multiple urban contexts, and developing narrative storylines and metrics to support policy engagement at local to international levels.

The successful candidate will apply multidisciplinary methods, work with SSPs and related data, and

Qualifications

• PhD in international development, development studies, climate policy analysis, or related field.
• Transdisciplinary methodological skills with postdoctoral experience and experience handling large datasets.
• Experience designing methodological approaches, data analysis, and writing systematic reviews.

Responsibilities

• Lead systematic review of JCPPs and their extension of SSPs.
• Collate data at urban, national, regional and international levels on societal readiness for climate action.
• Co-design storylines and metrics to validate climate policy implementation.
• Develop equity and justice matrices from urban case contexts.
• Validate extension of IPCC SSPs and feasibility of JCPPs.
• Assess JCPPs performance across urban case studies.

Skills

PhD in relevant field

Transdisciplinary methods

Data analysis & systematic reviews

Experience with SSP data

Education

PhD

Tools

IPCC SSPs data

Job description

Organisational unit International Institute of Social Studies (ISS)

Employment 0.5 fte - 0.5 fte

Introduction

Are you a highly motivated, self-driven person interested in working with a strong team of researchers passionate about climate change, equity, and justice at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS)? With relevant expertise and experience, this position might be for you!

We are seeking someone with the knowledge and experience to co-produce narratives and storylines to support modeling climate policy readiness with justice and equity dimensions. Skills in multidisciplinary methods and statistical modelling, as well as experience working with Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) for climate analysis, are highly relevant. ISS offers a collaborative and collegial working environment in The Hague.

You will develop a systematic methodology for co-designing and validating Just Climate Policy Pathways (JCPPs). This will involve creating storylines, metrics, and matrices to assess the enablers and challenges associated with climate policy responses. A key responsibility will be to lead a systematic review of JCPPs and their potential to extend the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), as well as examine their application across six urban case studies: Lisbon, Trondheim, Zagreb, Nairobi, Cape Town, and Lusaka. In addition, you will synthesize context-specific data and develop climate policy scenarios to support engagement with policymakers on feasible response actions at local, regional, and international levels. The role also includes evaluating how co-developed JCPPs can enhance the SSP framework by incorporating dimensions of equity and justice, drawing on evidence from the urban case studies and global datasets.

The most important elements of the role include the following:

• Lead in developing a systematic methodological approach to analyzing Justice and Equity associated with adaptation and mitigation of climate change within the“Re-assessing Climate Policies for Equity and Justice Through Societal Readiness” (ReCAPS) project
• Collate data at the urban, national, regional, and international levels to synthesize evidence on societal readiness for climate action
• Co-design storylines for Just Climate Policy Pathways (JCPPs), including metrics to validate climate policy implementation
• Co-develop equity and justice matrices from urban context cases to identify enablers and barriers
• Validate the extension of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs)and thefeasibilityof the developed Just Climate Policy Pathways (JCPPs)
• Assess the performance of JCPPs 1–5 in each urban context case study under theproject.

Job requirements

• A PhD in any of the fields including: international development, development studies, climate policy analysis, statistical modelling, urban climate analysis, or a related field
• Transdisciplinary methodological skills and at least one year of postdoctoral research experience, including experience working with large datasets and engaging with diverse stakeholders (e.g., academics, policymakers, and city managers) when conducting research
• Experience in conceptualizing and developing methodological approaches, analyzing data, and writing systematic reviews
• Additional desirable skills include experience working with IPCC Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) data, climate-resilient development pathways, and integrated assessment models used in IPCC scenarios. Experience in organizing and facilitating workshops and meetings with diverse stakeholders is also considered an asset.

Employment conditions and benefits

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The preferred start date of this position is 01-FEB-2027 and you will be based at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in Den Haag. This position is for 0.5 fte. The salary is dependent on your experience and knowledge and ranges from a minimum of € 3.706,- to a maximum of € 5.760,- gross per month on a fulltime basis, in accordance with scale 10.0 of the CAO-NU. The advertised position is with an initial offer for one year and the possibility for renewal for further two years.

Everything else we offer you; you can find below!

- Everything you need for a good work-life balance : the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre Opens external !

- Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the Expat-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Employer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl .

Faculty / Institute / Central service

The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) is a leading academic center for international development studies. While based in The Hague, the ISS is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam. ISS was established in 1952 and is a post-graduate institute of policy-oriented critical social science and development-oriented research. ISS brings together a diverse international community of scholars and students from both the global South and the global North, on average originating from over 50 different countries in a multi-disciplinary setting which nurtures, fosters and promotes critical thinking and innovative research on fundamental social problems. The strong partnerships with organizations and individuals in developing countries make up a vibrant network where we co-create knowledge so that teaching and research remain socially relevant. Key to the ISS philosophy and practices is the wish to contribute to achieving social justice and equity on a global level www.iss.nl .

Department

The Climate Change and Environmental Justice Academic Team examines how different social groups experience and respond to climate impacts, highlighting differentiated vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities shaped by, among others, class, race, gender and location. The team investigates the ways in which environmental conflicts influence the design and implementation of climate adaptation and resilience strategies and policies across both rural and urban settings. Researchers analyse how power dynamics and social struggles determine whose voices are prioritized in adaptation planning and resource allocation. A key focus lies in understanding how marginalized communities, such as those in coastal cities facing sea-level rise or those living in tropical rainforests, navigate everyday risks and long-term uncertainties. The academic team’s work explores the intersection of local conflicts over land, water and resources with broader processes of climate adaptation, and mitigation. It critically assesses what systemic changes – economic, political, and social – are required globally to prevent dangerous climate change while advancing just and sustainable socio-economic development.

Additional information

Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained by contactingProf. Shuaib Lwasa( [e-mail] or 0634458339).