Global Futures Post Doctoral Scientist
Job Summary:

Under the direct supervision of the Global Theme Leader of GT-IMPI (Institutions, Markets, Policy and Impacts) and working with the Economists in Asia, ESA and WCA and concerned bio-physical scientists involved in the Global Futures Project at ICRISAT, and in close collaboration with other staff as appropriate, the successful applicant will join a team of researchers funded by the Gates Foundation to enhance the ex ante research evaluation capabilities of the CGIAR. This research involves extensive revision to a widely respected partial equilibrium model of world agriculture written in GAMS to increase its spatial resolution, developing links to general equilibrium models, adding explicit land use modeling, and implementing theoretically rigorous welfares measures. The individual will conduct original research as well as provide research, communications, and writing support to the other members of the research team.
The position is a two-year, fixed-term appointment, and is renewable depending on performance and funding. Please note that Postdoctoral Fellow or Scientist equivalent position at ICRISAT is based at ICRISAT headquarters located in Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India near Hyderabad. The estimated start date of the position is March 2010.

Essential Duties:
Conduct independent research and collaborate on group research efforts that results in output publishable in high quality journals, on topics related to agricultural productivity, and sustainability of the natural resource base in the face of climate change and other global pressures. Work with a team undertaking major improvements in the IMPACT global model of agricultural supply and demand developed at IFPRI in collaboration with ICRISAT. Specific tasks include:

1. Work with a research team to develop and implement new modeling approaches to the determinants of land use, with an emphasis on the agricultural sector, but which also account for land use change interactions with forestry, urban expansion, and other non-agricultural land uses. This modeling architecture should take into account changes in population, income and key environmental factors, such as climate change and natural resource degradation. It should have high spatial resolution, include standard welfare measures, incorporate links to general equilibrium models and have detailed opportunities for simulating the effects of agricultural technology improvements.
2. Work closely with researchers who develop and maintain other models of biophysical crop growth, hydrology and economic policy used within the global change program, and supervise support research staff as necessary.
3. Carry out expert consultations with crop and animal scientists to better define the potential for various agricultural technology interventions to improve productivity growth and enhance sustainability.
4. Work with the extensive land use data currently available, and seek other sources, where necessary, to enhance the scope and functioning of the land use modeling tools, and strengthen the existing database within the global change program.
5. Maintain a high level of research output for publication outlets both within ICRISAT, and within the wider scientific community, on topics of relevance to the global change research theme.
6. Create linkages to possible external collaborators and research groups, when possible, in order to expand the portfolio of land use analysis tools within EPT as well as to create synergies with complementary modeling tools and methods.
7. Support GT-IMPI contributions to internal and external reviews such as Program and Management Reviews as well as annual and mid-term planning.

Required Qualifications
* Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, Applied Economics, Earth Systems, Natural Resource Management, Public Policy or other relevant fields.
* Extensive experience with mathematical modeling methods and complementary econometric techniques, with the necessary programming skills to implement directly
* Research experience in policy analysis and policy recommendations relating to environmental or natural resource issues in developing country economies.
* Outstanding ability to perform thoughtful, critical analyses of own as well as existing research.
* Ability to work with researchers from other sciences and backgrounds.
* Excellent communication skills (both oral and written).
Continued required skills

* Thorough knowledge of land use modeling techniques and the required national and global databases on which they depend
* Ability to incorporate important environmental factors such as carbon sequestration, climate, land quality and water availability into economic policy models of land use.


Preferred Qualifications
* Strong knowledge of Mathematical modeling, spatial economics, GIS.
* Knowledge of partial- and general-equilibrium economic models
* Facility with processing and analyzing data on climate, soils and water
* Experience and demonstrated excellence in written and oral presentations.

Contact:
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