PhD position in Grassland Management and Grassland-based Production Systems (60)

About the job

• This PhD explores the balance between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and soil carbon sequestration in Mongolian steppe pastoral systems as a facet of One Health in Social Ecological Systems: Optimizing natural resources, livelihoods and health of humans and animals in Mongolia
• Investigate the digestibility and fermentation potential of key forage species and their role in pastoral productivity and GHG emissions
• Assess how soils across diverse Mongolian landscapes contribute to carbon sequestration
• Combine experimental results with mechanistic modelling to generate scenarios for sustainable herding systems
• Provide insights relevant to local herding communities and international climate policy

• Master (or equivalent) in a life sciences discipline (e.g. animal science, biology, ecology, environmental science, agricultural science, soil science or a related field)
• Experience in laboratory and field research is a plus
• Knowledge of plant, soil and livestock systems (training will be provided, so enthusiasm and capacity to learn are more important than specific prior expertise)
• Good organisational and time management skills
• Flexibility and enthusiasm for fieldwork, including travel to remote areas
• Good English communication skills, both written and spoken

• International teaching staff that combines tradition with innovation and excellence with experiment and thus gives students individual guidance towards their own careers.
• When looking for solutions, it helps to be curious and to think truly outside the box.
• Responsibility in hugely exciting projects for the future attracting attention beyond the professional world.
• Great freedom in the organisation of work times – including mobile working.

Cornelia Caputi
HR Consultant
P +41 31 910 21 82

At HAFL , a department of BFH, we're all about connecting humans, nature and technology towards sustainable development. As a ground-breaking, pioneering think tank, we are engaged in the creation and teaching of knowledge for the world of today and of tomorrow – bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, resilient and always solidly grounded at the same time.