Tenure Track Scientist– Regional Scale Cropping System Analysis
📚 About ZALF
The mission of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) is to deliver solutions for an ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable agriculture – together with society. ZALF aims for excellent and integrated research with societal impact.
The institute is a member of the Leibniz Association and is located in Müncheberg, with research stations in Dedelow and Paulinenaue.
With its Tenure Track System, ZALF recruits excellent scientists by providing a guaranteed transition to a permanent contract subject to successful evaluation.
🎯 Position Overview
🎯 About the Position
This Tenure Track Scientist Cropping System Analysis position is in Research Area Agricultural Landscape Systems within the Integrated Crop Systems Analysis working group. The interdisciplinary group focuses on climate risk management and assessment using process-based and statistical crop modeling, integrated with bio-economic and environmental analyses.
This position invites applications from scientists studying cropping systems at aggregate (district, landscape) scales. While current approaches use aggregate data applied to field-scale models, this role aims to advance concepts for understanding agroecosystem performance at landscape and regional scales considering:
📋 Call Description
- Environmental drivers
- Social factors
- Economic conditions
- Policy influences
- Landscape composition and configuration
The Tenure Track Scientist Cropping System Analysis will derive insights into determinants of regional-scale cropping system performance and support policy impact assessments for more sustainable agricultural systems.
✅ Key Responsibilities
The successful candidate is expected to:
- Identify determinants of cropping systems at aggregate scales using empirical and process-based modeling approaches
- Contribute to scaling concepts between field and regional levels for cropping system processes and indicators (economic, social, environmental, biodiversity)
- Develop approaches suitable at regional to global scales for projections of agricultural system performance in impact assessments
✅ Eligibility CriteriaRequired Qualifications
- PhD in Agriculture, Environmental Science, Agricultural Economics, or a related field
- Strong interest in supporting more sustainable and equitable cropping systems
- Very good quantitative skills
- Expertise in either statistical or process-based modeling, with familiarity in the other
- Previous experience quantifying cropping system performance at aggregate scale
Preferred Qualifications
Visibility in respective field of research
- Experience conducting integrated impact assessments (production, environment, pest/diseases, socio-economic)
- Experience with cross-scale studies
- Excellent publication record appropriate to career stage
- Successfully acquired competitive third-party funding
👤 Candidate Profile
Required Qualifications
- PhD in Agriculture, Environmental Science, Agricultural Economics, or a related field
- Strong interest in supporting more sustainable and equitable cropping systems
- Very good quantitative skills
- Expertise in either statistical or process-based modeling, with familiarity in the other
- Previous experience quantifying cropping system performance at aggregate scale
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience conducting integrated impact assessments (production, environment, pest/diseases, socio-economic)
- Experience with cross-scale studies
- Excellent publication record appropriate to career stage
- Successfully acquired competitive third-party funding
- Visibility in respective field of research
📝 Application procedure
Required Documents
- Application letter
- Summary of future research (2 pages)
- List of peer-reviewed publications
- List of acquired third-party funding
- Certificates and proof of qualifications
- Two standardized letters of recommendation (template available)
How to Submit
📌 Reference Number: T02-2026
📅 Deadline: April 12, 2026 – 23:59 (Europe/Berlin)
For email applications, create a single PDF file.
Clicking the button will open the online application form
