Postdoctoral position

UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF SOCIOENVRONMENTAL POLICY CO-PRODUCTION – MEASURING SOCIETAL IMPACT 

1. General Postdoctoral fellowships profile:

The Biota Synthesis program seeks a new highly qualified postdoctoral fellow to be part of a "Center of Analysis and Synthesis of Nature-based Solutions" (https://biotasintese.iea.usp.br). 

The Center is funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for a 5-year period (up to 2027) and brings together researchers from five universities, seven research institutes of the State of São Paulo and four NGOs, as well as technicians and decision makers from the State Secretariats of Infrastructure and Environment, Public Health, and Agriculture, as well as from the municipal departments of São Paulo, Campinas, and Santos. The Center is based at the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of São Paulo (IEA-USP).

The main goal of the Center is to support the State of São Paulo in the development of socio-environmental public policies related to agricultural sustainability, ecological restoration, zoonosis control, and disease prevention in urban areas, considering essentially nature-based solutions. It works following a "synthesis science" approach, with heterogeneous and collaborative working groups, which meet periodically in an immersive way for brainstorming discussions. These meetings are intercalated with the analysis and modeling of existing databases, with the primary goal of generating actionable scientific knowledge and influencing the development or enhancement of public policies.

Over the first three years, Biota Synthesis has supported seven working groups that have been influencing various governance instruments in the state of São Paulo. These include the state's climate action plans, the adaptation plan, the Refloresta-SP restoration program, and climate finance mechanisms such as Finaclima. A preliminary overview of these initial results is presented in Metzger et al. (2024 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecon.2024.11.004).  

  . 

The main role of this new postdoctoral position will be to gain a deeper understanding of the processes of knowledge and public policy co-production within Biota Synthesis, as well as to develop and assess indicators of societal impact.

The ideal candidate for this postdoctoral position should be highly skilled in collaborative teamwork, with strong abilities in active listening and engaging in dialogue with researchers and social actors from diverse backgrounds and professional experiences. Additionally, he/she should possess expertise in modeling and analytical methods (good knowledge in R, github and multivariate statistical analyses) to work with impact indicators, including those provided by Altmetrics, Overton, and PlumX. Although the postdoctoral position is open to Brazilian and foreign researchers who have a PhD degree, fluency in Portuguese is desired to facilitate the discussion and dialogue with the different actors involved in the project. 

FAPESP postdoctoral fellowships are competitive (R$ 12,000 - approximately US$ 2,000.00 per month) and granted for 24 months. The fellowships include a research contingency fund, equivalent to 10% of its annual value which should be spent on items directly related to the research activity.

2. Application procedure:

Applications must be submitted until March 25, 2025, 10 am, Brasilia Time (BRT), UTC -3, through the following link:  https://forms.gle/XKnqbTsk9qJQxE9F9. If you have any further questions, please contact us at biotasintese@usp.br. 

Necessary documents:

• Curriculum Vitae following the FAPESP format, including Lattes (for Brazilian candidates), ORCID, and Web of Science links, as well as citation indicators (e.g. number of publications and citations, H index); please indicate experience in teamwork and knowledge in R, github and multivariate statistical analysis;

• Research statement specifying why the candidate is suitable for the fellowship position;

• Three reference persons who can be consulted if the candidate is selected for an interview.

Please contact us again if you don’t receive the subscription confirmation by March 28th. 

Three to five candidates can be selected for an interview (to be conducted virtually). The initial selection will consider the adequacy of the candidate to the fellowship profile, as well as the candidate's professional experience and publication records.

The interviews are expected to occur at the end of March/beginning of April. The fellowship will begin in May, after validation of the selective process by FAPESP, according to the Institution's norms. All postdoctoral fellows will be formally linked to the postdoctoral program of the University of São Paulo. 

3. Summary of Fellowship project (policy co-production and societal impact): 

Bridging the gap between science and policy design is essential for developing effective environmental governance strategies to reverse the current global trend of rapid biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. New scientific approaches have been proposed to facilitate this connection by establishing a structured communication process between scientists and non-scientists. Through this dialogue, it becomes possible to co-produce socially relevant knowledge that can inform and support environmental policymaking.

The primary objective of this postdoctoral project is to understand the factors that foster knowledge co-production at the science-policy interface within the Biota Synthesis Center and to assess the impact of this process on the development of public policy instruments and their potential to drive societal change. The categorization and evaluation of processes linking scientific knowledge to policy design and implementation in São Paulo state will be conducted through a series of meetings and workshops with key stakeholders, combined with qualitative and quantitative analyses of collected insights. The impact assessment will be based on indicators of knowledge dissemination and the influence of technical-scientific outputs in policy documents (e.g., Altmetrics, PlumX, and Overton).

The methodological development of these indicators will leverage an extensive database of publications generated by synthesis groups funded by five major Synthesis Centers —several of which have direct collaborations with the Biota Synthesis team. This analysis aims not only to map the pathways of knowledge co-production but also to identify the key factors that contribute to the success of this innovative approach to knowledge generation and policy co-production. As a key outcome of this systematic reflection, the postdoctoral researcher will define success criteria and indicators that can be applied within Biota Synthesis, as well as in other initiatives operating at the interface of science and public policy.

A more detail presentation of the profile is provided here.

4. Requirements for the position: 

•Ph.D. in areas related to ecology, socioenvironmental analyses, applied social science, obtained no longer than 7 years before the grant acceptance date;

•Excellent skills and experience with science-policy interface, policy design support;

•Very good knowledge in data analysis and statistics, including abilities to work with R language, github and multivariate statistical analysis;

•Ability to work collaboratively in a group, including non-academic stakeholders;

•Excellent oral and written communication skills; 

•Good knowledge of Portuguese and English.