The Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
GmbH - UFZ is offering a position for two years within the European Union funded Initial Training Network project
‘Advancing sustainable in situ remediation for contaminated land and groundwater' – ADVOCATE – for a

Post Doctoral Fellow (Experienced Researcher) (f/m)

for the Work package 1 sub-project: ‘Socio-economic and sustainability aspects of in situ remediation’. Earliest start date: 1 April, 2012.

ADVOCATE (Advancing sustainable in situ remediation for contaminated land and groundwater) is a multidisciplinary consortium of 20 academic and industry partners across five European countries, which will research fundamental science, processes and innovative technology applications in the field of in situ remediation. The network provides high-quality research training to young scientists, through fully-funded Early Stage Researcher (PhD level) and Experienced Researcher (Post-doctoral level) fellowships.

In Work package 1 analysis includes the identification of relevant stakeholders on ADVOCATE test sites and to
evaluate perceived usefulness of in situ remediation technologies, including the assessment of administrative and legal frameworks. In cooperation with partner institutions, one major goal is the integration of scientific and social issues of site remediation to develop recommendations for long-term management on the water sector and to set up a decision support framework to evaluate impact, relevance and sustainability of innovative in-situ processes.

Research includes the investigation of administrative peculiarities and site specific practices of stakeholders via indepth interviewing and focus group meetings.

The responsibilities of the successful candidate include the following:

• Identification of key actors and applied technologies at two test sites in Germany and Belgium
• Organization of focus group meetings with stakeholders to gain a better understanding of institutional
• frameworks and decision structures with a strong focus on uncertainty
• Networking with partners of the ADVOCATE project to gain a better understanding of in situ remediation
• technologies
• Develop first guidelines for cooperation between scientists and stakeholders and to rank in situ processes
• and remediation techniques

Applicants should have a PhD in sociology or a related field (e.g. geography, psychology) preferably with a
specialization in environmental sociology and less than 5 years full-time equivalent research experience since the
award of their master degree. In-depth knowledge of social science interviewing methods is a requirement.

Further Information can be obtained from: Matthias Gross, e-mail: matthias.gross@ufz.de

Applications are taken until the position is filled. Please send your complete application documents including a CV, motivation letter and copy of certificates under the code digit 73/2011 to the personnel department, P.O. Box 500136, D-04301 Leipzig, Germany or by e-mail to application@ufz.de.