Eawag the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology is an internationally networked aquatic research institute within the ETH Domain (Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). Eawag conducts research education and expert consulting to achieve the dual goals of meeting direct human needs for water and maintaining the function and integrity of aquatic ecosystems.

The Department of Environmental Social Sciences (ESS) invites applications for a

within the newly funded NCCR-Clim. The NCCR CLIM will establish the first fully interdisciplinary Switzerland-wide climate research community that tackles pressing issues related to climate extremes such as heatwaves floods heavy rainfalls droughts wildfires and further compound events. It will thereby and additionally interact with stakeholders ranging from public health to finance agriculture and water management.

By pooling competence from 20 leading Swiss research institutions across multiple natural and social science disciplines NCCR CLIM will combine fundamental knowledge with transformational knowledge.

Under the lead of ETH Zurich and the University of Bern the newly founded Centre for Climate Extremes and Resilience in Swiss Society (CERESS) will connect with numerous further universities and climate centres across Switzerland. CERESS will support nationwide research co-design living labs and produce actionable solutions thus forming a new transdisciplinary nexus between science society practice and politics.

PhD Project on Science Integration within the NCCR-Clim
This accompanying research (Begleitforschung) to the NCCR-Clim will study science integration using the NCCR-CLIM as an empirical case study. The project will be part of a broader effort within Eawag to foster systematic learning across larger research projects programs initiatives consortia with a view to developing how to practical knowledge for designing and implementing science integration and for supporting academic careers at the interface between different disciplines.

In particular the project will address the following research questions: What conditions enable or hinder science integration in the NCCR-CLIM What challenges and opportunities will the NCCR-CLIM Co-Directors the CERESS Executive Co-Directors Lead PIs Partners Members and Early Career Researchers experience regarding science integration What lessons learned and best practices can be derived for the future of the NCCR-CLIM and other large consortia

The accompanying research project will triangulate qualitative social science methods (i.e. semi-structured interviews with NCCR-CLIM team members at all levels) with co-creation workshops and participants observations. Besides peer-reviewed publications the project will produce a practice brief for academies and funding agencies dealing with large interdisciplinary consortia. It will include hands-on empirical insights on how to strengthen an integrative research culture and how to create meaningful interfaces between different research institutions teams disciplines and the outside for the future phases of the NCCR-CLIM and other/future NCCRs.

The candidate will be employed at Eawag Dubendorf within the Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research Group led by Dr Sabine Hoffmann of (ESS) and benefit from the research groups expertise and experience in leading science integration in large research consortia.

Successful candidates should hold a MSc in social sciences e.g. sociology political science anthropology science and technology studies environmental sciences or related fields. They should demonstrate a strong interest in accompanying research i.e. inquiring into interdisciplinary processes taking place at the interface between different disciplines teams and institutions. Candidates must have experience in applying different qualitative social science methods (e.g. semi-structured interviews participants observations focus groups co-creation workshops) conducting qualitative content analysis of collected data (e.g. inductive and/or deductive coding) and writing both peer-reviewed scientific publications and practice brief (or other types of innovative outputs). Successful candidates should be intrinsically motivated to contribute to interdisciplinarity in both theory and practice and are expected to have good integrative skills and high social and emotional intelligence. Command of English plus at least one of the national languages is a must. The position is fixed to a period of four years and preferably starts on 1 September 2026.

At Eawag we have a working environment in which people with different experiences strengths and perspectives can fully contribute and further develop. Here you can help us advance! We promote genuine participation exchange and mutual understanding. We create structures that enable the compatibility of work and other areas of life such as care work and continuously make efforts to reduce barriers.

Do you have specific requirements regarding the application process or the position or do you need additional information Talk to us about it - we will be happy to support you with possible flexible workplace working hours and job design solutions. For further information please visit our website about Eawag as well as our conditions of employment.

For further information on this position please contact Dr Sabine Hoffmann or Prof. Dr Karin Ingold .

Applications are expected to be submitted no later than 7 June 2026 and should include a CV a publication list as well as two recommendation letters.

We look forward to receiving your application.Please send it through this webpage as any other way of applying will not be considered. A click on the button below will take you directly to the application form.

Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology