Doctoral Researcher (m/f/d) in the field of relationships between protected area staff and local communities

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Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences – Geography Department Doctoral Researcher (m/f/d) in the field of relationships between protected area staff and local communities with expected 75 % part-time employment - E 13 TV-L HU (third-party funding limited until 30.09.2030) The candidate will join the newly established Conservation & People Lab in the Department of Geography. The lab investigates how human behaviour, decision-making, and social interactions shape biodiversity conservation. Our research brings together concepts and approaches from conservation science, social psychology, ecology, and quantitative social science to better understand relationships between people and nature. We collaborate closely with researchers and conservation practitioners worldwide and strive to produce research that advances scientific understanding while informing conservation policy and practice. The working language of the lab is English. The project offers excellent opportunities for international collaboration, field research in Cameroon, advanced training in quantitative social science and statistical modelling, publication in leading international journals, and participation in international scientific conferences. Your responsibilities: scientific research services as part of the project funded by the Einstein Foundation research into the interactions between nature conservation and local populations, with a focus on understanding the relationships between protected area staff (e.g. rangers) and local communities in Cameroon investigations into how social, psychological, cultural, historical, and ecological factors shape relationships between protected area staff and local communities drawing on concepts and methods from behavioral science and conservation research, the project will contribute to developing and testing social-psychological theory, designing and evaluating evidence-based training for conservation rangers, and assessing how these approaches can strengthen communication, trust, and cooperation using socio-ecological field research, participatory methods, and quantitative analyses, the project aims to better understand how tensions arise and can be resolved in order to enable more effective and socially just nature conservation tasks for personal scientific qualification (doctorate/Ph.D.) Your qualifications : completed scientific university degree in social psychology, conservation science, geography, ecology, environmental science, sociology, or a related discipline strong interest in conservation social psychology, the human dimensions of biodiversity conservation, and conservation law enforcement highly motivated to undertake field research in tropical protected areas in Cameroon and initial experience in field research, if possible strong motivation to engage with protected area staff (e.g. conservation rangers) and local communities interest in developing and evaluating training programs strong quantitative and analytical skills are essential experience with social science research using questionnaires experience with statistical programming in R/Stan or Python and motivation to further develop advanced statistical modelling skills excellent written and spoken English (at least C1 level) knowledge of French is desirable but not essential good communication and interpersonal skills ability to work both independently and collaboratively within an international and interdisciplinary research team What we offer: an international, young, and collaborative research environment contribution to an ambitious interdisciplinary research programme funded by the prestigious Einstein-Foundation Berlin excellent opportunities for international collaboration, field research in Cameroon, advanced training in quantitative social science and statistical modelling, publication in leading international journals, and participation in international scientific conferences structured orientation and onboarding flexible working hours (f