Scientific Project Coordination (m/f/d)

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

The climate needs bright minds. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) addresses crucial scientific questions in the fields of global change, climate impacts and sustainable development. It is one of the world's leading research institutions in its field and offers natural and social scientists from around the world an inspiring environment for excellent interdisciplinary research.

For the research group „Evidence for Climate Solutions“ in RD5 – Climate Economics and Policy, we are offering an exciting opportunity to be part of a boundary-shifting project on developing AI-powered Digital Evidence Synthesis Tools (DESTs) for Climate and Health that aims to make rigorous evidence-based policy advice faster, cheaper, more useful and living. We are offering a position as:

Scientific Project Coordination (m/f/d)

(Position number: 80-2024 Project Coordination DESTINY)

The position is funded for up to four years until December 2028. Remuneration is in accordance with the German public tariff scheme (TV-L Brandenburg), salary group E 13. This is a full-time position with a weekly working time of 40 hours per week. The position can be filled on a part-time basis.

Background:

The DESTINY project will provide a step-change in the efficiency of evidence synthesis in climate change and health by developing responsible applications of AI and other digital tools. The project is led by PIK and brings together partners from University College London, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and several other institutions.

We are excited to build new tools that leverage the latest development in AI to advance evidence synthesis practices in climate and health and beyond. And we are particularly interested in carrying out robust evaluations and developing methods that allow safe and responsible use of these tools. The successful candidate will be responsible for the scientific, financial and administrative coordination of the project, and communication activities.

The candidate will join the Evidence for Climate Solutions group (https://apsis.mcc-berlin.net/people/), which offers a unique environment of subject experts, evidence synthesis methodology experts, data scientists, and computer scientists, all working to advance climate solutions by providing robust synthetic evidence to decision-makers on what works in climate policy, for whom, and why.

Key responsibilities:

• Scientific coordination and oversight of the project, ensuring that the project stays on track. This includes managing and tracking timelines, milestones, and deliverables. Coordinate and contribute to the implementation of research projects through close collaboration with other researchers at PIK, project partners elsewhere, as well as the involved stakeholders;
• Reporting and compliance, including ensuring compliance with Wellcome and PIK organizational policies (e.g., ethical guidelines), preparing progress reports, and monitoring project deliverables. Liaise and maintain communication with the Wellcome Trust as the project donor;
• Financial oversight of the project including budget management and financial reporting;
• Communication & outreach, including developing a communication strategy, managing the website and social media accounts, helping in the coordination of press work, etc.;
• Event planning and management, including the organization of project meetings, hackathons and other workshops or conferences with a broad range of stakeholders including members from the scientific community governments, civil society, and academia in LMICs and at PIK.

Requirements:

• Master’s degree in a relevant field such as business administration, communication science, Economics, Public or Science Management, Financial Management, International Relations, Political Science, Social Science, Climate Science, Health Science or other;
• Interested in climate change research is expected - a special interest in the field of climate and health, evidence synthesis or the role of artificial intelligence in research is valuable;
• Experience in project management, including familiarity with available project management tools, and in financial reporting is required;
• Experience in the development of research proposals is an asset;
• Experience and interest in stakeholder engagement as well as communicating scientific results to a non-scientific audience is valuable;
• Work experience in LMICs and in multi-cultural contexts is desirable.

We expect:

• Ability and enthusiasm to work efficiently in an interdisciplinary team, collaborating with content and methods experts as well as data scientists, but also independently;
• Structured and goal-oriented thinking;
• Capacity to familiarise yourself quickly with new topics;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex data and research findings clearly and effectively;
• Reliability, engagement, and a high level of motivation;
• High level of proficiency in the English language;
• Willingness to travel for work (project meetings, workshops etc.) and take part in further training.

We offer:

• the opportunity to be part of a creative, interdisciplinary team that aims to achieve real impacts in how AI is used in evidence synthesis;
• the opportunity to establish and learn from an international network of renowned scientists and partners;
• the opportunity to conduct ground-breaking research with state-of-the-art methods in computer science, evidence synthesis as well as climate and health;
• the opportunity to work on humanity’s most pressing problems - a meaningful job with real-world impact;
• a stimulating working environment in an internationally recognised research institute at the modern EUREF sustainability campus in Berlin Schöneberg;
• flexi-time and mobile working (up to 50% of your hours);
• a collective pay scheme and associated benefits (including enrolment in the public sector pension scheme) as well as a subsidized travel card or Deutschland-Ticket Job;
• guidance and supervision in career development.

PIK values equality and diversity. We encourage applications without photo. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of ethnic and social origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, care responsibilities, or age. PIK seeks to increase the share of women in scientific positions and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply. In cases of equal qualification and within the given legal scope, women will be given preference. PIK also encourages applications by parents returning from parental leave.

If you hold an international higher education qualification, please also submit a certificate evaluation from the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) with your application. If you do not yet have a transcript evaluation, please note that you may have to request one if your application is successful. For further information, please visit the website: https://www.kmk.org/zab/central-office-for-foreign-education.html

For further information or to discuss the position please contact Jan Minx.