Vacancy ZEF interdisciplinary water management researcher

The senior researcher will conduct research on irrigation and drainage management in Khorezm province, Uzbekistan, in the context of ZEF’s long-term interdisciplinary research project on sustainable land and water use in that the Khorezm province, which is part of the Amu Darya basin, Aral sea region (full project title Economic and Ecological Restructuring of Land and Water Use in the Khorezm Region (Uzbekistan): A Pilot Project in Development Research).

Tasks::
- Conduct research on irrigation and drainage management in Khorezm region.
- Identify potential innovations in irrigation and drainage management and develop strategies for experimenting with these innovations, together with the project team.
- Provide guidance and supervision to social science PhD and MSc students in the project doing fieldwork on irrigation and drainage management.
- Potentially act as ZEF Dept of Political and Cultural Change’s representative in the SCMT (Scientific Coordination and Management Team) in the project in Uzbekistan.
- Actively participate in project activities.

Start and duration:
From a.s.a.p. for 3.5-4 years

Duty station:
- Uzbekistan (Urgench) for 8-9 months per year
- Bonn, Germany for 3-4 months per year

Requirements:
- PhD and publications on a relevant topic (socio-technical/interdisciplinary analysis of irrigation and drainage/natural resources management,)
- Have a background in irrigation/drainage engineering
- Experience in water management studies and institutional analysis
- Experience with and knowledge about participatory approaches
- Research experience in Uzbekistan and the Central Asian region preferred
- Excellent writing skills in English
- Uzbek and/or Russian language skills are a recommendation
- Good team member and network builder

In case of equal suitability female candidates will be preferred.

Background information available on request is the executive summary of the third phase of the project, of which this research is a component, and the text of the relevant work package.

Applications before 5 July 2007.