2 PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH POSITIONS
Funding Agency: European Commission 7th Framework Programme (http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7)
The Research: “Understanding and coping with food markets voLatilitY towards more Stable World and EU food SystEmS” (ULYSSES).
ULYSSES, in which CEIGRAM-UPM is coordinator, has six objectives:
1. Review the literature on prices volatility of food, feed and non-food commodities
2. Analyse agricultural markets, using updated data, new methods and markets linkages with a view to determine the causes of markets' volatility
3. Identify and evaluate the drivers and factors causing markets volatility, and make projections for supply shocks, demand changes and climate change impacts on agricultural production.
4. Evaluate the impact of markets volatility in the food supply chain in the EU and in developing countries, analysing traditional and new instruments to manage price risks.
5. Evaluate impacts of markets volatility on households in the EU and developing countries.
6. Draw policy-relevant conclusions that help the EU define market management strategies within the CAP after 2013 and inform EU’s standing in the international context.
The Positions: A full time year pre-doctoral internship with excellent possibilities for extending the internship depending on the progress for entire duration of the project 3 years. Both positions are aimed to obtaining a PhD in Agricultural Economics in the framework of the research at the Technical University of Madrid. Gross salary during the internship: from 1,200-1,400 €/month, depending on qualifications. Having a Masters' degree is highly valued.
Beginning date: Between 1 Set - 30 Oct of 2012.
Working unit: Researchers will work at CEIGRAM, a research centre of the Technical University of Madrid, located in the Campus of International Excellence of Moncloa, close to the centre of Madrid. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) is the largest Spanish technical university, with more than 4.000 faculty members, around 38.000 undergraduate students and 6.000 postgraduates in 21 Schools of study covering most of engineering disciplines. It has over 210 Research Units and 17 Research Institutes and Technological Centres, one of which is the Research Centre for the Management of Agricultural and Environmental Risks (CEIGRAM). UPM has taken part in 149 European R&D projects in the FP6 with more than 25 M€ of funding received from the European Commission, and came first among Spanish Universities in approved propsals in FP7 up to 2010. Its research grants total 120 M€ per year. The project will be coordinated by the UPM's Research CEIGRAM (www.ceigram.upm.es). It is a public-private joint centre created in 2007, with a budget of 1.3 M€/year in research grants, including various FP6 and FP7 projects, in agriculture, climate change and policy.
The Candidates for two positions: An enthusiastic and research oriented person with an excellent background in (a) economics, statistics and social sciences, for position 1; and (b) mathematical programming models, agricultural policy analysis and linkages between bio- and economic models for position 2. Fluency in English, and willingness to learn some Spanish are needed. Desirable requirements: International experience (Erasmus or similar), programming skills.
Contact: Send CV, letter of interest indicating desirable position (1 or 2), and 2 letters of reference to Prof A. Garrido (alberto.garrido@upm.es) before 30 june 2012.