
🇳🇴 PhD Opportunity | Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Ås, Norway
🌳 PhD Position: Integrating Local Cultural Values & Practices into Forest Governance
NMBU's Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric) is offering a fully funded 3-year PhD fellowship as part of the prestigious ERC-funded AFRI-FOR project!
📌 What's the Project About?
Tropical forest conservation in Africa is under pressure — from poverty, food security challenges, and carbon finance schemes that often exclude local communities. This PhD sits within Work Package 3 (WP3) of the AFRI-FOR project and investigates how local cultural values, traditional norms, and institutions can be better integrated into formal forest governance frameworks.
Key research activities:
✅ Developing a standardised protocol for capturing local values on Nature & traditional institutions (norms, taboos)
✅ Fieldwork in African forest communities — focus-group discussions & key informant interviews
✅ Comparative analysis across 20 socioecological sites in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo & DR Congo
✅ Identifying context-specific vs. generalisable barriers/enablers for forest governance integration
✅ Interdisciplinary collaboration spanning ethnobotany, ecology, anthropology & conservation science
👩🏫 Supervisor
Primary Supervisor: Dr Aida Cuni-Sanchez (Noragric, NMBU)
📧 Programme Coordinator: Josie Teurlings — josie.teurlings@nmbu.no
💰 Funding & Terms
✔️ Fully funded — Norwegian position code 1017 PhD Fellow
✔️ Salary: NOK 550,800/year (~€47,500)
✔️ 3-year fixed-term position with seniority progression
✔️ On-campus presence required (remote work not permitted)
🎓 Who Should Apply?
➡️ Master's in International Environmental Studies, Ecology, Development Studies, Conservation, Ethnobiology, Agronomy or related field
➡️ GPA: B or better in both Master's degree & thesis
➡️ Prior fieldwork experience in tropical contexts — preferably Africa
➡️ Advanced knowledge of French 🇫🇷 (essential)
➡️ Experience with qualitative methods (interviews, focus groups)
➡️ Strong English proficiency (written & oral)
➡️ Willingness to travel to Africa annually
➡️ Knowledge of R for statistical analysis (highly desirable)
📄 What to Submit:
→ Motivation letter (max 1 page)
→ Complete CV (must be entered in Jobbnorge's CV form)
→ Certified academic diplomas, transcripts & diploma supplements
→ English proficiency documentation
→ One writing sample (e.g. Master's thesis or academic paper)
→ Names & contact details of 2 references
⏱️ Key Dates
📅 Application Deadline: 14 April 2026
🗓️ Start Date: 1 September 2026
🔗 Apply & Learn More:
phdscanner.com/opportunities/…
🌍 A rare opportunity to do impactful fieldwork across 4 African countries — advancing both science and forest justice!
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