The Anthropocene Laboratory is a new programme at the Academy, that started in 2023. The aim is to develop scientific understanding and synthesis of the Anthropocene biosphere, by working across the sciences and the humanities, engage with actors outside of academia to stimulate change, and help foster a new generation of transdisciplinary sustainability scientists. The laboratory is hiring multiple staff to achieve these functions. Located in Stockholm, Sweden, the laboratory will consist of researchers and facilitators, with a director reporting to the Secretary General of the Academy, guided by a Scientific Committee.
The laboratory intends to build and recruit a dynamic, diverse and collaborative team with an ability to work across scientific disciplines and between science and practice. One of its main functions will be to bring together international scholars that combine disciplinary perspectives and diverse skills, tools, and competencies for a more holistic understanding of the Anthropocene biosphere, our home on planet Earth, thereby exploring challenges and opportunities of advancing science for sustainability in an era of increased interconnectivity, social-ecological turbulence, and inequalities.
The laboratory will work closely with several Stockholm-based organizations engaged in sustainability, including the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University, the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics and the Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere Academy Program at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
We are looking for colleagues with an international and interdisciplinary interest, with documented experience in understanding and relating to the Anthropocene biosphere, and with a willingness to explore emergence in new scientific constellations. The laboratory strives to experiment, with the hope to discover new systemic interactions.
We are committed to diversity, equity, and representation – not because it looks good on paper but because it is essential for an ability to comprehend and engage with the Anthropocene.
We are recruiting a core team to develop the first phase of the laboratory (2023–2025). The laboratory’s working language is English, with all additional languages regarded as assets.
Activities coordinator – Full time position
The position
The Activities coordinator makes sure it all works in practice. You will work closely with a number of staff at the Laboratory: The Chair of the Scientific Committee and the director, to provide support with multiple functions including project management, budget, monitoring, external and internal communication, meeting facilitation, and executive assistance. You will work closely with two post docs and other staff to support them with communication and impact strategies, and you will also support the design, organisation and facilitation of scientific and other meetings. You will engage with the administrative staff of the Academy on multiple practical topics in relation to human resource management and communication, including management of web-pages and social media. The position has a six months trial period.
This job is far and beyond that of an executive assistant, since it also strives to develop you as a core team member, working with and supporting multiple functions required for the laboratory to reach its goal.
Your qualifications
You have an interest in the global sustainability challenges and a demonstrated ability to manage complex projects and activities. You are highly efficient and organized in addition to being and effective communicator. You have probably worked as a meeting co-ordinator and/or facilitator, communications manager or executive assistant, in a sustainability-related academic institution, in the private sector, a civil society organisation, or similar. You are interested in science, but do not necessarily have an ambition to become a scientist.
In your application, please describe your interest and abilities to fulfill duties commensurate with the role.
Application
We look forward to your application! In your application, please make sure to clearly specify which of the positions you are applying for.
Please submit your cover letter, CV and a maximum of two letters of recommendations to henrik.osterblom@kva.se.
Deadline for application: March 31, 2023
Intended starting date: May 1, 2023 (flexible)
Contact
Please contact Prof. Henrik Österblom henrik.osterblom@kva.se (Director of the Anthropocene Laboratory) or Prof. Carl Folke carl.folke@beijer.kva.se (Chair of the Scientific Committee) for further questions.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was founded in 1739 and is an independent organisation, whose overall objective is to promote the sciences and strengthen their influence in society. The Academy promotes science of the highest quality by fostering development and innovation in Swedish research. It enhances the status of science in society by drawing attention to key social issues and examining them in scientific terms, and joins in cooperation on global issues, with an aim of being an international scientific proponent of sustainable development.
