KITLV/KNAW is seeking four PhD candidates in the TRACE project, specifically working on irrigated agriculture in Indonesia.
The Project
The project Tracing Evolutionary Pathways in Climate Adaptation in Southeast Asia (TRACE), a European Research Council-funded Advance Grant (ERC Adv) led by Prof. Diana Suhardiman and hosted by the KITLV in Leiden, is looking for four PhD candidates. The project investigates how evolutionary pathways in climate adaptation are created, sustained, and changed over time. Which actors and symbiotic relations connect various place-based knowledge systems and past knowledge (re)production processes with present and future adaptation strategies? Which institutions, local institutional rules, arrangements, and practices serve as cultural and institutional foundations (re)shaping climate adaptation practices over time? Which forces and conditions shape types of agency and political spaces of engagement that are crucial for the creation, sustenance, and reproduction of locally nested inter-scalar adaptive networks?
We address these questions by focusing on and collaborating with communities living in four interrelated socio-ecological systems in Southeast Asia. These socio-ecological systems are: 1) upland cultivation in Laos; 2) irrigated agriculture in Indonesia; 3) forest conservation in the Thai-Myanmar borderlands; and 4) sea nomads’ fishing territories in the Philippines. Each of the four PhD candidates will identify and trace evolutionary pathways in climate adaptation of one specific socio-ecological system.
The project, consisting of a Principal Investigator and two Postdoc researchers studying grassroots adaptation strategies, is now seeking 4 PhD candidates to join the team. Each PhD candidate will also engage with the respective country researcher team. This research project is led by KITLV in collaboration with various partners in the Global South including national universities and civil society organizations in Laos, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines.
The Position: PhD candidate to work on irrigated agriculture in Indonesia
The 4 PhD candidates will carry out historical and/or ethnographic research to connect grassroots knowledge systems, cultural values, and agency shaping of the past, how they have evolved over time, and how they are translated to present and future adaptation strategies. With Southeast Asia as geographical focus, each PhD candidate will identify key knowledge systems and institutional nodes, and trace evolutionary pathways of local communities’ adaptation strategies, in specific socio-ecological systems. Treating climate adaptation as an integral part of livelihood (re)making, each PhD candidate will look at how processes of knowledge (re)production are embedded in existing power relations and power interplay and contribute to the development of transdisciplinary concepts and grassroots ontological frameworks in climate governance research.
What will you do?
Within the research project, you will work on your PhD research. You will address the project’s main research question of how evolutionary pathways of communities adaptation strategies are (re)shaped by the politics of knowledge reproduction, cultural values, and agency shaping. Your project contains a comprehensive literature review and will also involve extensive fieldwork (a total of 1 year) on irrigated agriculture in Indonesia. During this time, you will collaborate with country researchers by conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews, documenting oral histories, engaging in participant observation, collecting relevant written and audiovisual material, and/or employing other methods in which you are experienced (as outlined in your research proposal).
You will also collaborate within a team context, which includes four PhD candidates, a Principal Investigator, a Postdoctoral Researcher, and a Research Coordinator. This collaboration will involve the co-organization of academic and public events, both in the respective countries where your research take place and regionally as part of the project’s cross-learning process and regional network formation.
Job requirements
- A Master in Social Sciences, specializing in the fields of Human Geography, History, Natural Resource Governance, Anthropology, and/or Development Sociology
- Experience in conducting ethnographic field research and/or oral history in natural resource governance, in particular in the context of irrigated agriculture in Indonesia
- Experience in conducting: 1) in-depth, qualitative, participatory research methods; or 2) multiple level institutional and policy analysis; or 3) historical research through archival research and/or oral history
- Willingness to learn how to do systematic archival research to identify and trace knowledge systems of the past and how they have evolved over time, including how they are embedded in governance structure, cultural values, and power interplay
- Willingness to learn how to work with large data bases to understand long term patterns related to (but not necessarily limited to) climatic change (e.g. rainfall pattern, food production patterns, forest covers, and land use change)
- Strong interest in collaboration with local communities and other key partners in the country you will be working in (e.g. national universities, civil society organizations) in co-designing and conducting the research
- Fluency in at least three of these languages: English, Dutch, Indonesian, Indonesian local languages (e.g. Javanese, Balinese)
- You are a team player and have strong affinity to work in interdisciplinary and multi-cultural (research) team
How to apply
Candidates are invited to submit their application in English or Dutch. Applications must include, in two PDF files:
- A motivation letter with a short research proposal (max 800 words) explaining how the candidate will design the PhD research and how this would be relevant for the aims of the project.
- A Curriculum Vitae along with your most relevant publications related to the project. Publications that have been accepted but not yet published are also welcome.
The deadline for submitting your application is December 15, 2025, midnight CET. Please submit your application via the Apply Now button on the website, you can address the application to the Principal Investigator, Prof. dr. D. Suhardiman. For questions you can contact her at suhardiman@kitlv.nl.
Also note that there is currently an acute shortage of housing in the Netherlands, and the institute is unable to provide accommodation. While we can offer advice on searching for housing, a proactive approach on your part is essential.
For more detailed information about the terms of employment, please visit the link below:
