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Postdoc position: “International law of the sea and protecting deep seabed hydrothermal vent fields...

Postdoc position: “International law of the sea and protecting deep seabed hydrothermal vent fields...

Netherlands 20 Jan 2021
NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

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OPPORTUNITY DETAILS

Total reward
0 $
State University
Area
Host Country
Deadline
20 Jan 2021
Study level
Opportunity type
Specialities
Law
Opportunity funding
Full funding
Eligible Countries
This opportunity is destined for all countries
Eligible Region
All Regions

This vacancy is the result of the collaboration between Utrecht University and NIOZ. The Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS), at Utrecht University, and the Department of Ocean Systems (OCS) of NIOZ, are looking for a highly motivated Postdoc candidate with a PhD in international law of the sea and experience in working with global intergovernmental organizations, to conduct research on the use of area-based management tools by the International Seabed Authority (principal investigators dr. Erik J. Molenaar and dr. Sabine Gollner).

LOCATION:             ROYAL NIOZ - TEXEL (THE NETHERLANDS)
VACANCY ID:         2020 - 71
CLOSING DATE     January 20th , 2021

THE INSTITUTIONS
Researchers of the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS), at Utrecht University, are engaged in research, teaching and training, and consultancy in the domain of the international law of the sea.

Researchers in the Department of Ocean System Research (OCS) study open-ocean processes and aquatic ecosystems from a variety of disciplines including physical and chemical oceanography, marine geology, paleoceanography, and deep-sea ecology. We investigate the past and present ocean to assess its future role in the Earth system. We collect data during oceanographic research cruises and conduct experiments both at sea and in the laboratory at our home base on Texel. The department carries out work in diverse environments all around the globe, from the Antarctic to the Arctic, and from the Caribbean to the North Sea.

THE PROJECT
The deep seabed is the common heritage of humankind, safeguarded by mandating the International Seabed Authority ( ISA) to regulate mining of mineral resources in an environmentally sustainable manner. The imminent start of mining poses risks to hydrothermal vents, including habitat removal, vent-fluid change, toxic mining plumes, and associated risks of biodiversity loss. Several other intergovernmental organizations suggest that active vents classify as areas in need of conservation. The international community has adopted commitments and targets on using ABMTs for conservation (e.g. UN Sustainable Development Goals) and legal obligations will be included in the ‘BBNJ Agreement’ under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that is currently under negotiation.

The dimensions of area-based management tools (ABMTs) are of key importance for their ability to protect vents against external mining impacts. An active vent field is a spatially associated cluster of active and inactive chimneys/mounds. Mining impacts may damage active and inactive vents, non-hydrothermal sediments and the benthic and pelagic surroundings within and beyond a vent field. Most environmental research has focused on active chimneys. Unknown, however, is the ecological connectivity between active chimneys and their benthic and pelagic surroundings. Focused research on this connectivity is required to determine the necessary three-dimensional size of ABMTs.

Optimizing ABMTs in terms of operational effectiveness must be supplemented by optimizing regulatory effectiveness through integrating ABMTs in ISA’s regulatory framework. ISA regulations refer to various types of ABMTs (e.g. Impact reference zones and Preservation reference zones). It is not clear, however, if these can be used and are suitable for the envisaged 3-dimensional ABMTs to protect vents and, if not, what the opportunities and constraints of alternative options are. This requires in-depth international law research on ISA’s regulations, founding instruments and other relevant international instruments (e.g. the BBNJ Agreement) and best practices thereunder.

THE CANDIDATE
We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a PhD in international law of the sea and experience in working with global intergovernmental organizations. Fluency in spoken and written English is essential, as the candidate will participate in intergovernmental meetings and international conferences, and write manuscripts to submit to peer-reviewed scientific journals. Candidates must be capable of independently planning and organizing their work, and must be interested in taking a leading role in directing the course of their own research within the overall framework of the project. A proven track record in academic publications and presentations at academic conferences and workshops is a plus. The transdisciplinary nature of this joint project between NILOS and NIOZ project requires high interest to work together with the Post-doc working on the environmental aspects of this project (vacancy ID 2020-71). The candidate will be hosted by NIOZ, but will spend most of his/her time at NILOS. We highly encourage applicants from all members of our community and of diverse background to join us.

CONDITIONS
Employment of this position at Royal NIOZ is by NWO  (The Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research). We offer a position for a period of 22 months (fulltime). The salary is compliant to the CAO-OI  (Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Research Institutes) scale 10 or 11 depending on your education and experience, a pension scheme, a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, a year-end bonus of 8,3% of the gross annual salary, flexible work arrangements and 42 days of holiday leave (fulltime position).

You may expect attractive secondary employment conditions. We offer generous relocation expenses for employees coming from abroad and support with finding accommodation.

MORE INFORMATION
For additional information about this vacancy, please contact dr. Sabine Gollner  (Tenure track scientist at NIOZ) or dr. Erik J. Molenaar  (deputy director at NILOS-UU). For additional information about the procedure, please contact Valentijn Tiemensma  (senior HR advisor).

For more information about the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS), at Utrecht University see here ; for more information about the Department of Ocean Systems at NIOZ, see here .

Find more information about the UU-NIOZ projects here.

Interviews will be held online (Microsoft Teams) in week 5 of 2021.


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