05 Oct Fully funded PhD project available
We are recruiting a candidate for a fully-funded PhD project “Tapping into non-English-language science in tackling global environmental challenges“.
See the project description and preferred educational background below and more details from the link above. Contact Dr Tatsuya Amano (t.amano@uq.edu.au) to discuss your interest and suitability.
Project description
To date our work has revealed the critical importance of scientific evidence that is available only in languages other than English in efforts to address the biodiversity crisis. Our next step is to understand the importance of non-English-language science in different sub-disciplines within biodiversity conservation science, and in other disciplines related to global environmental challenges, and to explore effective ways of identifying important non-English-language science.
The objectives of this PhD project are fourfold.
- Understanding trends in non-English-language studies on different topics in biodiversity conservation: We will investigate how the number of non-English-language publications has changed over time in different sub-disciplines within conservation science.
- Conducting a multilingual systematic literature review on nature-based solutions for climate adaptation: We will conduct a systematic multilingual literature search for scientific evidence on the effectiveness of nature-based solutions for climate adaptation.
- Conducting a multilingual systematic literature review on the emergence of zoonotic diseases: We will conduct a systematic multilingual literature search for scientific evidence on the effects of environmental changes on the emergence of zoonotic diseases (animal-origin infectious diseases affecting humans).
- Testing the validity of using machine translation in systematic literature searches: As a potentially effective way of accessing non-English-language science, we will test the validity of using machine translation in systematic literature searches.
As a whole, this PhD project will demonstrate the potential importance of non-English-language science in a wide range of environmental science disciplines, while providing a promising and valid way of making non-English-language science accessible to everyone around the world.
Preferred educational background
Your application will be assessed on a competitive basis. We take into account your:
- previous academic record
- publication record
- honours and awards
- employment history.
A working knowledge of systematic literature review and/or evidence-based conservation would be of benefit to someone working on this project.
You will demonstrate academic achievement in the field(s) of conservation science, evidence synthesis, and meta-science and the potential for scholastic success.
A background or knowledge of at least one non-English language where we identified a high number of conservation-related scientific papers (e.g., Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, etc) is highly desirable.