Dear ORAFM members,

Here you have the link for a Grant Position in Portugal: sadri research position

PhD student in computational science / precision forestry

We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic PhD student to work within
the project “Precision forestry of the future: enhanced forest management
by optimized tree selection in thinning operations”.

The project is about whether information on the size and location of
individual trees can be used to increase productivity and sustainability
in forestry. The PhD student will develop and validate an individual-based
mathematical model of development of a forest, from young to mature. This
model will be used to study the profitability and sustainability of
different thinning strategies. A particular focus is the identification of
optimal harvesting strategies. We further intend to develop models to
estimate the cost of a thinning operation as well as to quantify the
uncertainty associated with information gathering from laser scanning of
trees (LiDAR).

The PhD student will work in the creative research environment IceLab.

Related research is already ongoing within this environment, with examples
including studies of vegetation dynamics, sustainable use of living
resources, spatial population dynamics, and numerical methods for
structured population models. The research is interdisciplinary and builds
on a combination of mathematics, ecology, physics, computer science, and
applications.

For further information and instructions on how to apply, see
www8.umu.se/umu/aktuellt/arkiv/lediga_tjanster/313-459-13.html

Your complete application, marked with reference number 313-459-13, should
be sent to jobb [Email address: jobb #AT# umu.se - replace #AT# with @ ]<mailto:jobb [Email address: jobb #AT# umu.se - replace #AT# with @ ]> (state the reference number as
subject) or to the Registrar, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden to
arrive May 20, 2013 at the latest.

We look forward to receiving your application!

The Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA) Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA) is one of the faculties of Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (Technical University of Lisbon), one of the top-ranked Universities of Portugal. Its Centre for Forest Studies (CEF) is dedicated to university education and to basic and applied research in forest and environmental science. The department is offering a research grant to work in different research projects, namely on international FP7 project “INTEGRAL - Future-oriented integrated management of European forest landscapes”.

Scientific Area: Forestry

Qualifications needed: The candidates should hold the degree of PhD in Forestry, Mathematics, Economy, Management, Operations Research, Computer Science. He should have good analytical skills in gathering and interpreting information. Strong communication skills, writing and reporting skills with proficiency in English. Other language skills are an asset. Desirable to have experience in multi in project management and coordination.

Tasks and responsibilities: The tasks and responsabilities include: i) development of models and methods to support decision making includeing programming decision support systems, ii) assisting in the project management, iii) writing scientific publications and project reports.

Employment conditions (place, length, value of grant): The researcher will be based at ISA premises in Lisbon, Portugal. The successful candidate is expected to take up the post in April 2013.
The initial duration of employment will be 6 months (test) but extension is possible. The value of the grant is 1500 euros (free of tax) and the institution pays social security.

Deadline for applications: The application will be open from 22nd February to 21st March, 2013.

Application procedure: Please send your application including a cover letter (with motiviation) a CV and two reference letters to: Prof. Jose G. Borges, email: joseborges(at)isa.utl.pt

Further information can be obtained from: Prof. Jose G. Borges, email:joseborges(at)isa.utl.pt or in the site: http://www.integral-project.eu/

April 24-26, 2013, Umeå, Sweden

FORSYS 2013 is the final event of the FORSYS COST Action. FORSYS has brought together developers and users of forest DSSs from more than 30 countries. The 2013 international conference should gather expertise from different areas related to forest DSS to form a comprehensive picture of problems and opportunities. The following main areas will be covered:

Themes
· DSS serving different clients (forest policy, participation and multiple objectives, family and company forestry)
· Specific ecosystem services and the role of DSS: (timber and non-timber goods , regulatory services, cultural services)
· Generic methods for DSS (ontology, optimization, risk assessment)

Key notes

· Jose Borges: AssociateProfessor, Department of Forest Engineering of Instituto Superior deAgronomia of the Technical University ofLisbon

· KatharinaHelming: Dr. sc. agr., Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)

· Florian Kraxner: Deputy Program Leader of Ecosystems Services and Management Program,IIASA

· Laurent Mermet: Professor of Environmental Management, AgroParisTech

· Mikael Rönnqvist, professor at Université Laval, Canada Research Chair in “Operations Research in Natural Resources”

· Sandor F. Tóth: Associate Professor of Natural Resource Informatics, University of Washington

Draft program on http://www-conference.slu.se/forsys2013/program.html

Abstracts
We have a full program of presentations but would still able to accommodate a few more. Thus:
Additional Abstracts are Welcome until Friday March 10th for notification in due time for early bird registration.
For instructions, see http://www-conference.slu.se/forsys2013/abstracts.html

Contacts
See http://www-conference.slu.se/forsys2013/contacts.html.

More information: http://www-conference.slu.se/forsys2013/

The summer school in Operational Research in Agriculture and Agrifood Industry will be held in Lleida, Spain from July 19th to August 1st 2014.

Aim and Scope

Many real-world-decision-making situations arise from agriculture and derived fresh products, involving part of the agrifood industry. Models and decision support systems to be used in agriculture are often present in OR research projects. Moreover the new perspective of supply chain management is relevant when agriculture production is concentrated in bigger production units involving several farms and/or companies. This evolution seems crucial to reach consumers and benefit of the added value of fresh and organic products among others.

As a consequence of the EURO Summer Institute held in Lleida in 2009, the aim of this ESI is to bring together again the opportunity for young scientists to acquaint themselves with academic experts in OR methods and applications in Agriculture and Forestry, to enter the scientific community, and to share their experience with young colleagues from all over Europe.

Interdisciplinarity is a fact in our topic of interest and decisional problems are increasingly complex and of great incidence in the society (sustainable production, variability preservation, food supply and chain management, vertical integration, transport of goods, climate change and gas emissions…). The intensification of relationships among researchers and interested in Agriculture and agrifood industry is expected to be very fruitful. Researchers share the interest in OR even when their background is in economics, applied mathematics, agricultural or industrial engineering.
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Dear member of the ORAFM working group,

on behalf of Manfred Gronalt I send you a job offer for a professorship in “Economics of Multifunctional Forest Management Systems” at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna.

Details can be found at:

http://www.boku.ac.at/pwl/Professorship%20-%20Forest%20Managment%20(BOKU%20Vienna,%202009).pdf

Best regards,

Patrick Hirsch