Open Postdoctoral position, faculty mentor Nicole Ardoin

We seek a postdoctoral fellow with deep knowledge of the transformation science and sustainability transitions literatures to help advance the intellectual core of the Transformation Science Program.

About the Transformation Science Program

The Transformation Science Program (TSP), part of the Sustainable Societies Initiative at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, explores broad approaches to achieve transformative change across contexts and scales. Sustainability science has made remarkable progress in understanding what needs to change, including emissions trajectories, land use patterns, consumption systems, and governance arrangements. We know far less about how societies actually accomplish such changes in ways that are sustainable, lasting, and truly transformative. Through transdisciplinary approaches, TSP builds on foundational transformation science to develop novel theory and tangible impact. We pursue this mission by building a community of scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and funders to study, identify, and implement strategies for transformation. 

The Transformation Science Research Agenda

TSP organizes its work around several areas of inquiry, which include recognizing and characterizing transformation, the politics of transformation, and the relationship between transformation and systemic risk. We support communities of research, practice, and learning by building the institutional infrastructure and shared language that an emerging field requires. We are developing a portfolio of research concepts, spanning topics such as organizing for sustainability transitions, transforming institutions in local governance, and rethinking food systems as a public good. As the program advances, it will refine its theoretical frameworks, pursue funded research across this portfolio, and continue to build a transdisciplinary community committed to transformation science.

Key responsibilities of the Postdoctoral Scholar

• Work with the program leads to expand knowledge of the transformation science and sustainability transitions literatures, as well as analyze and synthesize these diverse bodies of scholarship across disciplinary boundaries.
• Help develop and refine the program’s research agenda, contributing to the program’s intellectual leadership and thinking as TSP advances.
• Co-author and co-develop high-impact scholarly outputs, including framework-setting and review publications that assist in establishing the program’s intellectual position.
• Conduct comparative and literature-based analyses that contribute to building the program’s evidence base.
• Support the development of funding plans and proposals, translating research concepts into fundable projects and aligning funding strategies with research priorities across the portfolio.
• Contribute to convenings/workshops and support partnership development with scholars, practitioners, and funders.
• Shape an independent line of inquiry that advances the program’s research agenda.

Our group strives to create an inclusive, supportive, and collaborative space for researchers who share scholarly interests and apply common theoretical frames. We host convenings and visiting scholars throughout the year to develop a shared intellectual community in which members grow as scholars. Postdoctoral fellows participate in these gatherings regularly as part of their training. Through the program, fellows receive and provide mentoring and are exposed to a range of research approaches, study designs, topics, and skill sets across a transdisciplinary network.