Organisation/Company BC3 - Basque Centre for Climate Change Research Field Environmental science Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Application Deadline 28 Sep 2026 - 23:59 (UTC) Country Spain Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 7 Sep 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description To that end, the candidate will work with environmental and economic data to build indicators that show how far each country is from environmental sustainability, and what closing that distance would require. Specifically, the work involves extending the country coverage of the Strong Environmental Sustainability Index (SESI) – a composite indicator that measures country performance against reference values of good environmental functioning – and computing, for the first time, the Monetary Environmental Sustainability Gap (M-ESGAP) of European countries – a composite indicator that estimates the cost of achieving environmental sustainability. The research will be conducted at BC3 and in collaboration with other international research institutions such as University College London, the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development.

The position is intended to lead to a doctorate. The initial two-year contract may be extended for two further years upon a positive assessment of performance.



This four-year period is designed so that the selected person can develop and complete a PhD thesis. The thesis would be supervised by Arkaitz Usubiaga-Liaño (BC3) under the doctoral programme of the University of the Basque Country (EHU).

Key responsibilities

Contribute to the tasks associated with ongoing research projects.

Work with other team members further developing the ESGAP framework and its metrics.

Present results at project meetings, workshops and international conferences.

Progressively, publish peer-reviewed research in international scientific journals.

Main requirements/skills:

The applicant should have a University Master Degree in Environmental Sciences, Earth Sciences, Biology, Geography, Environmental or Ecological Economics or similar, with a solid background in quantitative methods.

Interest in sustainable development and sustainability monitoring frameworks, and their science-policy interface

Interest in developing a doctoral thesis in this field

Good interpersonal and communication skills (both written and oral) in English

Knowledge of programming languages such as Python or R would be highly valued

Flexibility to collaborate in existing research projects

Desire to work in a diverse and multi-disciplinary research environment

Additional Information Interdisciplinary and inspiring work environment. Quiet and spacious workspaces. Possibility of participating in internal training and activities of the centre. 35-hour work calendar. 30 days of vacation per year.

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📌 RESEARCH ASSISTANT for ESGAP Project – with a route to a PhD on Environmental sustainability indicat (Madrid)
🏢 Bc3 Basque Centre For Climate Change
📍 Madrid