At the Helmholtz Centre of Environmental Research UFZ Leipzig, Germany, a new research project will be launched with funds from the German Research Foundation: SEEMI (Social-Ecological Effects of Microinsurance).

It focuses on microinsurance, i.e. insurance products that are specifically targeted at low-income people in developing countries, and its potential adverse effects. Case studies include drought insurance in Kenya and Ethiopia and health insurance in Cambodia. The main research questions address the conditions under which microinsurance may crowd out informal safety nets or act as a complement to them; how land users change their strategies given access to microinsurance; and whether microinsurance can enhance the resilience of social-ecological systems to shocks.

Methodologically, agent-based modelling will be combined with instruments of social network analysis. This project will be embedded in the Junior Research Group “POLISES - Global food security policies and their social-ecological side effects in regions prone to global change” ().

The position is limited to three years. The preferred starting date is 1 February 2017.

Deadline for application: 10 November 2016

More information including details for application see:

Contact: Birgit Müller, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ Leipzig, Germany,