Final Report Summary - RURAL DECISIONS (Development of a framework for managing uncertain decisions in agricultural and environmental policies – Towards an integrated policy for decision-making support in rural areas)
The Marie Curie project gave me a great opportunity to pursue independent research, establish research collaborations in the EU, US and worldwide, present my research at international conferences and publish them in peer-reviewed journals. The research conducted with the grant created a basis for my post-PhD degree (habilitation) that I received from the Humboldt University of Berlin in 2013.
1 Summary of research activities
The research objectives have been achieved successfully and according to the research plan and schedule. All anticipated research stages, indicated in the research proposal, have been completed on time. Those included:
1) Literature review and data analysis on the topic ‘Multi-criteria decision-making methods and uncertainty in agricultural and environmental policies’
2) Testing methods in computer laboratory
3) Survey with environmental experts in the Centre for Sustainable Resource Development, California Environmental Protection Agency, FAPRI, IFPRI, USDA
4) Structuring and evaluation of interview results
5) Presentations of approaches and intermediate results at seminars at UC Berkeley
6) Preparation of working papers and publications in scientific journals
7) Presentations of the research results at international conferences
2 Summary of the progress of the researcher training activities/transfer of knowledge activities/integration activities
I have attended many career development courses both during the outgoing and the returning phase, as well as participated in several extension activities. The details are listed in a bullet form below.
Topical courses:
1) Environmental and Resource Economics
2) Mathematical Methods for Agricultural and Resource Economics
3) Mathematical Programming, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
4) Economic Theory
5) Decision Analysis
6) Environmental Economics
7) Macroeconomics
Career development courses:
1) Advanced Project Management: Building Stakeholder Relationships
2) Speaking and Editing for UC Berkeley Post-Docs and Visiting Scholars
3) Putting your science to work, Workshop for research scholars
4) Writing well for professional settings
5) Social networking workshop – guide to managing relations
6) Introduction to career development planning for supervisors and managers
Other extension and scientific activities:
1) Participation in the Environmental and Resource Economics Seminar and the Departmental Seminar, UC Berkeley
2) Participation in the, ARE, UC Berkeley
3) Sacramento Valley extension excursion (UC Berkeley, UC Davis)
4) Library research visit – Georgia University of Technology, Atlanta
5) Scientific visit at Kyoto University, Japan
6) Research visit: Harvard University, Yale University, New York University, George Washington University
I have also collaborated with scientists from the following universities and research institutions:
University of Missouri, NASA, Arizona State University, Economic Research Service of USDA, and Environmental Protection Agency, Kyoto University - Japan, Delhi Technological University - India, and Kongju National University - South Korea.
Other activities:
1) Steering Committee Member for the EU Project MACE (Modern Agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe), Berlin, Germany
2) Member in AAEA
3) Member in Agricultural Economics Research Association (AERA India)
4) Session chair at International Conference on Social Sciences, Honolulu
5) Reviewer for the International Association of Agricultural Economists Conference in Beijing, China and the Energy Journal
Presentations at conferences:
− Int. Conf. on Fuzzy Systems and Neural Computing, Paris, 11/2011
− European Association of Agricultural Economists Conference, Zurich, Switzerland, 08/09-2011
− AAEA Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, 07/2010
− Int. Renewable Energy Conference, Yokohama, Japan, 06/07-2010
− 14th ICABR (International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research) Conference, Ravello, Italy, 06/2010
− Int. Conf. on Social Sciences, Honolulu, 06/2010
− 4th MACE Conference (Modern Agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe), Berlin, Germany, 01/2010
− 1st Int. Conf. on New Frontiers in Biofuels, New Delhi, India, 01/2010
− 27th Int. Conf. of Agricultural Economists, Beijing, China, 08/2009
Additional outcomes and added value of the project:
1. Habilitation at the Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt University of Berlin in January 2013
2. Teaching activities:
a) Natural Resource & Renewable Energy Economics and Policy, Instructor, Summer 2012
b) Market and Policy Analysis, Co-instructor, Summer 2012, Fall 2011
3. Elected member of the Young Academy National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina/Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences
1 Summary of research activities
The research objectives have been achieved successfully and according to the research plan and schedule. All anticipated research stages, indicated in the research proposal, have been completed on time. Those included:
1) Literature review and data analysis on the topic ‘Multi-criteria decision-making methods and uncertainty in agricultural and environmental policies’
2) Testing methods in computer laboratory
3) Survey with environmental experts in the Centre for Sustainable Resource Development, California Environmental Protection Agency, FAPRI, IFPRI, USDA
4) Structuring and evaluation of interview results
5) Presentations of approaches and intermediate results at seminars at UC Berkeley
6) Preparation of working papers and publications in scientific journals
7) Presentations of the research results at international conferences
2 Summary of the progress of the researcher training activities/transfer of knowledge activities/integration activities
I have attended many career development courses both during the outgoing and the returning phase, as well as participated in several extension activities. The details are listed in a bullet form below.
Topical courses:
1) Environmental and Resource Economics
2) Mathematical Methods for Agricultural and Resource Economics
3) Mathematical Programming, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
4) Economic Theory
5) Decision Analysis
6) Environmental Economics
7) Macroeconomics
Career development courses:
1) Advanced Project Management: Building Stakeholder Relationships
2) Speaking and Editing for UC Berkeley Post-Docs and Visiting Scholars
3) Putting your science to work, Workshop for research scholars
4) Writing well for professional settings
5) Social networking workshop – guide to managing relations
6) Introduction to career development planning for supervisors and managers
Other extension and scientific activities:
1) Participation in the Environmental and Resource Economics Seminar and the Departmental Seminar, UC Berkeley
2) Participation in the, ARE, UC Berkeley
3) Sacramento Valley extension excursion (UC Berkeley, UC Davis)
4) Library research visit – Georgia University of Technology, Atlanta
5) Scientific visit at Kyoto University, Japan
6) Research visit: Harvard University, Yale University, New York University, George Washington University
I have also collaborated with scientists from the following universities and research institutions:
University of Missouri, NASA, Arizona State University, Economic Research Service of USDA, and Environmental Protection Agency, Kyoto University - Japan, Delhi Technological University - India, and Kongju National University - South Korea.
Other activities:
1) Steering Committee Member for the EU Project MACE (Modern Agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe), Berlin, Germany
2) Member in AAEA
3) Member in Agricultural Economics Research Association (AERA India)
4) Session chair at International Conference on Social Sciences, Honolulu
5) Reviewer for the International Association of Agricultural Economists Conference in Beijing, China and the Energy Journal
Presentations at conferences:
− Int. Conf. on Fuzzy Systems and Neural Computing, Paris, 11/2011
− European Association of Agricultural Economists Conference, Zurich, Switzerland, 08/09-2011
− AAEA Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, 07/2010
− Int. Renewable Energy Conference, Yokohama, Japan, 06/07-2010
− 14th ICABR (International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research) Conference, Ravello, Italy, 06/2010
− Int. Conf. on Social Sciences, Honolulu, 06/2010
− 4th MACE Conference (Modern Agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe), Berlin, Germany, 01/2010
− 1st Int. Conf. on New Frontiers in Biofuels, New Delhi, India, 01/2010
− 27th Int. Conf. of Agricultural Economists, Beijing, China, 08/2009
Additional outcomes and added value of the project:
1. Habilitation at the Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt University of Berlin in January 2013
2. Teaching activities:
a) Natural Resource & Renewable Energy Economics and Policy, Instructor, Summer 2012
b) Market and Policy Analysis, Co-instructor, Summer 2012, Fall 2011
3. Elected member of the Young Academy National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina/Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences