PhD Positions in Geography

The holder of a doctoral position is expected to participate actively in the research and teaching environment of the department and may perform departmental duties, above all teaching, amounting to about 20 per cent of full time.

The PhD student(s) will be employed in the DECENT project (Socio-technical modularity and the decentralization of infrastructure), financed by the ERC: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101219042.

Cities have long relied on centralised systems for providing essential services such as electricity, water and transport. These large network-based infrastructures often fail to meet social, economic and environmental needs. The DECENT project aims to explore how decentralized infrastructure solutions, such as micro-grids, small-scale wastewater treatment, multi-modal transport, short food chains, or distributed finance, overcome the historical legacies of large-scale infrastructure systems and supply societal functions in more modular ways. The doctoral students will study decentralization from a configurational socio-technical perspective and focus on aspects such as: local and global industry dynamics, geography of innovation, sustainability transitions and/or urban experimentation. Empirically, the project will study and compare infrastructure decentralization in high- (e.g., European or North American) and middle-income (e.g., South- or Southeast Asian) cities.

PhD students are expected to:

• design and conduct empirical research on infrastructure decentralization in different sectors (e.g., water, mobility or agri-food) and geographies, in collaboration with the project team;
• write single- and co-authored scientific publications during the duration of the employment;
• work closely together with the project team and contribute to joint meetings and activities;
• present their research at national and international conferences;
• write and defend a PhD thesis.

Eligibility/Entry Requirements:

To be eligible for third cycle studies an applicant must

• Have been awarded a second cycle degree
• Have completed studies the equivalent of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 credits are at the second cycle level, or
• Have acquired comparable qualifications in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

In addition to the requirements described above, the specific entry requirements for the PhD program in Human Geography is a master’s degree in human/economic geography or another relevant discipline (e.g., transition studies, innovation studies, sociology, economics, economic history, political science). Exams must include independent work of at least 30 higher education credits, of which at least half is at the second cycle level. The applicant must also have proficiency in spoken and written English. The assessment will be based on national guidelines.

Basis of Assessment:

In accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5, paragraph 5, particular emphasis for admission shall be placed upon the applicant’s ability to successfully complete PhD studies, as indicated by academic qualifications and merits.

We are looking for candidates with

• a strong motivation for academic research and curiosity about societal transformations;
• a background in economic geography, transition studies, innovation studies, sociology, economics, economic history, political science, or related disciplines;
• experience of working with empirical data collection and analysis (qualitative or quantitative), and an interest in working with mixed-methods approaches;
• a strong interest in interdisciplinary approaches bridging transition studies and economic geography;
• excellent writing skills;
• proficiency in spoken and written English.