PhD position on universities and evidence-based decision-making in urban innovation ecosystems

This PhD project will focus on the potential for evidence-based decision-making in urban innovation ecosystems. The objectives are to (1) study how the involvement of both academic stakeholders (higher education institutions, HEIs) and non-academic stakeholders (public sector organizations, companies, civil society, and citizens – including vulnerable or marginalized population groups) in urban innovation ecosystems strengthens the cities’ transformative capacity; (2) assess the influence of close collaboration between HEI’s and cities on the capacity of local policy makers for evidence-based policy making and implementation; (3) test the hypothesis that collaboration with HEI’s not only facilitates the exchange of scientific knowledge in an urban innovation ecosystem, but also increases cities’ capacity to integrate co-creation processes with non-academic stakeholders in urban decision making.  

A successful project will result in a mapping of different types of urban collaborations regarding initiatives on urban sustainability, identification of challenges and barriers related to these collaborations as perceived by different stakeholders, and a deeper understanding of which factors in collaboration between HEIs and cities affect cities’ transformative capacity.  

Planned secondments:

• University of Tartu, Estonia (Fall 2026): Visiting fellowship at the Institute of Social Sciences
• Leuven 2030 (Early Spring 2026): Investigating the importance of scientific evidence in the discussions and sustainability initiatives in the Leuven urban area, through participant observation in the activities of Leuven 2030 Urban Lab, and through the follow-up of the myriad ‘Breakthrough projects’ of Leuven2030. 

The selected candidate will be part of the SUNSET Doctoral Network built around a community of leading scholars and 10 doctoral candidates (DCs) delivering insights into how universities and their host cities can collaborate and interact to achieve the digitalization and sustainability goals set out by current European and global policy agendas. The network is purposefully international, intersectoral, and interdisciplinary. It consists of 6 academic and 16 non-academic partners in 5 European countries (Belgium – The Netherlands – Finland – Norway – Estonia). SUNSET emphasizes cooperative research and includes international mobility and intersectoral secondments to maximize the career potential of all DCs.