PhD position on city-university interactions in crisis management measures to enhance the resilience of urban systems

The project explores the intersectoral, including city-university, cooperation formats to be better prepared for the challenges created by weather extremes and other hazards to the functioning of urban services and infrastructures. The project scrutinizes practices of building capacities and collaborative systems to mitigate these risks through socially and ecologically viable solutions in urban regions. This involves considering the factors impeding or facilitating synchronizing the decision-making over adaptation and hazard response measures between universities and cities. The project considers the functionality of collaborative systems for long-term adaptation and preparedness in university-city settings in diverse geographic, climatic, and socio-political contexts.  

Planned secondments:

• Utrecht University, The Netherlands (Spring 2026): Visiting fellowship at the Spatial Planning Section, Geosciences Faculty.
• Institute of Baltic Studies (Fall 2025): to participate in the research projects focused on sustainable urban and regional development, and provide experience with working in a think-tank and as part of an international team.

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.