PhD Position in Urban Social Resilience within Sustainability and Planning

Description of the Position
Aalborg University invites applications for a PhD position in Sustainability and Planning Research focusing on urban resilience from a systemic and planning-oriented perspective. The PhD project explores the dynamic relationships between people places and material environments and is situated within an emerging research agenda investigating how design thinking and planning practices can support circularity and sustainability initiatives in cities.

This PhD position is part of a new interdisciplinary thematic research initiative addressing Urban Social Resilience with particular attention to care ethics participatory processes and social innovation as guiding perspectives. The successful candidate will contribute to interdisciplinary research activities empirical studies and scholarly publications in close collaboration with a Postdoc and a PhD student appointed across the Department of Architecture Design & Media Technology and the Department of Sustainability & Planning. The position further offers engagement in a wider research network spanning sustainability planning urban design architecture and industrial design.
The position is available from 15 August 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.
The duration of the position is three years.

Research Focus
The PhD project addresses the pressing challenge of developing urban social resilience in cities with a particular focus on how social actors relations and practices can gain agency in resilience-building processes through inclusive collaborative participatory and planning-based approaches across actors organisations and institutions.
The project is grounded in a socio-material planning and design perspective where urban resilience is understood as an emergent quality produced through interactions between social dynamics institutional frameworks and material and spatial configurations. Within this framework the PhD project may for example involve:

mapping and analysing actor landscapes relations and key dynamics in the development of urban social resilience
investigating and developing methods and tools for staging and facilitating development and transformation processes in collaboration with actors in urban contexts
analysing how the mobilisation and activation of social actors communities and social innovations contribute to urban resilience
exploring how climate- and nature-based interventions can function as catalysts for strengthening social resilience in neighbourhoods cities and urban regions
analysing the development of places and public spaces as arenas for building testing and practising urban social resilience

The PhD project may adopt different disciplinary perspectives empirical focus areas and methodological approaches within the broader field of urban social resilience and planning. At the same time it is expected that the project will relate to and further develop the research environments work with socio-material approaches participatory and interactive planning as well as co-design and co-production in the context of urban resilience.
Applicants are therefore expected to develop and outline a preliminary research proposal (13 pages) that presents their initial considerations regarding research focus research design and methodological approach in relation to urban social resilience within a planning and design perspective.

Research Context
The specific empirical context of the PhD project is intentionally left open. As part of the application applicants are invited to propose and briefly describe the urban context(s) they wish to engage with in their empirical research.

Qualifications
Applicants should demonstrate a strong interest in exploring how urban resilience is shaped through the interplay between social and material dimensions. The PhD project is expected to investigate planning and design processes with particular attention to participatory co-design and co-production approaches as well as the use of mapping as an analytical and generative research method.

Applicants must hold a Masters degree in sustainability and planning urban studies sustainability and design geography or a related discipline. Experience with qualitative participatory and design-oriented research methodsincluding co-design or co-productionis considered a significant advantage.

The ideal candidate is motivated to work in interdisciplinary research environments and is interested in collaborating across disciplines and with a wide range of urban stakeholders including planners designers and public sector actors. The candidate should demonstrate curiosity independence and initiative and be motivated to develop and conduct a PhD project involving co-design and co-production in close collaboration with supervisors and research partners.

What We Offer
The position offers a dynamic and interdisciplinary research environment rooted in contemporary planning research. The PhD candidate will have the opportunity to contribute to and shape a growing body of research on design and planning for urban social resilience. The position includes support for scholarly publications and public communication of research as well as opportunities for teaching and involvement in Aalborg Universitys planning and urban design programmes.

Qualification Requirements
PhD stipends are allocated to individuals who hold a Masters degree. PhD stipends are normally for a period of 3 years. It is a prerequisite for allocation of the stipend that the candidate will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Technical Doctoral School of IT and Design in accordance with the regulations of Ministerial Order No. 1124 of September 19 2025 on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions. According to the Ministerial Order the progress of the PhD student shall be assessed at regular points in time. As part of the PhD study you are among other things required to complete PhD courses corresponding to 30 ECTS gain experience with teaching or other forms of knowledge dissemination and complete an external research stay outside of Aalborg University preferably 3-6 months at a foreign research institution.

How to apply
Your application must include the following:

• Application stating reasons for applying and qualifications in relation to the position
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Diplomas (bachelors and masters degree diploma including grades)
• Project description
• Other relevant documents

The application must be submitted via Aalborg Universitys recruitment system which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aalborg Universitys website.

Aalborg University wants to reflect the surrounding society and has diversity as a core value. Therefore everyone regardless of personal background and orientation is encouraged to apply for the position.

Do you have any questions
If you have any questions about the position you are more than welcome to contact us. You will find contact persons at the bottom of the jobpost.

Further information
Read more about our recruitment process here.

The assessment of candidates for the position will be carried out by qualified experts.
Shortlisting will be applied. This means that after the application deadline the head of the department with the assistance of the hiring committee will select the applicants to be assessed. All applicants will be informed whether they have been shortlisted for assessment or not.

The hiring process at Aalborg University may include a risk assessment as a tool to identify potential risks associated with new hires ensuring the safety compliance and integrity of the workplace.

Read more about The Technical Doctoral School of IT and Design

Salary and terms of employment
The employment is in accordance with the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities (the Appointment Order) and the Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities (in Danish).

Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with the collective agreement between the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations and the state (AC collective agreement) (in Danish)

There is a mutual probationary period of 3 months for the position.

Aalborg University - Knowledge for the world
Aalborg University is an international workplace with more than 3700 employees. We offer real-world-oriented education and create world-class research results through collaboration between researchers students and public and private companies. This is how we achieve insights new solutions to societal problems and knowledge that changes the world. Our main campus is in Aalborg but we also have campuses in Esbjerg and Copenhagen.