SUNSET

According to the European Commission, cities require agile and high-performing urban innovation ecosystems to transform and maintain resilience. Interactions between cities and universities are essential for achieving climate neutrality and sustainable growth. The EU-funded MSCA Doctoral Network SUNSET aims to enhance research and training capabilities linked to the city-university interactions driving the EU’s green and digital transition. The SUNSET Doctoral Network will explore how universities can become key drivers of the twin transition, and train researchers to lead this transition.

The Doctoral Network is built around a community of leading scholars and ten doctoral candidates 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 from city governments, innovation companies, research institutes and civil society organisations, from 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.

Doctoral candidate recruitment

Within SUNSET, ten doctoral candidates will be recruited altogether. See further information from the project website. Two doctoral candidates will be recruited under the University of Tartu. The following pages outline PhD project summaries and recruitment details:

• DC5: Incorporating knowledge infrastructure to green transitions: learning from campus interventions. Position in Geography. Supervisory team: Prof. Age Poom (PhD main supervisor, University of Tartu), Prof. Marketta Kyttä (PhD co-supervisor, Aalto University), Prof. Aveliina Helm (PhD co-supervisor, University of Tartu), Kertu Vuks (secondment host, City of Tartu)

• DC10: City-university interactions in disaster risk reduction and enhancing the resilience of urban systems. Position in Sociology. Supervisory team: Prof. Kati Orru (PhD main supervisor, University of Tartu), Dr Niki Frantzeskaki (PhD co-supervisor, Utrecht University); Aveliina Helm (second PhD co-supervisor, University of Tartu), Merit Tatar (secondment host, Institute of Baltic Studies)

The PhD admission for these two PhD projects at the University of Tartu is open until 22 April 2024 – the due date is extended! Find direct application links and requirements from the positions’ descriptions above. The general admission procedure at the university is described in further detail here.

Publications

Presentations and media coverage

• Project name: SUNSET
• Duration: March 2024 – February 2028
• Funding: European Commission, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
• Lead partner: KU Leuven Urban Studies Institute, PI Prof. Ben Derudder
• Principal Investigator at the Mobility Lab: Age Poom
• People involved: Kati Orru, Aveliina Helm
• Collaboration partners in Estonia: City of Tartu, Institute of Baltic Studies
• Project information in the Estonian Research Information System