Applications are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the mathematics programme (science studies programme). The position is available from February 2025 or later.
Title:
Energy Lives! Infrastructural Citizenship in Nordic Energy Transitions
Subproject: Citizens for District Heating in Denmark
Research area and project description:
The project Energy Lives! scrutinizes the conjoined lives of energy and people in the Nordic countries. It seeks to understand how publics and communities emerge around ways of living with and through energy transitions and how such publics shape and constrain energy transitions over long time periods. The project applies the concept of infrastructural citizenship to uncover mechanisms of agency, appropriation, and resistance in energy transitions, distributed among people, politics, and infrastructures.
The project is a cooperation of researchers in Norway (coordinators), Sweden and Denmark funded by Nordforsk. The Danish subproject covers the history and governance of district heating in Denmark with a particular focus on how Nordic stakeholders and citizens transitioned from heating with coal and oil to district heating (DH) with a mix of increasingly sustainable energy carriers. Contrary to common representations, the project explores the idea that DH infrastructures were not merely top-down projects with passive citizens. Many local questions needed to be answered and problems solved. The project argues that citizens played a pivotal role, as their willingness to transition from controlling their own heating systems to relying on a centralized infrastructure for heat distribution was crucial.
The project aims at putting the agency of citizens in the focus to gain knowledge about opportunities and challenges for the urgent future energy transitions to fully sustainable and emission free energy use. It includes the organization of an academic workshop focusing on governance of energy transitions, a field trip with project partners and an Infrastructural Citizen Week.
The PhD candidate will pursue historical research including literature studies, archival studies, oral history interviews among others in an interdisciplinary setting of history and community-based participatory research.
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Qualifications and specific competences:
The candidate ideally has a master and relevant experience in history or anthropology or in any relevant historical discipline and is fluent in Danish.
Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Centre for Science Studies, Ny Munkegade 118, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information for this project are invited to contact: Professor Matthias Heymann, matthias.heymann@css.au.dk or Associate Professor Kristian Hvidtfelt Nielsen, khn@css.au.dk
How to apply:
For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see the Application guide. Please read the Application guide thoroughly before applying.
When ready to apply, go to https://phd.nat.au.dk/for-applicants/apply-here/ (Note, the online application system opens 1 September 2024)
Please note:
At the Faculty of Natural Science at Aarhus University, we strive to support our scientific staff in their career development. We focus on competency development and career clarification and want to make your opportunities transparent. On our website, you can find information on all types of scientific positions, as well as the entry criteria we use when assessing candidates. You can also read more about how we can assist you in your career planning and development.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background.
