PhD Positions in Human/Economic Geography for the DECENT Project at Lund University Lund University in Sweden

The Department of Human Geography at Lund University is hiring 1-2 PhD students for the DECENT project (Socio-technical modularity and the decentralization of infrastructure), funded by the European Research Council (ERC).

This PhD opportunity is in human geography / economic geography and sits at the intersection of urban studies, sustainability transitions, geography of innovation, and socio-technical systems. The project examines how decentralized infrastructure solutions—such as micro-grids, small-scale wastewater treatment, multi-modal transport, short food chains, and distributed finance—can address the limitations of centralized infrastructure systems.

Empirically, the project will compare infrastructure decentralization in cities across high-income regions (for example, Europe or North America) and middle-income regions (for example, South or Southeast Asia). The research also considers local and global industry dynamics, sustainability, and urban experimentation.

Applicants should be interested in these themes and in contributing to a comparative, interdisciplinary project. The post does not list detailed eligibility criteria, but it clearly targets PhD-level candidates in relevant social science/geography fields.

Deadline: 28 August 2026.

How to apply: The application link is said to be in the comments section of the LinkedIn post. Questions about the project can be directed to researcher Johan Miorner.