Researcher or Doctoral Researcher in Justice and Sustainability Transitions (PhD / Researcher) LUT University in Finland

LUT University is recruiting for a Researcher or Doctoral Researcher in justice and sustainability transitions at its Lappeenranta, Finland campus. The position is part of the Academy Research Fellowship project Circuits of Justice: Exploring Normative and Spatial Dimensions of Justice Across Finland’s Battery Supply Chain, led by Dr Alicja Dankowska in the Energy and Society research group.

The project examines how justice claims emerge, circulate, and evolve across Finland’s battery supply chain, with a whole-systems perspective on how stakeholders understand, negotiate, and contest justice across places, sectors, and scales. The work includes discourse analysis of policy, media, and public debates, plus multi-sited fieldwork such as interviews, focus groups, document analysis, and participant observation. The role also involves stakeholder co-creation workshops, data analysis, scientific publications, conference presentations, and international collaboration, including research visits to Norway and Spain.

This opportunity is especially relevant for candidates interested in sociology, political science, human geography, anthropology, sustainability studies, environmental policy, energy justice, just transitions, and science and technology studies (STS). Experience with batteries, critical raw materials, mining, energy systems, or industrial transitions is considered an advantage.

There are two possible levels: a doctoral (junior) researcher position, which is full-time and initially one year with a possible three-year extension, and a researcher position, which is part-time (70% FTE) and fixed until 31 August 2030. The doctoral researcher salary starts at about EUR 3,100/month, while the researcher salary is about EUR 4,300–5,000/month, depending on qualifications and experience.

Applicants for the doctoral researcher role must hold a relevant master’s degree. Applicants for the researcher role must have a relevant doctoral degree and advanced research experience. All applicants should have strong qualitative research skills, experience in discourse analysis, and excellent Finnish plus strong English. The selected doctoral researcher must apply for the right to pursue doctoral studies at the LUT Doctoral School within the first two months of employment.

Apply through the online recruitment system by 3 November 2026 at 23:59 Finnish local time. Upload a motivation letter, CV, publication list, degree certificate and transcript, and a link to your thesis or dissertation. Only one application will be considered, and applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.