Hug March Corbella

🌍 TERRA-MED announces 33 funded international PhD positions, including a project co-supervised by Hug March Corbella and Ismael Yrigoy Cadena. This PhD is hosted by the TURBA Lab (Urban Transformation & Global Change Lab) at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in Barcelona, with collaboration from Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) in Palma. Project UOC4: “The role of energy and water security in adapting to extreme heat by vulnerable households.” The research examines the Water-Energy-Climate-Housing nexus in Mediterranean cities, especially Barcelona and Palma. It will investigate how energy poverty, water insecurity, housing conditions, and extreme heat interact to shape thermal coping strategies and lived experiences of vulnerable urban households, and how regional policies can support thermal justice and urban heat justice. The position is well suited to applicants interested in Urban Studies, Human Geography, Environmental Geography, Environmental Studies, Urban Sociology, Planning/Urbanism, political ecology, urban environmental justice, climate change adaptation, water security, energy poverty, and GIS-informed mixed-methods research. Funding and mobility: The fellow will spend 24 months at UOC, 9 months at UIB, and 3 months in a non-academic secondment at a public authority, NGO, or urban planning entity. If the secondment takes place in Spain, an additional international mobility stage outside Spain is required. Eligibility: Applicants must have a Masters degree in one of the relevant social science or urban/environmental fields, a strong grounding in political ecology or urban environmental justice, mixed-methods research skills, B2+ English, and intermediate Spanish or Catalan for fieldwork. The mobility rule applies: candidates must not have lived or carried out their main activity in Spain for more than 12 months in the previous 36 months. Application window: 15 October 2026 to 31 December 2026. PhD start is planned for September/October 2027. Use the Terra-Med application link to check the full offer and apply.