Scholarship details
The University of Basel in Switzerland is accepting applications for two fully financed Ph.D. posts in Urban Studies as part of the Swiss National Science Foundation-supported research project.
With the rate of urbanization increasing, strategies to address the climate crisis in cities are becoming increasingly important. Despite being portrayed as the “most vulnerable” to climate change, African cities are mostly absent from current debates on urbanism and climate change. The proposed solutions will be capital-intensive and dependent on the promise of rapid, smart technical breakthroughs as long as discussions on urban adaptation are focused on a generic ‘global metropolis.’ Yet, for the vast majority of the world’s rising urban population, such techno-utopias are out of reach.
PRECURBICA attempts to close this gap by reversing the perspective and placing African actors on the same analytical plane as the ‘global’ urban planners and politicians who generally dominate these debates. Rather of viewing urban ‘precariousness’ as an inherent condition that traps African communities in a state of dependency, the project views it as an opportunity to unearth and learn from techniques for surviving and making the city in the face of impending crises. Cities are places of potential and desire. African coastal cities, however, are at the cutting edge of global change due to Africa’s history in the world: in addition to seaborne environmental challenges, the conflicts between the opposing imperatives of growth-based development and climate change mitigation are brought into sharp contrast The project will ethnographically research the influence of climate risk on social and infrastructure processes in four African coastal cities: Pointe-Noire, Congo, Cotonou, Benin, Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Beira, Mozambique (the latter being the PI’s own case study). The project will be affiliated with the University of Basel’s Urban Studies division, in conjunction with the Centre for African Studies Basel, and will run for five years, beginning on April 1, 2022.
The findings will be relevant not only to the fields of urban studies, social anthropology, and critical development studies, but will also aid in the formation of new partnerships with research institutions in the cities under study, as well as provide insights for planners, policymakers, and architects working on climate adaptation in Africa and beyond.
About the Scholarship:
Ranking of universities. The University of Basel is one of Switzerland’s top ten universities. The University of Basel is a well-known Swiss and international educational institution. It takes great pride in its long history and storied customs. According to international rankings, the university ranks among the top 5%. «Arts and Humanities», «Engineering and Technology», «Life Sciences and Medicine», «Natural Science», «Social Sciences and Management», «Physics», «Chemistry» are the most popular BASEL programs. According to this criterion, BASEL is among the finest in terms of educational quality, ranking within the top 300 in the world. Because university graduates are valued employees in Switzerland, they have no trouble finding work after graduation. The University of Basel, as a medium-sized institution, educates almost 12,000 students. Foreign citizens are welcome to apply alongside domestic students. More than a quarter of the pupils were international. More than 1000 specialists make up the teaching faculty. A considerable number of the lecturers are specialists from other countries. One of the university’s most appealing features is its student exchange program. You may learn more about the university’s activities by following them on social media sites such as Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, and Linkedin.
In 1460, the University of Basel was established. It is Switzerland’s oldest university. We are proud of a tradition of excellence in teaching, learning, and research spanning over 500 years, during which we have taken a forward-thinking approach to new scientific developments in order to provide high-quality education and maintain our well-deserved reputation as a university capable of attracting staff and students from all over the world. The University of Basel is lively and innovative, with its location in the center of Basel and a tradition of invention. We provide a diverse choice of appealing undergraduate and postgraduate programs, as well as access to prominent worldwide research networks and a variety of student and community services. We recently completed a significant assessment of our programs in order to align them with the Bologna Declaration of the European Ministers of Education, which aims to improve interdisciplinarity, promote networked research, and expand the University’s international scope and reputation. The University of Basel is dedicated to offering cutting-edge education and fostering world-class research. Our primary strategic goal is to generate, enhance, and sponsor research that meets internationally recognized criteria of excellence, as well as to build an environment and infrastructure that supports that goal.
Scholarship Sponsor(s): University of Basel
Host Country(s): Switzerland
Scholarship Worth: Fully Funded
Study Level: PhD
Nationality: International Students
Scholarship Offer:
This is a full-time post in research. Climate risk and urban adaptation will be the subject of your research in one of the three cities chosen as case studies for the research team (Pointe Noire, Cotonou, or Freetown).
Your post is part of the PRECURBICA research project of the SNF Eccellenza (SNF Eccellenza Prof. Dr. Jon Schubert). What we offer you is a one-of-a-kind, multidisciplinary research environment within the Department of Social Sciences’ Division of Urban Studies, complete with doctoral training and structured supervision, as well as the opportunity of teaching your own courses after fieldwork. The position is funded for four years and is expected to begin on or around June 1, 2022.
Your income is based on national pay scales and will allow you to meet your personal living and education expenses while also allowing you to devote 100% of your time to your research project.
Eligibility for Scholarship
Candidates must hold a Master’s degree in urban studies, social/cultural anthropology, African studies, development studies, or a comparable discipline, as well as fieldwork and/or archival research experience in Africa. English proficiency is necessary, as is French proficiency for the Francophone cities; Fon (Cotonou), Krio (Freetown), or Kituba/Kikongo/Lingala (Pointe-Noire) would be a plus. We strongly encourage African individuals to apply for this role. Following selection, the candidate must meet the requirements for admission to the University of Basel’s Humanities Faculty’s PhD program.
The following items should be included in your application:
1. a motivation letter (maximum of two pages) describing how you link to the research issue and case study you are applying for;
2. a curriculum vitae (maximum of two pages);
3. a copy of your master’s diploma with your graduation grade written on it (optionally incl. course transcript)
4. a digital copy of your master’s thesis; or, if appropriate, another academic writing sample (published article or paper);
5. two academic references’ names and contact information
Nationality
The University of Basel 2022 Doctoral Fellowship in Urban Studies (Switzerland) is open to all international students
Application Procedure
Are you both interested and qualified? To apply, go to career2.successfactors.eu and type in University of Basel.
By January 31, 2022, all materials must be provided using an internet platform. Please contact Jon Schubert ([email protected]) for more information about the positions and the project. Women and minorities are highly encouraged to apply to the University of Basel, which is an equal opportunity workplace.
Admission deadline:
The application deadline for University of Basel 2022 Doctoral Fellowship in Urban Studies (Switzerland) is January 31, 2022
