Two Calls for PhD projects @ IES-VUB

[Alexander MATTELAER]

Dear colleagues, 

At the IES we have just released our annual PhD calls. Please feel free to forward the information & links below to potential candidates. 

Best wishes,

Alexander

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PhD Researcher on international security in an era of great power competition

The international system is undergoing profound changes. The return of great power competition and the shift in the fulcrum of global politics towards the Indo-Pacific region are challenging many of the assumptions, norms and structures that have defined international politics since the end of the Cold War. Such changes are having a pervasive impact on statecraft, the conduct of diplomacy and international security – and upon Europe’s place in world politics. Within this framework, PhD project proposals are invited to explore any of the following sub-themes:

• Deterrence and alliances
• Geopolitical competition in and around Europe
• Sino-American competition, U.S. grand strategy and the future of the global order
• Japan’s security role in East Asia and the Indo-Pacific

The deadline for applications is 30 April 2020. More info: https://www.ies.be/content/phd-researcher-international-security-era-great-power-competition-institute-european-studies 

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PhD Researcher on challenges of the sustainability transitions 

The Green Deal of the European Commission is an example of recent initiatives to govern the transition towards a more sustainable future. In this context, the distinctions between environmental and economic policy regimes are becoming increasingly blurred. The economy is made greener, while environmental policies are framed in economic terms. These interactions raise intriguing theoretical and practical questions: to what extent are the objectives, or the means to attain them, clear and mutually reinforcing? Claims for conserving natural resources seem to be effortlessly combined with calls to grow the economy – yet is such a decoupled approach feasible? Due to the international nature of supply chains, these challenges also transcend different levels of governance. Innovative collaborative approaches, including the prospects of digital technologies, are required to reach a sustainable future. The prevailing (geo-)political tendencies seem, however, biased towards the protection of unilateral interests. This PhD call is aimed at exploring the challenges of the sustainability transitions. The research is positioned at the intersections of environmental and economic law, policy and economics, focusing in the areas of the (digital) circular economy, sustainable trade (free movement) and/or greening public procurement.  

The deadline for applications is 30 April 2020. More info: https://www.ies.be/content/phd-researcher-challenges-sustainability-transitions-institute-european-studies-%E2%80%93-vrije 

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Prof Dr Alexander Mattelaer

Vice Dean Research - Institute for European Studies - Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Senior Research Fellow - Egmont - Royal Institute for International Relations

E: alexander...@vub.be / a.mat...@egmontinstitute.be 

W: www.ies.be / www.egmontinstitute.be  

@ATJMattelaer