The ERC Consolidator project “Rise and Demise of Industrial Modernity” [cordis.europa.eu] (RiDe) at the University of Tartu (Estonia) is looking to fill 2 fully funded PhD positions and 1 postdoctoral position, broadly in environmental studies/social science, particularly in sustainability transitions studies.
The project is based on the Deep Transitions framework (see here [doi.org], here [doi.org] and here [cambridge.org]) from the sustainability transitions field. It seeks to develop a new theory about the acceleration, crisis and possible transformation of industrial modernity: a set of ideas, institutions and practices related to the natural environment and technoscience currently blocking the deep sustainability turn. The project is led by Laur Kanger [scholar.google.com], Professor of Sustainability Transitions and co-author of the Deep Transitions framework.
- PhD positions:
Expected starting date: 1 September 2025
Duration of employment: 48 months (until 30.08.2029)
Working time: 100% (40 hours per week)
Application submission deadline: 15 May 2025
Topic 1: “Ideational continuities and ruptures of industrial modernity in G20 countries”
The purpose of the PhD project is to map the long-term evolution of different ideas about environment and technoscience (e.g. belief in societal progress through science and technology, rising environmental awareness) in G20 countries from 1900 to 2025 based on digitized newspaper corpora and using state of the art machine learning methods, including large language models.
Topic 2: “Blocking mechanisms of industrial modernity”
The PhD project aims to identify how dominant technoscientific ideas, institutions, and practices hinder the adoption of transformative environmental solutions. The work will draw on theoretical and historical literature to uncover key mechanisms—such as reliance on future technological promises or solving old problems with new technologies—that delay sustainable change. It will also examine how these mechanisms interact and manifest in real-world cases like solar geoengineering or climate modelling.
We are seeking applicants with a Master’s degree or equivalent qualification with a background in one of the following fields: digital humanities, computational social science, data science, sustainability transitions studies, science and technology studies, innovation studies, sociology (e.g. economic, political, environmental, historical), environmental governance, political science, economics (e.g. economics of innovation, ecological economics), political science, history (e.g. economic, environmental, intellectual, science and technology), sustainability science (or a related field). Alternatively, a master’s degree in another field combined with a strong and proven interest in sustainability issues also constitutes a good fit. For more info on the positions, main tasks and requirements, see the links below:
Topic 1 (ideational continuities and ruptures): https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/336902 [euraxess.ec.europa.eu]
Topic 2 (blocking mechanisms): https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/336901 [euraxess.ec.europa.eu]