PhD candidate in International Relations
A 4-year, fully funded PhD position in International Relations at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen (start date: September 2025), within the project “The Migrating Globalised City: Rethinking everyday urban life dynamics”. The project will be under the joint supervision of Dr. Renata De Figueiredo Summa and Dr. Mayada Madbouly, with Prof. Luis Lobo-Guerrero as the promotor.
This PhD position offers a unique opportunity to work in an international, diverse environment and to acquire valuable research experience at a top-ranked European university. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to develop their academic writing skills, support outreach activities in the Netherlands and abroad, undertake fieldwork/ethnographic work and gain teaching experience. The candidate will be placed in the International Relations International Organization (IRIO), embedded within ICOG (The Groningen Research Institute for the Study of Culture).
The PhD Project
The broader project within which the PhD will be inscribed explores the intersection of urban everyday life and international politics, focusing on how migration and displacement reshape urban dynamics. We are interested in understanding how migration urban space becomes a site of power struggles, identity formation, and resistance. Drawing from interdisciplinary scholarship, it examines key trends such as urban identity, spatial mobilization, informal economies, and the impact of political and economic shifts on urban landscapes. The research aims to bridge the gap between international policies and urban life by addressing how racialization, heritage negotiation, and governance shape urban experiences. Employing ethnographic methods and discourse analysis, the study focuses on France and/or the Netherlands while remaining open to other geographical contexts. By emphasizing the global-local nexus, it seeks to uncover how colonial legacies, nationalist discourses, and migration policies materialize in urban spaces, influencing everyday life and political agency.
You will be asked to:
- Conduct research independently (carry out archival work, conduct interviews, analyze the data).
- Write and Complete a dissertation within the framework of the project in the specified timeframe (4 years).
- Publish and present a number of academic and popular articles and/or papers about your research (in discussion with your supervisors).
- Participate in teaching activities from the second year of the PhD.
- Participate in other academic activities within the RUG community.
Organisation
Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has established an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative university offering high-quality teaching and research. Its 34,000 students are encouraged to develop their own individual talents through challenging study- and career paths. The University of Groningen is an international centre of knowledge: It belongs to the best research universities in Europe and is allied with prestigious partner universities and networks worldwide.
The Faculty of Arts is a large, dynamic faculty in the heart of the city of Groningen. It has more than 5000 students and 700 staff members, who are working at the frontiers of knowledge every day. The Faculty offers a wide range of degree programmes: 15 Bachelor's programmes and over 35 Master's specialisations. Our research, which is internationally widely acclaimed, covers Archaeology, Cultural Studies, History, International Relations, Language and Literary Studies, Linguistics and Media and Journalism Studies.
