Research context
The Ph D student will contribute to the research project Transfor Change. Transfor Change points towards socially just alternatives to current high carbon mobilities that can be a realistic part of everyday life; and it challenges taken-for-granted, and ineffective, behaviour change approaches by promoting theoretical and methodological resources that both frame the problem, and provide a means of analysing it, in ways that hold greater promise for achieving a just and low carbon transition. It combines ethnomethodology with insights from practice theory to study an under-investigated, but fundamental aspect of public transport, namely the rationalities of public transport practices. Here, rationalities refer to ethnomethodology’s observation that people, in the way that they manage their everyday affairs, continuously attend to the accountability and meaningfulness of these affairs. Transfor Change investigates how people rationalise public transport practices and the connections between public transport practices and other practices, and it is motivated by the following research question: How are public transport practices constituted as rational and, thereby, passengers as ordinary, and how does this support or hinder increased use of public transport?

Transfor Change Ph D research
Transfor Change will be carried out in close collaboration between the project PI(who will also supervise the Ph D student), the Ph D student and a small team of top international researchers with complementary skills, and the project will be made in collaboration with Odense Municipality(DK), the regional transport company on Funen, Fyn Bus, and the city tram service, Odense Letbane. The Ph D-project constitutes the main part of the overall project, and it concerns a video study of people’s everyday public transport practices to uncover the accomplishment of passengers-identities when people are‘doing being’ passengers in situ– which is to say, it uncovers how rationalities of public transport practices are constituted when passengers are busy being passengers in their everyday public transport practices. The Ph D student is expected to engage with and independently contribute to the conceptual and methodological frameworks developed as part of Transfor Change, to assist with sampling of participants, to collect video data in public transport run by Fyn Bus and Odense Letbane, to transcribe data(in accordance with or by elaboration of established conventions in multimodal interaction studies) and to analyse data. Within this framework, the Ph D candidate is expected to develop their own theoretically grounded and methodologically feasible approach to the study of rationalities of public transport practices, drawing on tools from, for instance, ethnomethodology or related discourse approaches, such as tools for conversation analysis, categorisation analysis, argumentation analysis, multimodal interaction analysis or similar approaches.

The position

Ph D stipends are for a period of 3 years. The Ph D Fellow will be affiliated with the new, interdisciplinary research group RECAST(Research in sociocultural aspects of sustainability and green transitions), headed by PI, at the Department of Culture and Learning in the Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty of Aalborg University. RECAST is gaining international recognition for its contributions to inclusive green transition in the transport sector and has strong connections both to transport companies and NGOs, and to top international researchers who conduct cutting-edge sociocultural research in public transport travelling. According to the Ministerial Ph D Order, the Ph D study requires participation in active international research environments, including stays at other, mainly foreign, research institutions, and the Ph D candidate is thus expected to spend three months at Edinburgh University where Prof. Eric Laurier(Edinburgh University), who is an expert in interaction and mobility, will function as a co-supervisor. Transfor Change is based at the Aalborg Campus of the university. We offer a good working environment, aiming to make room for individual professional development while at the same time valuing the commitment of individual researchers to the larger community.

Qualification requirements
Ph D stipends are allocated to individuals who hold a relevant master’s degree. For this Ph D-position, applicants must demonstrate scientific and communicative skills, and command of(written and spoken) Danish(for data collection and analysis) and English(for collaboration and dissemination) is required. The ideal candidate has knowledge of and experience with both 1) ethnomethodology or related discourse- and/or interaction-studies, and 2) mobilities studies. However, candidates with experience within only one of these fields are still welcome to apply.
General information
It is a prerequisite for allocation of the stipend that the candidate will be enrolled as a Ph D student at The Doctoral School of Social Sciences and Humanities, in accordance with the regulations of Ministerial Order No. 1039 of 27 August 2013(Ph D Order).

Application
Please visit thewebsite of the doctoral school for further information on the Ph D programme, application procedure, and admission requirements.
The application must include the following and be written in English Application form(downloadhere)

• A cover letter, inclusive motivation to apply for the position(max. 2 pages)
• A project proposal, inclusive research question, approach, possible relevant literature and timeline(max. 2 pages)
• Copy of diplomas/transcripts
• Curriculum vitae(CV)
• List of written work(optional)
• Sample of written work, e.g. Master's thesis(optional)
• For applicants planning to complete their thesis in English and who do not have English as a first language or have completed an English language-based Master's programme(or an equivalent educational achievement in English), please see the following language requirements:https://www.phd.aau.dk/ssh/become-a-phd-student#admission-requirements

Shortlisting will be applied. This means that after the deadline for application, the head of the department supported by the chair of the assessment committee will select candidates for assessment. All applicants will be informed whether they will be assessed or not.
The application can only be submitted by using the link on AAU’s job-portalhttps://www.stillinger.aau.dk/(not other online job portals that may have reposted the position). Please note that zipped files are not supported by the recruitment system, please upload only Word or PDF files.

Contact
For further information about the department’s research profile, please refer to the websitehttps://www.kultur.aau.dk/
For inquiries concerning the position and the Transfor Change-project, please contact PI, Associate Professor Laura Bang Lindegaard,laura@ikl.aau.dk.
For general information about the application process etc., please contact Lene Møllerlml@adm.aau.dk, phone:+45 9940 9658.

Løn og ansættelsesvilkår

Appointment and salary as a Ph D fellow are according to the Ministry of Finance Circular of 15 December 2021, on the Collective Agreement for Academics in Denmark, Appendix 5, regarding Ph D fellows, and with the current Circular on the employment structure at Danish Universities. AAU wishes to reflect the diversity of society and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background or belief.

Ref. nummer

2024-224-06022

Ansøgningsfrist

15.10.2024