PhD Opportunity: Cities as Transformative Agents for a Climate-Safe Future

The Australian National University is offering three PhD positions under the ARC Laureate Fellowship 'Cities as Transformative Agents for a Climate-safe Future'. Candidates should have relevant degrees and research experience in sustainable urban systems. The research will focus on city transitions toward climate safety, involving interdisciplinary collaboration. Successful applicants will receive a scholarship of $38,154 AUD per annum for up to 4 years. Applications are due by April 30th, 2025.
About

We invite applications for three PhD positions to join the dynamic and collaborative team of researchers for the Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship “Cities as Transformative Agents for a Climate-safe Future” awarded to Distinguished Professor Xuemei Bai at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University.

The successful candidates will be expected to align their research with the Laureate’s objectives and will work closely with the team of interdisciplinary postdoctoral researchers associated with the Laureate project.
Research Area

Potential topic areas for these PhD positions as part of this Laureate project include:
• Large-scale city archetype analysis based on cities' evolutionary trajectory toward climate-safe future;
• Investigating cities' networked resilience/proactive networking to improve resilience;
• New ways of governing to accelerate transitions towards climate-safe cities; the likelihood of enabling positive social tipping points
• Investigating new scenarios and potential pathways for cities’ transition toward a climate-safe future;
• AI in city transition and governance;
• How different actors and their roles shape city transition toward the climate safe future in the new era;

Candidate Requirements

We welcome applicants with:
• A master’s degree by research or a bachelor’s degree with First Class Honours in sustainable urban systems, urban studies/planning, sustainability transitions, public policy, environmental governance, mathematics, statistics, computer science or a related field;
• Familiarity with urban climate policy and urban environmental and sustainability transition literature;
• Experience with qualitative and/or quantitative research methods, including interviews, surveys, system dynamics modeling, agent-based modeling, and network analysis;
• Familiarity with new computational models, especially Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Models (LLM), etc.;
• Expertise in at least one data analysis and modeling tool such as R, Python, or MATLAB;
• A proven publication record is highly advantageous.

Eligibility

We are looking for highly talented and passionate candidates who can work both independently and contribute to and thrive in a collaborative interdisciplinary team. Admission to this program is on a competitive basis.

To be considered for this opportunity, an applicant must submit the following documents. Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered.
• Cover letter
• CV
• Degree evidence and transcript
• A research proposal of up to 4 pages
• Language proof

ANU admission requirements

English language admission requirements

Funding

Successful applicants need to be able to pass the ANU scholarship selection criteria, upon which the candidate will be awarded a scholarship at $38,154 AUD per annum (2025) for up to 4 years.

Submission of applications

Applications should be sent to Dr. Eri Kashima (eri.kashima@anu.edu.au). Long listed candidates will be invited to further discuss topics and alignment. Following this step, short listed candidates will be interviewed.

Key dates

The initial application deadline is April 30th 2025. We may close applications earlier if the positions have been filled.

Scholarship recipients are expected to commence by February 1st 2026.

Application Process Information

https://fennerschool.anu.edu.au/study/phd-mphil

https://study.anu.edu.au/apply/postgraduate-research

MembersSupervisors

Xuemei Bai

Distinguished Professor

YangYang Guo

Laureate Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Sombol Mokhles

Laureate Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Thi Minh Phuong Nguyen

Laureate Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Support officer

Eri Kashima

Project Officer

Original link: https://fennerschool.anu.edu.au/research/research-projects/phd-opportunity-cities-transformative-agents-climate-safe-future