All Things Urban

Freedom and individual responsibility, entrepreneurial spirit and open-mindedness: ETH Zurich stands on a bedrock of true Swiss values. Our university for science and technology dates back to the year 1855, when the founders of modern-day Switzerland created it as a centre of innovation and knowledge.

The Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich offers 2 full-time PhD positions in Landscape & Urban Studies, starting on October 1, 2019. The positions will be part of the new doctoral program in Landscape & Urban Studies, which promotes pioneering research on contemporary urban and environmental transformation. We are looking for researchers with a background in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, territorial planning and the social sciences, who display an independent, inventive, and proactive engagement with present and future processes of urbanization within a context of ongoing environmental change. The doctoral program in Landscape & Urban Studies at the Department of Architecture addresses contemporary issues of urban and environmental transformation. Research spans the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, territorial planning and social sciences. It investigates the production of landscape and the urbanization of the territory through a range of different scales, from the local to the global. This may include studies in landscape and designed ecologies, urban design strategies, energy and food production, material stocks and flows, health and socio-economic development, which address pressing environmental challenges qualitatively and quantitatively. The doctoral program seeks to promote a critical discourse and encourages researchers to take an independent, inventive, and proactive stance on how to engage with present and future processes of urbanization within a context of ongoing environmental change.

Candidates must hold a Master’s degree acquired at university level (equivalent to the FHEQ-Level 7) in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, urban planning, social sciences or related fields at the date of the submission deadline. The program provides funding for three years, successful applicants will be employed 100%, and will receive a doctoral student contract at ETH Zurich with monthly salaries according to the ‘standard rate’. Residency in Zurich during the scholarship is required and adequate proficiency in English is mandatory (spoken and written). Application Documents: - Letter of motivation (1 page). - Outline of the future research project (max. 4 pages, + bibliography, + max. 3 illustrations). - Curriculum vitae (including publications, portfolio, work samples, max. 10 pages). - Writing sample in English (1 text, max. 15 pages). - 2-3 letters of recommendation independently submitted to [email protected] by either the referees or the candidates latest until February 28, 2019.

This job is available for international candidates.