The Centre of Maritime Health and Society, Department of Public Health (SDU) is looking for applicants for a PhD scholarship within the field of risk governance of socio-technical systems.

Declaration of interest regarding PhD project:

The Centre of Maritime Health and Society, Department of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) is looking for applicants for a PhD scholarship within the field of risk governance of socio-technical systems.

We are looking for a person with a relevant degree (MD, MSc. etc.) 

Research environment

The Centre of Maritime Health and Society offers a broad cross-disciplinary research environment. Our aim is to contribute with high quality research that is relevant to the maritime industry. We currently have 9 employees in the Centre, who all work within different research disciplines relevant to the main focus areas of the Centre: health and safety. The Centre has good relations across SDU faculties, with maritime researchers in Denmark and abroad, and with multiple actors in the maritime sector of Denmark and Europe.

We offer an environment where young researchers are fully integrated in the research environment, and we assist the candidate in establishing a good network.

Project description

The project will focus on energy islands which are seen as a paradigm shift in the green transition. The establishment of the world's first artificial islands will be supplying several countries with renewable energy. These mega-constructions will be offshore hubs and green power plants that will form part of the Danish and international critical infrastructure, they will be systems in constant development and continued innovation.

Maritime operations connected to the islands will be the main focus of the project. Challenges in these operations may involve limited navigational space, weather conditions and traffic density to, from and around the islands which can affect safety for crews and influence the efficiency of other operations and activities related to the islands. As any other new technology and activity, operation of the islands, the connecting wind farms and service vessels will come with new risks. The consequences of failing to predict and manage the risks of these complex systems can be immense. The project will contribute to overviewing the risk landscape, prediction of its dynamics, working out recommendations for risk sharing among stakeholders, risk acceptance, prevention, mitigation, and recovery strategies, should any risk materialize.

The PhD. position is funded by the SDU Maritime Research Platform, which was established in 2022 based on a donation from A/S Dampskibsselskabet Orient’s Fond. The platform consists of maritime research projects in four faculties across the University of Southern Denmark (Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Humanities, and Faculty of Business and Social Sciences), mostly PhD and postdoc projects, and covers topics related to the maritime part of the offshore sector. The work packages, though separate in their research focus, are interconnected and important to the project, as the breadth and interdisciplinarity of the initiative is very important. The topics cover a wide range of disciplines as e.g., sustainability, safety, risk, human factors, history, logistics, business, regulation, naval architecture, and maritime operations.

All partners connected to the platform must be willing to be part of the interdisciplinary network and actively participate in knowledge sharing. 

Qualifications

As stated above, successful candidates will hold a relevant master’s degree and/or experience in either analysing risks, in particular safety risks, or in Health, Safety and Environment management of socio-technical systems. The candidate will collect qualitative and quantitative data from the relevant stakeholders, published sources, participate in workshops to elicit, and aggregate expert knowledge, and translate findings into operational guidance for risk management.

For further information please contact either Senior Researcher Igor Kozin (ph.: +45 65504834, email: [email protected]) or Head of the Research Centre, Senior Researcher Lisa L. Froholdt (ph.: +45 65507245, email: [email protected]).

Applications must include:

• A letter stating the interest, motivation and qualifications for the project (max. 2 pages) - upload under “Application form”.
• Detailed CV, including personal contact information
• Certified copy of diploma (Master’s degree in a relevant field)
• Please upload an empty document in the field “Projektbeskrivelse”

Applications must be submitted electronically using the link "Apply online".

Attached files must be in Adobe PDF or Word format. Each box can only contain a single file of max. 10 Mb.

Incomplete applications and applications received after the deadline will neither be considered nor evaluated. This also applies to reference letters.

Closing date 6 January 2023

Successful candidates will be asked to send an application to the PhD Secretariat, Faculty of Health Sciences, to be enrolled as PhD students.

The PhD programme will be carried out in accordance with Faculty regulations and the Danish Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme at the Universities (PhD order)

The terms of employment as a salaried PhD Research Fellow are stated in the Agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC).

The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.