Ph.D. position in Environmental Studies

The University of Iceland offers a three-year PhD position in the field of sustainable lifestyles, in the project "1.5 degree compatible living in the Nordic conditions: attitudes, lifestyles and carbon footprints". While the position is with the University of Iceland, the selected candidate can choose to work in any Nordic country (or in another location agreed with the supervisor).

Short description of the project

The Nordic countries are held as green due to their low-carbon energy systems. However, their global climate impacts are among the highest when the emissions are allocated based on consumption, particularly that of the urban residents. In this project the carbon footprints (CF) of Nordic urban dwellers are calculated using the consumption-based method, which allocates to the users all the global production chain emissions of all the goods and services they consume. The assessment employs the input-output approach, and the CFs are connected to the remaining global carbon budget for halting global warming to 1.5 degrees. It is studied how pro-environmental attitudes are reflected in the CFs; ultimately if 1.5 degree compatible living is possible for affluent urban dwellers in the Nordic countries, and how to stay on the 1.5 degree compatible mitigation pathway towards zero carbon living. The project is already half way through, and data has already been collected. The remaining tasks relate to data analysis and dissemination of results.

Academic environment

"1.5 degree lifestyles" project provides an excellent opportunity to produce a PhD thesis while working with important themes as a member of a highly productive and inspiring team of academics. In addition to the dissertation, the doctoral candidate will get to produce novel scientific evidence of issues with high societal relevance. The position is under the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, but the nature of the project is highly interdisciplinary. The selected candidate will join the ¿Environmental Studies¿ doctoral program at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Iceland. The research team collaborates closely throughout the project.

Dissertation type

The dissertation will take the form of an article compilation. This means that the chosen person publishes 3-4 academic journal articles in collaboration with the research team during the PhD study, the papers forming the main body of the dissertation. A compilation part is written in the end pulling together the findings from the papers and presenting and justifying the main claims.