UNU is an international community of scholars engaged in policy-oriented research, capacity development and dissemination of knowledge in furthering the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The mission of UNU is to contribute, through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are the concern of the United Nations and its Member States.
For the past four decades, UNU has been a go-to think tank for impartial research on human survival, conflict prevention, sustainable development, and welfare. With more than 400 researchers in 12 countries, UNU's work spans the 17 Sustainable Development Goals' full breadth, generating policy-relevant knowledge to effect positive global change. UNU maintains more than 200 collaborations with UN agencies and leading universities and research institutions across the globe.
UNU-FLORES develops strategies to resolve pressing issues in the sustainable use and integrated management of environmental resources such as water, soil, waste, energy, and other geo-resources that are of concern to the United Nations and its Member States – particularly in developing and emerging economies. Based in Dresden, Germany, the Institute engages in research, capacity development, postgraduate teaching, advanced training, and knowledge dissemination to advance the Resource Nexus.
Opportunities for Doctoral Research
Under the EPOS (Development-Oriented Postgraduate Courses) funding programme, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) will support doctoral candidates (scholarships for 42 months, plus entitlement for a two-month German language course) in the NEXtra programme. The successful candidates will have the opportunity to conduct research work to advance the Resource Nexus and support the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Selected students will be jointly supervised by experts from Technische Universitaet Dresden, UNU-FLORES and the Leibniz Institute for Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER) and enrolled in one of the Joint Doctoral Programmes of TU Dresden with UNU-FLORES, and/or the Dresden Leibniz Graduate school of IOER. Additionally, students will collaborate with and support the work of the United Nations. Applicants should design their research so that it contributes to actionable sustainability transformations and SDG achievement. In addition to the academic recruitment criteria, applications will be assessed on responsiveness to regional/sub-regional contexts and evidence-based needs.
The NEXtra Doctoral Research offers the opportunity to study under one of the following topics. You may apply to a maximum of 2 subject-related topics. Separate proposals will need to be submitted in the same application.
Topic 1. Enhancing Water Security with Nature-based Solutions for Resilient and Water Smart Cities
Topic 2. Nexus Digital Solutions for Waste Logistics in Vietnam – Utilize IoT, AI, ML AR and e-commerce to achieve a Circular Economy
Topic 3. Environmental footprint of the electronics industry in the Global South: Applying the Resource Nexus as an analytical and management tool
Topic 4. Novel Biocompatible Systems for Health and Food Monitoring
Topic 5. Sustainable construction in the Global South: how can the Resource Nexus help in advancing technology and policy?
Responsibilities
1. Perform research work related to one of the topics listed above
2. Collaborate within NEXtra and with the UN system
3. Contribute to knowledge dissemination
4. Support capacity development and educational development
5. Perform other duties as assigned by the supervision team.
Values:
Behaviours: