Open PhD positions

In principle, an application for an open PhD-position can only be awarded when all of the following conditions are met:

1. Adequate own funding on the part of the candidate
   CSTM cannot offer grants for research, nor for travel and living expenses; such funding will have to be demonstrably secured by the candidate themselves, preferably on the basis of a research grant from an external funding organization (as explained in point 2. In addition to covering the travel and living expenses, this external grant should also include a yearly tuition fee as required by the University of Twente and the BMS Faculty. Find more details on the UT tuition fee packages below.
2. Positive indications of a candidate’s research competence in the relevant field
   An application should ideally come with a proposal that has been awarded a research grant by an organization with a recognized academic reputation, upon intrinsic assessment of the related research proposal. Still, alternative proof of a candidate’s abilities is possible, such as examples of academic work written in English, a draft of a research plan that communicates ambitions and skills, or endorsement by academic peers (e.g. MSc. thesis supervisors).
3. Fit between the proposed research topic and pre-specified CSTM research themes
   To be accepted by CSTM, applications for PhD research should demonstrate a strong fit with one or more of the topics on the list of research themes below.
4. Availability of supervisory capacity within CSTM
   Even when there is a sufficient fit with a given research topic, it may be that the relevant supervisors are currently not available, given their involvement in existing research projects or other tasks.
5. An academic master degree in a relevant discipline
   The candidate must have an academic master degree in a relevant discipline, such as Public Administration, Public Policy, Political Science, Policy Studies, European Studies, Business Administration, Economics, Law, Sociology, Anthropology, Development Studies, Systems Science, Sustainability Science, Energy Management, Energy Engineering, Water Management, Water Engineering, Environmental Management, Environmental Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Civil Engineering.
6. A candidate’s continued and substantive availability to do the PhD research
   Sufficient research progress requires that a candidate is available to work on their research project at least three days per week, for a consecutive period of four years. The candidate is generally required to spend at least three months each year at CSTM.
7. Sufficient command of the English language
   Candidates need to provide proof of sufficient command of the English language. An IELTS score of at least 6.5 or a TOEFL score of 90 (TOEFL/IBT) or Cambridge CAE-C (CPE) is taken as a general minimum. Further, the research proposal and application for a position with CSTM must be written in English by the applicant themselves.

The University of Twente applies an annual tuition fee of € 3,000.- for all non-employed doctoral candidates for the duration of their enrolment as a doctoral candidate at the UT, which gives access to:

• The UT library facilities and ICT facilities (such as open access publications, an e-mail account, use of various software licenses and data storage).
• The UT Social Safety Support Structure and PhD/EngD counsellors.
• Supervision by promotor and co-promotor(s).
• Enrolment in the Twente Graduate School (TGS)
• Courses taken for the 30 EC doctoral education programme.
• Use of a flexible workplace and general campus facilities, if necessary.
• The doctoral defence ceremony as described in the UT Doctoral Regulations
• A financial contribution to the printing costs of the thesis

By exception, the University of Twente applies an annual tuition fee of € 0.- for the following categories of non-employed doctoral candidates:

• A) In the framework of the capacity development mission at the faculty ITC: non-employed doctoral candidates (UNL categories 2, 3 and 4) with a nationality from defined countries¹ and whose external sponsor does not provide cover for tuition fees or bench fees.
• B) Non-employed doctoral candidates who receive external funding (UNL category 3), who are (1) employed by a health care or public health organisation, university, university of applied sciences or another (semi-)public organisation with which the UT has a university-wide partnership agreement² and (2) whose employer pays for a substantial part of the costs, like supervision costs, of the doctoral programme.
• C) Non-employed doctoral candidates (UNL categories 2, 3 and 4) who do their doctoral programme under a joint or double degree agreement between the University of Twente and a partner university³.

The Executive Board, at its sole discretion and only upon the request of a faculty dean, reserves the right to designate additional exceptional categories of non-employed doctoral candidates (e.g. in the light of long-standing partnerships) to whom an annual tuition fee of € 0.- shall apply.
¹ITC annually establishes the list of qualifying countries as part of the faculty scholarship eligibility requirements. The current country list reflects the OECD list of ODA recipients.
²A partnership agreement in the sense of a university-wide agreement with a health care or public health organisation, university or university of applied sciences or another governmental organisation. It sets out shared strategic goals and areas of collaboration at the institutional level and provides a basis for developing specific joint activities or projects under its umbrella. (Single project specific contracts or departmental agreements that are not related to such a university-wide agreement do not fall under this definition.)
³An up-to-date overview of the Joint and Double PhD Agreements between the University of Twente and the partner universities can be found on the TGS website.

Bench fee

Faculties may charge an additional annual bench fee to help compensate for research related costs, such as use of (expensive) lab facilities, fieldwork expenses or international conference visits. The bench fee is optional, variable and based on actual costs.

The University of Twente follows the guidance upon creating only responsible external PhD positions, this is related to the cost of living and the "IND income standard":

1. The University of Twente will only accept new scholarship PhD candidates who have a scholarship with a living allowance that meets or exceeds the IND income standard at the time of admission (the IND income standard is indexed twice per year).
2. If a scholarship provider cannot guarantee a scholarship that meets the above mentioned condition, the University of Twente cannot admit the PhD candidate. This means that scholarship PhD candidates cannot supplement or top-up their scholarship themselves (e.g. through personal funds, loans, or family contributions).
3. A third-party organisation, like a university (other than the University of Twente), research institute, ensuring that the total living allowance meets the IND income standard at the time of admission. Clear evidence, such as a scholarship agreement between the PhD candidate and the scholarship provider, must be submitted.
4. This policy applies to: 
   - scholarship PhD candidates who will defend their thesis at the University of Twente
   - guest researchers with a PhD scholarshp who come to the University of Twente for a research visit for a period longer than six months.
5. This policy does not apply for PhD candidates with a short stay period (Schengen visa or visa-exempt period).
6. This policy will come into effect on 1 January 2026 and remain in place until further notice.

Studies can focus upon aspects of policy, governance, regulatory, innovations and transitions in society, as far as the targets and domain are relevant for sustainability and aligned with the CSTM Research vision. The boundaries set to sustainability are roughly based upon the SDGs and the social, environmental and ecological indicators. Supervision will be done by a responsible promoter holding full promoter right and a senior researcher dependent on theme and envisioned research strategy. Potential themes are described in an indicative list:

•  Nexus / rurban rivalries - Governance and management of rivalry claims on space and resources, touching upon the nexus challenge of land use, energy, water, agriculture, production, and including cross-cutting perspectives such as the water-food-energy nexus, justice and equity (across genders, across urban and rural communities).
• Energy transition and climate mitigation studies – Governance and management aspects of policies and projects concerning societies moving towards a sustainable energy provision, such as the design of new legal frameworks or organization forms (e.g. PPPs) and the development and use of smart grids; this can include legal and/or regulatory aspects.
• Green business / materials – Governance and management aspects of policies and projects concerning the greening of industry, especially of supply chains, and enhancing a circular economy (e.g. waste to resources/energy), such as by the use of standardization & certification, legal project management and by enhancing transparency and stakeholder involvement; this can include legal and/or regulatory aspects.
• Water governance and climate adaptation studies – Governance and management of aspects of policies and projects concerning quantitative or qualitative water management and climate adaptation challenges, involving multi-level and multi-actor (PPP) approaches; this can include legal and/or regulatory aspects.
• Regulation & sustainability – Legal and/or regulatory aspects of policies and projects that involve innovative types of rules and regulation, such as certification, real-time regulation, tradable rights schemes, experimental regulation, transnational standard-setting, monitoring and enforcement.
• Governance & sustainability – Governance and management aspects of policies and projects, regarding the institutional character and/or the functioning of competitive markets and/or of civil society/community initiatives and/or of government, as well as cross-cutting modes of governance (and hybrid organizations) as regards the production and allocation of goods and services with a relevance to enhancing sustainability, and finally multi-level governance relations, such as between trans-, international, supranational and national levels of governance.
• Technology & sustainability – Studies into the mutual interaction between technology and society in the context of the quest for sustainability. Technology thereby can be considered as tool as well as intermediary influential factor.
• ICT & sustainability – Legal and/or regulatory and/or distributive aspects and/or ethical aspects of policies and projects concerning the role of ICT in achieving sustainability objectives, such as product and service efficiency, responsible use of big data towards improving policy and business efficiency and effectiveness, transparency etc.
• Justice & sustainability – Legal studies concerning environmental and energy justice in different dimensions and scales, such as Global North vs Global South, gender, human rights, concerns, enforcement of law/rights concerning sustainability.
• Robotics, governance & regulations – Governance of development and use of robotics in modern day and future societies and smart cities, in the field of transport (drones, driverless cars), care & cure, and industry.

Applications for open PhD positions at CSTM should be sent to Mrs. B. van Dalm-Grobben (cstm@utwente.nl), with reference to one or more of the topics/supervisors mentioned above.