dests

The interdisciplinary PhD program “Topology of Technology” at the
Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany, announces a fully funded
PhD scholarship, starting *April 1, 2010*, and running for 2 years (with
the probable option of a third year).

The program is associated with the Department of History and Social
Sciences. It is organized by teachers from the disciplines of history,
sociology, philosophy, literature and language, mechanical engineering,
informatics, civil/construction engineering, and planning. It focuses on
the relationship between technology and space – at present, in history,
and in a possible future (www.ifs.tu-darmstadt.de/gradkoll-tdt). It has
five thematic foci:
-      Information Technology and the Topology of the Network Society
-      Technological Spaces of the Body and the Perception of Space
-      The Circulation of Materials — Mobility — Tourism
-      Topologies of Technology and Forms of Representation
-      Fields of Power and the Role of Technology

Within this program we’re currently inviting applications for a fully
funded PhD scholarship in the field of spatial and infrastructure
planning. More particularly, we’re looking for researchers analyzing
*how suburbs and technical infrastructures co-evolve* in different
cities. How does the transition of technical infrastructure systems
(e.g. commercialization, technological innovations, changes in
governance) shape suburban development? How is the development of
infrastructure shaped by suburban change (expansion/shrinkage,
demo­graphic shifts, gentrification)? What vulnerabilities, risks,
failures and cost structures are typical of suburban infrastructures and
what are the potentials, comparative advantages and place-specific
inventions of suburban infrastructures? What is the nature of the
governance and planning of suburban infrastructures? Within the PhD
project a close collaboration with an international research network
focusing on the co-evolution between infrastructures und suburbanization
in North American, European and Asian regions is possible.
 
All applicants need to have a university-level master’s degree in
planning, social sciences, environmental or urban studies, science and
technology studies, architecture, geography, or a related field of
study. Since course work and seminars are carried out in both German and
English, it is expected that applicants are willing to learn to read and
to understand German. Fellows are expected to work together in our
beautifully situated castle downtown Darmstadt and thus need to take up
their residence in the city or in the surrounding metropolitan region of
Frankfurt. The program is primarily financed by the German Research
Council (DFG); see www.dfg.de. PhD scholarships range between 1,000 and
1,365 Euros.
 
Applications are only accepted in electronic form. They should include
(1) a CV, (2) copies of academic diplomas, (3) a short description (max.
5 pages) of the planned doctoral dissertation, and (4) the names and
addresses of two university professors as referees.

Please send your application no later than *February* *15, 2010 *to
raumplanung[at]iwar.tu-darmstadt.de.
 
Please make sure that it includes a personally formulated explanation
why you are particularly interested in the program and to which thematic
focus your research will, in the first instance, contribute. If you have
any questions, you are very welcome to contact Jochen Monstadt:
j.monstadt[at ]iwar.tu-darmstadt.de.