Are you an aspiring researcher with an interest in EU policy making and implementation as well as subnational governance and politics? And would you like to examine how subnational governments deal with the EU environment and nature policy implementation? Then join our green, modern campus and open, personal work environment as a PhD candidate, where we stimulate you to learn new things and develop your skills.

The uniform implementation of European Union (EU) environment and nature policies leads to increasing problems regarding effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy at the subnational level. In this project you will investigate how subnational governments in selected EU member states deal with problems related to the implementation of EU environment and nature policy.

EU environment and nature policies increasingly clash with physical conditions and policy preferences at the subnational (local and/or regional) level. Responses range from impressive efforts to deal with uniform requirements from 'Brussels' to pleas for more room for subnationally differentiated implementation.

In this project, you will study and analyse strategies of subnational authorities (municipalities, provinces, regions, etc.) to cope with EU requirements in the field of environment and nature. The project will follow a comparative approach, comparing different subfields (e.g. water, air, climate, nature, etc.) and/or different subnational authorities in one or more EU member states. Within this frame, you will be free to develop your own research focus and research design. Please include in your application a brief outline of your research idea.

During the project, your task will be to further elaborate the research plan, to set up and perform data collection, to conduct sound analyses, to write academic articles, and to complete your PhD thesis before the assigned deadline. In doing so, you will apply a variety of research methods, for example document analysis and expert interviews. Quantitative methods of data gathering such as surveys are an option as well. You are invited to disseminate your work to subnational authorities and other interested stakeholders. You will participate in conferences, organise academic and/or non-academic workshops/seminars, and contribute to teaching at the Nijmegen School of Management.