PhD in the Political Economy of Housing, Financial Policy and Climate Adaptation

Do you want to pursue a PhD in an interdisciplinary environment, combining insights from political science, urban geography and related disciplines? Are you interested in the societal impacts of climate change? This PhD-project studies the politics of climate adaptation in the housing sector.

PhD candidate
We are looking for a PhD-candidate to be part of our project Just adapt: The political economy of housing climate adaption, led by dr. Jens van ’t Klooster and dr. Cody Hochstenbach. This is an interdisciplinary project embedded in the Department of Political Science and the Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies.

The physical impact of climate change cuts across almost every social and institutional domain. One key domain is the field of housing. The housing sector is exposed to large financial risks due to soil subsidence, extreme weather, floods, heat stress, etc. Climate damages to the housing sector are projected to cost billions of euros in the Netherlands alone, while adaptation measures are also costly.

This PhD-project will study the Dutch housing system and its distributive conflicts in the context of the ongoing climate crisis. Different ways of financing climate adaptation have different distributional implications. Already today, climate damage and adaptation are topics of concern for key stakeholders such as different groups of real estate owners, financial institutions, the insurance sector and the state. Consequently, key actors are positioning themselves and forming coalitions to avoid paying the costs of climate adaptation. We propose studying this political process by studying how these actors organise and mobilise (a political science perspective), the nature of financial interests and exposures (a macrofinancial perspective) as well as the role of pre-existing class relationships in the Dutch housing system (a social class perspective). In your PhD-project, you will develop these approaches to understand the political economy of climate adaptation in the Netherlands and Germany.

What are you going to do

• you perform empirical qualitative research (such as in-depth interviews and policy analysis) on climate adaptation and housing in the Netherlands (main part of the project), and Germany (smaller part).
• you will complete a PhD dissertation based on four scientific articles, to be submitted to leading academic journals. Some of these articles will be in collaboration with other team members (including the PIs);
• you will actively contribute to the (national and international) activities of the Just Adapt project, such as scientific conferences and networks as well as expert meetings with policy makers and stakeholders;
• you will assist with administrative responsibilities related to the project, such as the organization of workshops or other project events;
• you will contribute to the Political Economy and Transnational Governance (PETGOV) programme group in Political Science, and the Political Science teaching programme. You will also actively engage with the Urban Geography programme group.

What do you have to offer
The Just Adapt project spans a wide range of disciplines, and therefore we are open to candidates from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and an interest in political science and human geography. We are looking for a candidate with training in qualitative research methods such as ethnographic fieldwork and policy analysis. Candidates need to be interested in academic debates on housing, financial policy and climate adaptation. We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate with a strong academic training who develops their own vision on how to contribute to the project. Practically, the candidate needs to be (near) fluent in Dutch, while good proficiency in German is also appreciated.

You also have:

• a completed MA or Research MA in political science, human geography, sociology, public administration, anthropology or one of the related social sciences;
• interest in topics related to housing, climate and finance;
• training in qualitative research methods (e.g. in-depth interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, policy analysis), and a willingness to develop additional methodological expertise;
• good research skills, as demonstrated by your MA thesis or other publications/assignments;
• excellent command of English and (for the field work) good Dutch. Good proficiency in German is also appreciated.
• the ability to work independently as well as part of a team.

What else do we offer you
The position concerns temporary employment of 38 hours per week for a maximum term of four years. The initial employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of three years, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate. We will put together a curriculum which will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events. You will also be tasked with teaching Bachelor's students.

For this position the University Job Classification profile promovendus applies.

You will work here
You will primarily work in the small Just Adapt research team led by dr. Jens van ’t Klooster and dr. Cody Hochstenbach, with prof. dr. Luc Fransen acting as promotor. The Just Adapt team is interdisciplinary, combining expertise in political science (Jens) and urban geography (Cody). You will be primarily embedded in the Political Economy and Transnational Governance (PETGOV) programme group in the Political Science Department. PETGOV brings together political scientists specialising in political economy, public policy, and international relations. It examines the drivers, dynamics, and consequences of global market integration and its profound impacts on governance within and beyond nation-states. You will also be affiliated to the Urban Geographies (UG) programme group in the Geography, Planning and International Development department, which studies how resources, risks and political voice are distributed unevenly across urban spaces and populations, analyzing geographies of inequality.

To apply to this position, please submit a curriculum vitae (max 3 pages), a letter of motivation (max 2 pages, which also includes a short discussion of how you would approach the topic), and a writing sample such as part of a master thesis or a publication (in case of a publication with multiple authors, please indicate which parts you wrote). The motivation letter and writing sample should be bundled in, and submitted as a single pdf.

The deadline for applying is January 20, 2026.

If you recognize yourself in this profile and are interested in the role, we look forward to receiving your motivation letter and CV. You can apply via the red button until January 20, 2026. Interviews will take place in the first week of February. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be given preference over external candidates.

For questions about the vacancy, you can contact:

Cody Hochstenbach (c.hochstenbach@uva.nl) or Jens van ’t Klooster (j.m.vantklooster@uva.nl)