PhD – Marie Curie PhD scholarship in Left-behind places and entrepreneurial mobilization at Department of Business and Sustainability – Denmark

The Department of Business and Sustainability at the University of Southern Denmark in Kolding invites applications for a PhD scholarship as of April 1st 2026, or as agreed. For more information about the department, please visit the website.

Be part of a large-scale international project 

We are looking for a talented and motivated PhD student for the EPHEMERAL research project. EPHEMERAL – Entrepreneurship and Place: How Entrepreneurs Manage Evolving Relationships Across the Life-cycle is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (MSCA-DN) funded under Horizon Europe. The project aims to train a new generation of researchers to advance rural development theory and practice through entrepreneurship.

EPHEMERAL explores how entrepreneurs shape rural places over time, considering life-cycle dynamics, evolving local contexts, and structural societal changes. The network includes five European universities and several non-academic partners, offering interdisciplinary supervision and training with a focus on rural entrepreneurship and development.

The PhD position will focus on the topic of “Left-behind places and entrepreneurial mobilization”. The objective of the PhD project is to contribute to the question of how structural changes at the societal level change the emergence of opportunities and resources in rural places through the specific empirical phenomenon of left behind places as a new political narrative and category. The project thus seeks to identify new forms of entrepreneurial agency leveraging local and extra-local resources around notions of left behindness, geographical discontent and spatial justice.

Your contribution to the project 

This position offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of entrepreneurship, sociology, and rural development in an international and interdisciplinary research project. As our new PhD student, you will play a central role in:

• Collecting qualitative data from new and emergent political movements in rural areas.
• Analyzing the data and developing excellent and impactful research published in leading international journals.
• Preparing comprehensive analysis reports and contributing to high-impact research publications.
• Participating in dissemination activities to share findings with academic, industry, and public audiences.

Who are we looking for

We are looking for applicants possessing personal qualities such as curiosity and a strong desire to understand and solve societal challenges. You should be able to work independently and, in consultation with your PhD supervisor, prioritize the different aspects of your work. Finally, you are expected to have good interpersonal skills, be interested in engaging with the national and international research community (your supervisor and the department will support you in this), be present and take part in the daily academic and social environments in Kolding.

Applications are invited from applicants with a relevant master’s degree within social sciences (e.g. business, political science, sociology or related disciplines). Moreover, we expect applicants to:

• Have good English skills, both in speaking and writing.
• Have good communication skills.
• Have enthusiasm and talent for academic work.
• Have interest in interdisciplinary and stakeholder-engaged research.
• Have experiences with collecting and analysing qualitative data.
• Be engaged, proactive, cooperative, be able to work independently, show awareness and confidence in own skills and capabilities.

Requirements and programme structure 

As a PhD Student you will follow an individual PhD plan including course work, conference participation, and knowledge dissemination and/or teaching. PhD Students typically spend three-six months in another research institution abroad and for you this will be fulfilled through the secondment activities. The scholarship carries a monthly salary including pension plus office facilities and financial support for conference travels and research visits abroad. Conditions of employment will be in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and AC (the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations).

If selected for the position you will be enrolled in the PhD programme at the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences in Economics. Your employment as a Salaried PhD Student is governed by the agreement of November 10, 2015, on Graduate Employees in government appendix 5 – protocol on PhD Research Fellows. The scholarship runs for three years.

When preparing your project proposal, you are strongly advised to consult the general guidelines for preparing a project proposal at the PhD School’s webpage.

Organization/Company – University of Southern Denmark.

Research field – Sociology.

Research profile – First Stage Researcher (R1).

Country – Denmark.

Application Deadline – 6 Jan 2026 – 23:59 (Europe/Copenhagen).

More information: Euraxess