INFUZE: Governance of the transition to mobility on-demand

One full scholarship is available at the Institute for Transport Studies in 2025/26. This scholarship is open to UK (Home fee rated) applicants and covers tuition fees plus maintenance stipend at the UKRI rate (£19,237 in 2024/25) for three and a half years, subject to satisfactory progress.<br /> <br /> This fully funded PhD place provides an exciting opportunity to pursue postgraduate research in a range of fields relating to environmental science and climate change.<br /> <br /> The Institute for Transport Studies invites applications from prospective postgraduate researchers who wish to commence study for a PhD in the academic year 2025/26 for the Institute for Transport Studies INFUZE Scholarship. <br /> <br /> The award is open to UK (Home fee rated) full-time candidates who have been offered a place on a PhD degree at the Institute for Transport Studies.

<p>This project will map out the different ways in which users experience accessing different forms of mobility and how this relates to how they are governed. It will begin by tracing the various ways in which car ownership is structured and treated through the regulatory and tax system and then in-use in different types of settings. It will seek to understand individual and institutional rights and responsibilities. The work will start with car ownership as 78% of households own a car and the literature is well established that the car has become so ubiquitous in society that it has massively influenced how society is structured (Urry, 2004) and now thinks (Walker et al., 2023) about what is ‘normal’. It is also, therefore, the bedrock of the system which society would need to transition away from if post car ownership futures and notions of ‘mobility on-demand’ are to really embed at scale. </p> <p>The work will then look at the specific characteristics of a range of different services or models of provision which could form part of alternative mobility futures. The futures will be drawn from the INFUZE project which this studentship is attached to and which is taking a citizen-led co-design process to building alternative systems. The differences in governance of each element of the service packages will be considered and compared with the individual car ownership model (Docherty et al., 2018). The challenge for the PhD will be to identify how different options are privileged or penalised and identify a set of principles which could form the basis of a new governance regime which does not privilege individual car ownership. It may be instructive to look at other cognate international examples to place the UK transition in context. </p> <p>The candidate will need to have skills in documentary analysis, interviewing and will need to be able to work as part of a wider team in the INFUZE project to ensure the study connects to it. Experience in public policy analysis, the regulation of new mobility services or comparative analysis would be desirable. The studentship is part funded by the Department for Transport and the successful applicant will spend some time during their study period on secondment to the Department for Transport in Leeds to ensure the study can achieve impact. </p> <p><strong>Connected Reading</strong></p> <p>Docherty et al. (2018). The Governance of Smart Mobility. <em>Transportation Research Part A</em>, 115, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2017.09.012" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2017.09.012</a> </p> <p paraeid="{e92e7146-338e-45f3-917e-56523def7110}{15}" paraid="719305084">Urry, J. (2004). <em>The ‘System’ of Automobility. Theory, Culture & Society</em>, <strong>21</strong>(4-5) <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276404046059" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276404046059</a> </p> <p paraeid="{e92e7146-338e-45f3-917e-56523def7110}{40}" paraid="2014059673">Walker, I., Tapp, A., Davis, A. (2023). Motonormativity: how social norms hide a major public health hazard. <em>International Journal of Environment and Health</em>, 15(1) <a href="https://doi.org/10.1504/IJENVH.2023.135446" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1504/IJENVH.2023.135446</a> </p> <p paraeid="{e92e7146-338e-45f3-917e-56523def7110}{65}" paraid="1597164740">INFUZE project: <a href="https://in-fuze.org.uk/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://in-fuze.org.uk/</a> </p>

<p>Formal applications for research degree study should be made online through the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/research-applying/doc/applying-research-degrees">University's website</a>. You will need to create a login ID with a username and PIN.</p> <ul> <li>For ‘Application type’ please select ‘Reseach Degrees – Research Postgraduate’.</li> <li>The admission year for this project is 2025/26 Academic Year.</li> <li>For ‘Planned Course of Study’ please select ‘PhD Institute for Transport studies Full-time’.</li> <li>For ‘Proposed Start Date of Research’ please select 1 September 2025.</li> <li><strong>In the research information section, you must state clearly that the project you wish to be considered for is ‘INFUZE: Governance of the transition to mobility on-demand’ and name <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/transport/staff/958/professor-greg-marsden">Professor Greg Marsden</a> as your proposed supervisor. If you do not do this, your application may not be considered.</strong></li> </ul> <p>If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence that you meet the University's minimum English language requirements (below).</p> <p><em>As an international research-intensive university, we welcome students from all walks of life and from across the world. We foster an inclusive environment where all can flourish and prosper, and we are proud of our strong commitment to student education. Across all Faculties we are dedicated to diversifying our community and we welcome the unique contributions that individuals can bring, and particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to Black, Asian, people who belong to a minority ethnic community, people who identify as LGBT+ and people with disabilities. Applicants will always be selected based on merit and ability.</em></p>

Applicants should normally have at least an upper second class British Bachelors Honours degree (or equivalent) or a good performance in a Masters level course. Applicants who are uncertain about the requirements for a particular research degree are advised to contact the Postgraduate Research Admissions team prior to making an application.

The minimum English language entry requirement for research postgraduate research study is an IELTS of 6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking) or equivalent. The test must be dated within two years of the start date of the course in order to be valid. Some schools and faculties have a higher requirement.

<p><strong>Information about the Award</strong></p> <p>We are offering 1 full-time PhD scholarship in the Institute for Transport Studies for one <strong>UK (Home fee rated) candidate</strong>, covering UK tuition fees and a maintenance grant matching the UKRI rate (£19,237 in 2024/25) for three and a half years, subject to satisfactory progress.</p> <p><strong>Duration of the Award</strong></p> <p>Full-time (3.5 years). The award will be made for one year in the first instance and renewable for a further period of up to two and a half years, subject to satisfactory academic progress.</p> <p><strong>Other conditions</strong></p> <ul> <li>Applicants must not have already been awarded or be currently studying for a doctoral degree.</li> <li>Awards must be taken up by 1^st October 2025.</li> <li>Applicants must live within a reasonable distance of the University of Leeds whilst in receipt of this scholarship.</li> </ul>

<p>For further information, please contact the INFUZE team: <a href="mailto:infuze@leeds.ac.uk">infuze@leeds.ac.uk</a>. </p>