PhD position in the geography of tourism impacts in remote areas

Project

Many places around the globe have turned towards tourism to sustain local livelihoods and conserve cultural and natural resources. Despite this widespread practice, there are still hardly any system-based assessments of tourism, which link up the sector’s impacts across all sustainability domains to their underlying processes of change. The project “Tourism and rural liveability in remote locations: Studying tourism impacts from a socio-spatial systems perspective” fills this gap. The project explores whether and how tourism can develop in a symbiotic relation with the socio-economic, cultural and landscape contexts of rural areas that struggle in a context of globalization. Using a comparative case study approach, studying rural areas in Georgia and Argentina, this project helps explaining how, in a highly interconnected world, tourism impacts materialize and are negotiated by various actors.

This PhD position is one of two positions associated with the mentioned project. This position deals with the relations between landscape, socio-spatial identity, and tourism impacts in said case study areas. You will conduct scientific research that is in line with the thematic focus of the research project, dealing with the following topics:

• Landscape-related land use patterns and tourism-induced change, using remote sensing data, archival research, and on-site observations;
• The interplay between sense of place, landscape, and tourism development, using public-participation GIS and semi-structured interviews;
• Tourists’ spatial behaviour and expenditure patterns, using questionnaire surveys.

Profile

We seek a motivated and skilled candidate with a master’s degree in geography, anthropology, social or political sciences, tourism studies, or a related discipline. The ideal candidate:

• has a strong profile in socio-spatial theory and analysis
• has an interest in and experience with tourism geographies/anthropology
• had good academic performances on BSc and MSc levels
• is experienced with in-depth mixed methods research and is able to apply this to research questions dealing with tourism impacts
• can communicate complex issues effectively in both written and oral form
• can think and collaborate across academic disciplines

Most of the work packages included in this PhD position predominantly deal with quantitative/spatial data, meaning that affinity with such data types is needed. Experience with working with GIS and remote sensing data is a requirement. Nevertheless, the successful candidate will have at the minimum basic affinity and experience with qualitative data and social theory. The project is fieldwork-intensive, meaning that experience with primary data gathering (qualitative/quantitative) and analysis is a requirement. Spanish and/or Georgian language skills are a plus.

Offer

We offer a full-time doctoral position, initially for one year, which can be prolonged after a positive evaluation by the doctoral committee for up to four years in total.  In addition to your research, you will assist in teaching the department’s courses (±10% of your time).

The start date for this position is around 1 October / 1 November 2024 but will depend on the candidate’s availability and HR workflows. Minor changes to this start date can be discussed.

This is a PhD position in geography. You will also engage with anthropological thought and research. You will work within the Division of Geography and Tourism in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences with Prof. Arie Stoffelen and Prof. Anton Van Rompaey, and within the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology with Prof. Noel Salazar. You will be given support to participate in international academic conferences and publish your work in scientific journals. You will be provided with career guidance and encouraged to develop research-oriented skills through courses via the Doctoral School.

Interested?

For more information, please contact Prof. Dr. Arie Stoffelen (arie.stoffelen@kuleuven.be), Prof. Dr. Anton Van Rompaey (anton.vanrompaey@kuleuven) or Prof. Dr. Noel Salazar (noel.salazar@kuleuven.be).

You can apply for this position until 29 August 2024 via the KU Leuven online tool. Please submit a CV (max. 2 pages), the name and contact details of two references, and a cover letter (max. 2 pages) that includes a short discussion of why you are interested in this position, your experience with the mentioned research (both thematically/conceptually and methodologically) and an explanation why you are a good fit with the project.

The selection for this position will happen in two phases. First, a shortlist of candidates will be created based on the supplied documents. Second, a ranking will be made based on interviews with shortlisted candidates. The interviews, which will be scheduled in early September, will cover the motivation, background knowledge, skills and research vision of the candidates.

KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.