Thematic areas

Students are welcome to choose either from the open positions or formulate their own research proposal within the topics described below. In both cases contacting the supervisor in advance is highly recommended. 

Cultural and Historical Geography

Dissertation topics are focused on the issues of cultural and historical geography with interdisciplinary overlap into regional geography, history, sociology, religious studies, archaeology etc.

Development Studies

Dissertation topics are related to broadly-defined development studies and development geography. Interdisciplinary interests in various intersections and interactions between development, society, and environment are welcome.

Economic Geography and Regional Development

Dissertation topics related to broadly-defined economic geography and regional economic development based on various conceptual, theoretical, and methodological approaches as well as a focus on various geographic scales, from global developments to their regional and local manifestations.

Geographical and Environmental Education

Students are invited to conduct their own empirical research in the field of geographical and environmental education at all levels of education (primary, secondary, tertiary), investigating all of its aspects (learners, educators, curriculum and resources, school environment, pedagogy, policy makers, etc.).

Health Geography

The topics of PhD theses should be related to the field of health geography. Geography of health is a discipline applying geographical information, perspective, and methods to the study of health, disease, and healthcare. Students are invited to contact the prospective supervisor and discuss their potential dissertation topics.

Migration Studies

Dissertation topics can focus on various aspects of both international migration movements and migrants´ integration processes. Various innovative, theoretical/conceptual, and methodological approaches are appreciated. More specifically, research activities could tackle the underlying factors of international migration, and its mechanics and impacts, at various regional-geographic levels. 

Political Geography

PhD dissertation themes concerned with political geography are understood in terms of interdisciplinary perspectives. A key theme is to consider political geographical questions in relation to contextual effects, which arise from differentiations in local and regional contexts and also from differentiations across the contexts of nation states.

Tourism and Leisure Geography

Students are invited to conduct their own research in the field of tourism and leisure geography. A combination of analytical work based on quantitative methods as well as qualitative and field surveys are welcome. It is possible to connect PhD scholarship at the Geography of Leisure Research Center to partial employment within the projects of pure and applied research. 

Urban Studies

Students are invited to conduct their own empirical research in the field of urban geography. A combination of analytical work based on statistical methods, cartographic visualisation, and a case study approach is welcome. The main emphasis is put on team work and the production of scientific publications. Feel free to contact the prospective supervisor and discuss possible directions.

Urban and Regional Research

Doctoral dissertations contribute to the academic and societal knowledge and discussion about the developments and transformations in metropolitan areas and their dynamically changing neighborhoods through researching social and socio-spatial processes that are key drivers of urban spatial reorganization, such as revitalization, gentrification or suburbanization.