University of Groningen, Netherlands invites online Application for number of Fully Funded PhD Degree at various Departments. We are providing a list of Fully Funded PhD Programs available at University of Groningen, Netherlands.
Eligible candidate may Apply as soon as possible.
(01) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD Healthy and Sustainable Urban Regions: Exploring Evidence-Based Planning Approaches
Are you interested in planning healthier urban regions through research? The Faculty of Spatial Sciences is seeking a PhD researcher with a particular interest in linking spatial planning and design with health and environmental considerations.
Deadline : 31 March 2026
(02) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position Youth Inclusion in Decision-Making for Climate-Responsive Cities
This PhD project investigates how Generative AI can be ethically and effectively integrated into participatory urban design processes with an intersectional approach towards the youth. The project introduces and empirically develops an innovative approach termed “Vibe-Designing,” a co-design methodology in which AI tools function as mediators that support interactive, visually rich dialogue between young marginalized participants, planners, and policymakers.
Deadline : 30 April 2026
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(03) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD in Trustworthy and Controllable Large Language Models (1.0 FTE)
The PhD will focus on one of the following directions, or ideally, on their intersection:
- Understanding internal model representations: exploring how LLMs structure knowledge, how task- or language-specific behaviour emerges, and—where relevant—what internal signals reveal about a model’s likelihood to reason correctly.
- Detecting and diagnosing failure modes: developing techniques to identify hallucinations, instability, bias, or unreliable reasoning early, before the model produces problematic outputs.
- Steering and controlling model behaviour: designing intervention methods (e.g., activation-level steering, representation editing, lightweight safety techniques) that make models more aligned and reliable while preserving their capabilities.
The aim is to produce high-impact research suitable for top-tier NLP and ML venues (e.g., ACL, EMNLP, NAACL, TACL, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR) and to contribute fundamental insights into building safer, more trustworthy LLMs.
Deadline : 15 April 2026
(04) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Interdisciplinary PhD position Young Academy Groningen 2026: Putting the Gay in Gaming: How Queer Youth Navigate identity Development Online
In developing an understanding of who they are, young people draw on cultural expectations and narratives for who they could (or should be) while engaging with others in their social environments. Increasingly, this process is taking place in online spaces – in which youth engage with (and create) digital content, interact, and play games. Especially for queer youth, whose gender and sexual identities often transgress the norms of their offline contexts, online gaming provides important safe spaces for finding an accepting community and exploring their identities; for example, by taking on different types of (gendered) characters and bodies. However, because gamer culture is itself often tied to heteronormative ideals of masculinity (i.e. the idea that games are ‘for’ straight men), queer players might experience friction and even harm, often leading to the formation of subcommunities of “gaymers,” (or LGBTQIA+ gamers) in which they feel more included and safe. Yet even within these communities, traditional cultural narratives about gender and sexuality may be inadvertently reproduced, excluding transgender and gender-fluid youth. The overarching aim of this project is to build on earlier work (e.g., Turkle, 1995; Shaw, 2012) through an interdisciplinary investigation of how young queer people make meaning of and negotiate identities and cultural expectations within the context of online gaming (through chatting, playing and watching).
Deadline : 22 April 2026
(05) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: Interdisciplinary PhD position Young Academy Groningen 2026: Interdisciplinary researcher-identity formation in Dutch academia
Are you interested in how researchers engage with interdisciplinary research? Are you curious about how researchers develop a sense of identity as a researcher working across disciplines? Do you care about how mentoring and training programs can improve the wellbeing and daily work of interdisciplinary researchers? If so, we encourage you to consider applying for this PhD project.
Deadline : 22 April 2026
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(06) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position Social cohesion and climate polarization: how to communicate effectively about climate change
The aim of the project is to develop strategies and practically applicable recommendations for messaging effectively about climate change, whilst taking into account that the epistemic environment is heavily infused with disinformation. Effective messaging is essential for building the social cohesion needed to combat global warming and for avoiding the disruptive effects of unmitigated warming and polarization around climate change issues on social cohesion. To be effective, messaging needs to combat the factual misconceptions which are promulgated, but it should also have a depolarizing effect and help bridge divides between societal groups, making people less vulnerable to the divisive and polarizing strategies of disinformation campaigns and reducing prejudice between groups who disagree on climate-related issues.
Deadline : 1 April 2026
(07) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD – CARE to talk: Language input in person-centered residential dementia care for migrants
Have you ever considered the challenges of aging with dementia in a society whose dominant language you do not speak well? While language barriers are often cited as obstacles to equitable dementia care for older migrants, their nature and impact remain underexplored. Research on how home language input may support the mental and cognitive health of people with dementia (PWD) in migrant communities is particularly scarce.
The CAREful about language project aims to improve dementia care for migrants and their caregivers by generating scientific insights into their language needs as a foundation for person-centred care. As a PhD candidate (1.0 fte), you work closely with supervisors, a fellow PhD student, a project assistant, and societal partners to advance this mission.
You are one of two PhD students driving change in migrant dementia care, contributing primarily to the CARE to Talk work package. You examine how person-centered language care plans and home language input affect the psychosocial and cognitive health of migrant PWD in residential care. In co-creation with migrant PWD and their informal caregivers, you develop the first ever template for person-centered care plans that incorporate language backgrounds and preferences.
Deadline : 2 April 2026
(08) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD – CARE-scapes: The role of language in person-centered acute dementia care for migrants
Have you ever considered the challenges of aging with dementia in a society whose dominant language you do not speak well? While language barriers are often cited as obstacles to equitable dementia care for older migrants, their nature and impact remain underexplored. Research on how home language input may support the mental and cognitive health of people with dementia (PWD) in migrant communities is particularly scarce.
Deadline : 1 April 2026
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(09) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position on the CO2 and CO Conversion on value-added chemicals and fuels in Protonic Ceramic Electrochemical Cells
In the Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen (ENTEG), we are looking for a talented and motivated PhD student for the development and evaluation of electrocatalysts’ performance and degradation for CO2 and CO conversion in Protonic Ceramic Electrochemical Cells (PCECs). PCECs have the capability of operating at the industrially attractive intermediate temperature range of operation (350-600 °C), enabling the direct production of CH4, higher hydrocarbons (C2, and C3), and alcohols, besides syngas. These emerging technologies hold significant potential for advancing power-to-X (P2X) applications and enabling chemical process electrification and intensification. One of the main challenges is, however, to substantially increase the efficiency and stability of the existing processes through the development of electrocatalytically active and durable materials for electrodes, as well as to deeply understand the pathways of the involved reactions. The PhD project will be part of the HyCarb consortium (https://groenvermogennl.org/en/project/hycarb-hydrogen-and-green-electrons-for-carbon-based-chemistry/) of the National Growthfund GroenvermogenNL. This unique consortium connects 16 knowledge organisations, including 9 universities, and 30 companies—23 clean-tech firms and 7 industrial end-users, covering the entire value chain.
Deadline : 1 April 2026
(10) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD Inclusive, sustainable, and efficient accessibility: systematically evaluating and learning from “smart” initiatives
The project evaluates specific cases where interventions and pilots that aim to improve accessibility are undertaken. A central feature of the project is that it brings together two complementary types of accessibility challenges. On the one hand, you will study place-based cases: locations that are difficult to reach without a car, for example for work or recreation. These include the Eemshaven (industrial estates and the ferry to Borkum) and the port of Lauwersoog (Wadden recreation and the ferry to Schiermonnikoog), where low public transport frequencies and car-dominant access create clear barriers. On the other hand, you will work on socially oriented cases, where the main the focus is on capabilities or resources of specific target groups. Examples include free public transport for people with lower incomes and neighbourhood-based transport for people with limited physical mobility.
The project explicitly aims to systematically capture and comparing knowledge from different pilots, identifying success factors, and developing lessons for the design and scaling-up of future initiatives. In this way, the PhD contributes to more efficient, sustainable and inclusive mobility policy through close collaboration between science and practice and through learning-based evaluation research.
Deadline : 12 April 2026
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(11) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position Overcoming the Fragility of the Social Contract
This PhD project examines the fragility of the social contract in the context of identity politics that undermines the stability and cohesion of many societies. It does so by combining theory and insights from the disciplines of philosophy and psychology. The aim of the project is to determine whether and how the social contract, and the institutions it supports, should be strengthened and what role social cohesion can and should play in the process. The project is based on a philosophical, normative assessment that is supported by empirical findings from psychology.
Deadline : 1 April 2026
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(12) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position – Laughing Across Differences: The Role of Humor in Pluralistic Social Cohesion.
This interdisciplinary PhD project investigates whether humour can bridge divides between opposing social or ideological groups. It does so by combining social psychology with philosophy. The research theorizes humour as an interaction ritual that can foster pluralistic cohesion, valuing both solidarity and differences. The methods consist of a literature review, standardized experiments and philosophical analysis to develop and test a conceptual framework. The ideal candidate is a (near) master’s or research master’s graduate in social psychology or a related field, with strong quantitative skills and an affinity for philosophy. The project will produce both theoretical insights and practical guidelines for using humour in diverse societal settings.
Deadline : 1 April 2026
(13) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position – Mapping Older Migrants’ Family Networks
The aim of this project is to examine the size, structure and diversity of kinship networks among older migrants in the Netherlands. Using Statistics Netherlands (CBS) microdata, the project will assess how network characteristics and family configurations are associated with older migrants’ health, well-being and loneliness. The project will identify differences across migrant groups and between migrants and non-migrants, and analyse how kinship networks change over time and across institutional contexts. Where the expertise and interests of the candidate allow, the project will be complemented by a qualitative component aimed at understanding how older migrants themselves interpret, navigate and experience their family networks and social ties.
Deadline : 1 April 2026
(14) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position – The Impact of Migrant-Group-Specific Policies on Social Cohesion
Governments sometimes adopt national policies to support specific groups, such as migrants. These include providing tax benefits to high-skilled labourers, giving refugees priority in housing or ensuring basic needs of irregular migrants. Tailoring support to such groups can be important for these groups to thrive. Moreover, local accommodation and adaptation of these policies to these groups may be more effective than a single one-size-fits-all approach. At the same time, group-specific policies might also result in negative responses from other groups, who might perceive such measures as preferential treatment at their expense, thereby threatening social cohesion at large. In this project, we aim to disentangle which local circumstances and practices facilitate the integration of various migrant groups targeted in national or sub-national policies while simultaneously upholding social cohesion in and between all societal groups. We plan to use detailed longitudinal observational data at the municipality level to identify areas subject to more or less intervention to support migrants and compare outcomes between municipalities.
Deadline : 1 April 2026
(15) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position – Educational Segregation and Polarization: How Network Diversity and Avoidance Affect Debates on the Public Good
Educational differences have become one of the most consequential social divides in contemporary societies. Education shapes socio-economic status, political attitudes and group identities, and increasingly functions as a boundary around which cultural and political conflict is organized. This project aims to uncover how education-based segregation in personal networks emerges and how it contributes to political polarization, conflicts around issues such as climate change and migration and engagement in societal debates on the public good. Going beyond traditional explanations of segregation based on opportunity structures or similarity attraction, the project introduces avoidance as a theoretically and empirically underexplored mechanism. By combining register data, European comparative survey data and controlled experiments, the project will identify whether educational segregation results from contextual constraints or from deliberate preferences for (or against) contact with certain groups, and whether such segregation is related to socio-economic identities and political polarization. Ultimately, the project will generate new theoretical and empirical insights into how education-based identities and network homogeneity shape societal cohesion and conflict under conditions of inequality.
Deadline : 1 April 2026
(16) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position in Chemical Physics for MSCA-DN “MS-RADAM”
The DC6 research project, entitled “Molecular mechanisms underlying ion-induced radiation damage”, will focus on studying radiation-induced dynamics in DNA oligonucleotides using gas-phase experiments. The experimental program will involve mass-selected and, for the first time, conformationally pure target molecules, investigated using purpose-built experimental setups. Experiments will be performed at synchrotron radiation sources and heavy-ion accelerator facilities across Europe. The dependence of direct DNA damage and structural changes on DNA sequence, conformation and chemical environment will be explored and compared with those in the condensed phase. The experimental results will be compared with theoretical and computational modelling results through close collaboration with other partners within the MS-RADAM network.
Deadline : 15 April 2026
(17) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD in Design and Simulation of Distributed Autonomous Control of a Robot Swarm for Inspection Applications
You will develop multi-level simulation models that capture robot mobility, sensing, communication, and collec tive decision-making under uncertainty. These models will enable principled analysis of swarm behaviour and will support the design of decentralized algorithms for coordination, task allocation, and adaptive coverage at large scales. In parallel, you will investigate data-driven methods to support offline analysis and inform high-level decision making within the swarm. The simulation tools and algorithms you develop will be validated both in software and through experiments using our physical robot platforms. The position offers the opportunity to work on fundamen tal questions at the intersection of robotics, distributed AI, and complex systems. You will contribute to a broader long-term research agenda on scalable autonomous robot collectives for inspection and monitoring applications.
Deadline : 31 March 2026
(18) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD in Design and Experimental Evaluation of a Robot Swarm for Inspection Applications
Over the past two decades, the field of swarm and multi-robot systems has made significant progress in devel oping ground, aerial, and aquatic robot collectives that exhibit diverse collective behaviours. A key open challenge, however, is the deployment of large groups of resource-constrained robots that can sense, process data, and make decisions locally while operating in complex environments. This PhD project focuses on the design, implementation, and experimental evaluation of a new generation of miniaturized mobile robots, equipped with sensing, onboard computation, and wireless communication, that can operate in coordinated groups for sensing and inspection tasks.
Deadline : 31 March 2026
About The University of Groningen, Netherlands –Official Website
The University of Groningen is a public research university in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1614 and is the second-oldest university in the Netherlands. In 2014, the university celebrated its 400th anniversary. Currently, RUG is placed in the top 100 universities worldwide according to three international ranking tables.
The university was ranked 65th in the world, according to Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) in 2019. In April 2013, according to the results of the International Student Barometer, the University of Groningen, for the third time in a row, was voted the best university of the Netherlands.
The University of Groningen has eleven faculties, nine graduate schools, 27 research centres and institutes, and more than 175-degree programmes. The university’s alumni and faculty include Johann Bernoulli, Aletta Jacobs, four Nobel Prize winners, nine Spinoza Prize winners, one Stevin Prize winner, royalty, multiple mayors, the first president of the European Central Bank, and a secretary general of NATO.
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