THERESA DN Positions for MSCA Doctoral Candidates

Project: 101073195 - THERESA - HORIZON-MSCA-2021-DN-01

CALL FOR 2 MSCA DOCTORAL CANDIDATE POSITIONS FOR LEGAL SCHOLARS IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE PROJECT "TRAINING FOR A HYDROGEN ECONOMY BASED RENEWABLE ENERGY SOCIETY IN THE ANTHROPOCENE" (THERESA)

• ORGANISATION NAME: UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA i VIRGILI
• ORGANISATION COUNTRY: SPAIN
• FUNDING TYPE: H2020 / Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
• DEADLINE DATE: 06 April 2023 (23:59 CET)
• RESEARCH FIELD: LAW
• CAREER STAGE: First Stage Researcher (R1) (Up to the point of PhD)
• PROJECT WEBPAGE: https://theresadn.eu

DESCRIPTION OF THERESA DOCTORAL NETWORK

THERESA is a project that integrates a consortium of universities made up of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Spain (coordinator), the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and the Eastern University of Finland. The three universities stand out for having Research Centres in the field of energy, environmental and sustainability law with a proven track record in these areas. Thanks to the long-standing collaboration between the three universities, THERESA DN proposes the first European doctoral programme for legal specialists in the field of the hydrogen economy. In the context of climate emergency and the socio-ecological transition of the Anthropocene, Green hydrogen is a promising energy carrier to facilitate the transition to an energy system based on renewable energies. Hydrogen can replace natural gas as a feedstock and help fossil-based economic sectors for which electrification is not possible, or excessively burdensome, to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, the development of a hydrogen market is characterized by uncertainties and associated economic, societal and environmental risks. The few existing scholarly legal studies on this subject matter highlight the fragmentation of the regulatory framework applying to hydrogen. THERESA combines the focus on three specific themes of regulatory intervention in the hydrogen economy - 1) reducing sectoral fragmentation to spur socio-environmental sustainability; 2) enabling sustainable circular use of hydrogen; and 3) societal engagement in the hydrogen economy - with three methodological approaches - doctrinal constructivism, empirical legal research and legal comparativism - to advance legal knowledge and form the doctoral experts needed to contribute to the development of a hydrogen economy. THERESA encompasses a fully-fledged training programme offering substantive, theoretical, methodological, and transferable skills to Doctoral Candidates.

DESCRIPTION OF THE POSITIONS:

(Each candidate may apply for a maximum of 2 positions within the THERESA project)

Position 1. Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Individual research project: "Integrated Network Planning for Hydrogen and National Energy and Climate Plans"

Description: Sector integration linking the various energy carriers and planning are key factors in ensuring the expected results of European climate and energy transition policies towards the ultimate goal of climate neutrality. These aspects have been highlighted by the EU Strategy for Energy System Integration [COM(2020)299] as part of the European Green Deal. Electricity and gas are already interlinked mainly by gas to power assets. However, with power to gas assets, such as electrolysers, the interlinkages between electricity and gases, including hydrogen, is expected to become more integrated. However, consideration of energy system integration in current network planning schemes and practices is deficient in European and national law. There are a number of critical issues, including: discrepancies between the EU-wide ten-year network development plan ('TYNDP') and national network development plans ('NDP'); Member States are not required by EU law to develop a national network development plan, if the TSO is certified as ownership unbundled; electricity and gas networks are planned and managed independently from each other; integrated network planning should be linked to national energy and climate plans in order to ensure alignment with the European climate and energy targets for 2030 and 2050. The objectives of the project concern the legal instruments aimed at overcoming the planning fragmentation between the European and national level, the limited cooperation between electricity and gas TSOs, the disconnection between network planning and the scenarios envisaged in the climate and energy plans. Research will benefit the efficient achievement of decarbonisation targets and that investment decisions are made with a coherent, consistent, and shared vision for the future. From a legal-analytical perspective, the objectives are highly relevant insofar as they affect the rules of the energy governance system necessary for the deployment of the hydrogen economy and, in particular, the planning instruments that lack adequate regulatory density in current European law. From a methodological perspective, this project will first rely on doctrinal constructivism to retrieve, analyse and categorise the relevant legal sources. This methodology is aiming to provide innovative constitutional narratives promoting legal innovation and providing coherence in a context of network regulation and competing principles. It connects directly with empirical legal methodology enhancing the possibilities of legal reasoning and quantitative analysis. The functional comparative methodology will be used to compare the findings of the analysis in the Netherlands and Finland. Finally, the results based on legal-dogmatic research and comparative research will be enriched using qualitative empirical methodology. By means of semi-structured interviews, stakeholders from the Netherlands, Spain and Finland involved in the planning of energy and climate action will provide deeper insights about the experienced legal barriers and possible solutions.

Planned secondment(s): The doctoral candidate will be supervised at URV by Prof. Endrius Cocciolo and Prof. Jordi Jaria. Then DC 1 will run for 6 months, during the second PhD year at RUG (Supervisor: Prof. Squintani), to acquire useful empirical methodological skills concerning participation in planning processes; researcher 1 will also carry out a secondment of 4 months during the first doctoral year at the UEF (Supervisor: Prof. Talus), to study different planning models from a comparative approach. Finally, researcher 1 will spend 2 months at GGF in Finland, in the third doctoral year, to participate in policy-making processes, thus applying doctrinal, comparative, and empirical skills in the formulation of energy policies and planning, with special reference to integrated planning for hydrogen.

Position 2. Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Individual research project: "Regulating hydrogen within the legal framework of circular economy"

Description: According to the European Green Deal, hydrogen is a priority area for a clean and circular economy. Indeed, in the context of the latter, which is understood as economy-wide human-earth balance and harmonized carbon cycle, hydrogen can play an important role in decarbonisation from three perspectives: reducing emissions through substitution of carbon-rich fuels such as oil, gas, coal and biomass; recycling emissions by adding hydrogen to CO2 to make fuels and other products; removing emissions by separating and storing carbon from fossil or biomass sources. In short, hydrogen is seen as an essential element for the energy transition and the decarbonisation of industry, including those productive sectors that are difficult to decarbonise. On the other hand, plastics and other problematic wastes are emerging as resources to generate the hydrogen needed to reduce the carbon footprint of social metabolism. The transformation of waste into resources through gasification and catalytic depolymerisation processes must be carried out in the matrix of circular economy legal principles to achieve the goals of a sustainable energy transition. The legal framework defined at the European and national levels will be addressed to determine the possibilities and critical factors for the use of waste and its transformation into hydrogen. The final objective of the research is to analyse the existing international, European and national legal barriers to strengthening the circular economy in terms of decarbonisation through the use of hydrogen and reducing dependence on carbonaceous fuels. From a methodological perspective, this project will first rely on doctrinal constructivism to retrieve, analyse and categorise the relevant legal sources, by focusing on the Spanish legal order. The functional comparative methodology will be used to compare the findings of the analysis in the Netherlands and in Finland. Finally, the results based on legal-dogmatic research and comparative research will be enriched by means of qualitative empirical methodology. By means of semi-structured interviews, stakeholders from the Netherlands, Spain and Finland involved in the hydrogen production and usage as well as stakeholders active in the field of circular economy, will provide deeper insights about the experienced legal barriers and possible solutions.

Planned secondment(s): the doctoral candidate will be supervised at URV by Prof. Endrius Cocciolo and Prof. Aitana de la Varga. Then, DC 2, during the second PhD year, will run for 6 months at RUG due to the special expertise in the field of circular economy of Prof. Squintani, who will serve as supervisor during the secondment. The stay at the RUG will be aimed at acquiring useful empirical analytical skills; DC 2 will also spend 4 months at UEF (Supervisor: Prof. Talus) to improve comparative legal skills. Finally, researcher 2 will spend 2 months at ICAEN, in the third doctoral year, to participate in policy-making processes, thus applying doctrinal, comparative and empirical skills in formulating energy policies related to hydrogen and circular economy.

ORGANISATION:

The Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) was created in 1991 by the Parliament of Catalonia from the already existing university faculties and schools. In this way, the Tarragona University of the 16th century was restored. The core mission of URV is to place knowledge at the service of society to contribute to sustainable social and economic development. The data show that the URV is not only one of the leading universities in Catalonia but also one of the leading universities in the European area for the quality of its teaching, its commitment to continuous training and the excellence of its research, development and innovation. The doctoral candidates will join the consolidated research group "Territory, Citizenship and Sustainability" and will be attached as pre-doctoral researchers to the Centre for Environmental Law Studies of Tarragona (CEDAT). CEDAT has become the reference centre for environmental and sustainability law in Spain and one of the most recognised at international level.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

Candidates must have a university degree in the field of legal sciences giving access to doctoral studies under the regulations and criteria applicable in each university where the vacancy is advertised.

In addition, the following specific criteria inherent to the THERESA project will be evaluated in the selection process of all candidates:

• Ability to analyse and apply the relevant international, European and national regulatory framework of energy law, in connection with other environmental and social regulatory and policy aspects
• Independence and availability to travel and settle in the countries of the universities participating in the project and to carry out international academic activities.
• Ability to understand and communicate in the language(s) relevant to the proposed doctoral research project.
• Eagerness to publish international articles and write a dissertation
• Enthusiasm to work in an interdisciplinary research team
• Demonstrable competencies such as conceptual capacity, presenting, monitoring, planning and organizing
• Good social and communication skills
• Excellent command of English and academic writing skills

CANDIDATES MUST ALSO MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS:

1. Be of any nationality, but not having resided or carried out their main activity in the country of the host institution of the position they are applying to for more than 1 year in the past 3 years.
2. Have not yet been awarded a PhD degree.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

The MSCA Doctoral Candidate position offered is for three years (36 months) at full-time employment. The Doctoral Candidate will be a full-time dedicated research and teaching staff. The main obligation of the Doctoral Candidate will be completing a doctoral thesis at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, under the auspices of the Doctorate in Law Programme. Doctoral candidates will be able to collaborate in teaching tasks up to a maximum of 180 hours during the extension total of the pre-doctoral contract, without in any case exceeding 60 hours per year.

• Living allowance (once applied correction coefficient in Spain): 3.104,20€/month. This is a gross amount, including compulsory deductions under national law, such as employer and employee social security contributions and direct taxes.
• Mobility allowance: 600€/month
• Family allowance (if applicable): 660€/month

If the recruited doctoral candidate has or acquires family obligations during the action duration, i.e. persons linked to him/her by (i) marriage, or (ii) a relationship with equivalent status to a marriage recognised by the legislation of the country or region where this relationship was formalised; or (iii) dependent children who are actually being maintained by the researcher, the family allowance must be paid to him/her as well

HOW TO APPLY:

Applications for the Doctoral Candidate positions in the EU-funded MSCA THERESA Doctoral Network Programme should be submitted during a two-month period after the publication of the positions, no later than 6 April 2023 (23:59 CET) using the online application system, available at: https://theresadn.eu/urv-application

Specific admission requirements for MSCA THERESA DN Doctoral Candidates:

Candidates must present a detailed thesis project proposal developing the topic description of the position/positions for which candidates intend to apply.

The thesis project proposal (one for each position) must include:

1. The study topic determination (at most 2 pages)
2. Objectives and methodology (at most 2 pages)
3. Theoretical framework (at most 3 pages)
4. Work plan (at most 1 page)
5. Relevant bibliography (at most 2 pages)

The applicant will also have to include:

1. A Curriculum Vitae
2. The degree certificate (diploma) of the entrance qualification for the doctoral programme (official master's degree level)
3. The academic transcript of the studies that allow access to the doctoral programme.
4. A writing sample (e.g. master thesis, a paper published, etc.)

A shortlist of candidates will be invited for an interview in the second/third week of April 2023. After the interviews, the outcome of the selection process will be announced. The selected doctoral candidates are expected to start their research activity at the beginning of May 2023. Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

URV PhD in LAW. ACCESS AND REGISTRATION:

Please note that candidates must also meet all the requirements for access to the URV Doctoral Programme in Law. Successful candidates for THERESA DN positions will be asked to apply to the URV Doctoral Programme in Law.

General information about the PhD in Law at the URV can be consulted at: https://www.doctor.urv.cat/en/prospective-students/courses/7705/index/

The specific requirements for access to the URV PHD in Law Programme are the same as those required for MSCA DN THERESA positions at URV.

Please, pay special attention to:

1. the university degree requirements for access to doctoral studies: https://www.doctor.urv.cat/en/prospective-students/admission/titulacio-acces/
2. the requirements for the documents to be provided for the PhD registration: https://www.doctor.urv.cat/en/prospective-students/admission/requisitos-extranjera-en/

The selected doctoral candidates are expected to start their research activity at the beginning of May 2023.

Results of the selection process   

INFORMATION:

For information, you can contact Prof. Endrius Cocciolo, Associate Professor of Administrative and Energy Law, THERESA DN Coordinator, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, at endrius.cocciolo@urv.cat

Please do not use the e-mail address above for applications.