Fully Funded MITIME PhD Opportunities Across Europe: If you are searching for fully funded PhD positions in Europe with strong interdisciplinary training, international mobility, and competitive researcher salaries, the MiTIME (Migration, Time, and Temporality) doctoral programme is currently recruiting 15 PhD researchers for the 2026 academic intake.
These positions are funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) as part of the EU’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme. The doctoral opportunities span multiple disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, political science, social sciences, and public administration, and are hosted across leading universities in Finland, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Türkiye.
This guide explains the MITIME programme, outlines the available PhD positions, and shows you how to apply successfully.
About the Fully Funded MITIME PhD Opportunities
MITIME (Migration, Time, and Temporality) is an innovative, interdisciplinary doctoral training network that examines how time structures migration experiences, governance, labour markets, belonging, and urban life in post-industrial cities.
Rather than treating migration as a linear process, MITIME focuses on:
- Temporal insecurity and waiting
- Legal, political, and institutional time regimes
- Migrant futures, memories, and imaginaries
- Urban transformation and post-industrial change
As an MSCA-funded programme, MITIME offers structured doctoral training, international secondments, and close supervision by leading migration scholars across Europe.
Important: Before applying, candidates are strongly advised to read the Recruitment Overview, Selection Criteria, and Programme Overview on the official MITIME website.
Key Benefits of MITIME PhD Positions
Successful applicants will receive:
- Fully funded PhD positions (36–48 months, depending on host institution)
- Competitive researcher salaries aligned with national and EU MSCA standards
- Social security coverage and employment contracts
- Research, training, and networking opportunities across Europe
- International secondments with partner universities, cities, NGOs, and policy organizations
- High-level interdisciplinary supervision
These benefits make MITIME one of the most attractive funded PhD opportunities in migration and social science research in Europe.
Overview of the 15 Fully Funded MITIME PhD Positions Across Europe
Below is a structured overview of the doctoral researcher positions currently open under MITIME. Each position has a dedicated supervisor, host institution, and specific thematic focus.
PhD Positions at the University of Oulu, Finland
Doctoral Researcher 1 – Cultural Anthropology
Topic: Conviviality in Broken Times: Temporal Insecurities and Social Bonds in Post-Migration Cities
This project uses ethnographic research in Finland and Germany to examine how temporal insecurity—shaped by migration regimes and economic restructuring—affects migrants’ and non-migrants’ ability to form long-term social connections. Secondments include the University of Bochum and the City of Oulu.
Doctoral Researcher 3 – Cultural Anthropology
Topic: The Production and Consumption of Urban Sociality: Temporal Logics of Everyday Encounters On- and Offline
Focusing on Oulu and Liège, this PhD explores how online and offline interactions shape urban sociality, solidarity, and conviviality. The project involves participatory research and City Lab engagement with local stakeholders.
Doctoral Researcher 6 – Cultural Anthropology
Topic: Belonging and Non-Belonging in the Urban Future
This project examines how historical and contemporary labour migration shapes post-industrial urban futures in Finland and Germany, using multimodal ethnography and discourse analysis.
Doctoral Researcher 11 – Cultural Anthropology
Topic: Welcome to Europe? Local Institutions, Migration, and Temporal Bordering in the City
This research compares institutional temporalities and migrant lived experiences in Cork and Oulu, exploring how time shapes inclusion, exclusion, and urban governance.
PhD Positions at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
Doctoral Researcher 4 – Social Sciences
Topic: Navigating Frictions: How Migrants Respond to Time Regimes of Urban Labour Markets
This project focuses on migrant labour precarity, resilience, and contestation in post-industrial cities. The position is salaried under the German TV-L E13 collective agreement.
Doctoral Researcher 5 – Social Sciences
Topic: Labour Market Agents and the Temporal Order of Migrant Labour
Using comparative urbanism, this PhD investigates how local institutions, employers, and intermediaries shape temporal orders of migrant labour in cities like Bochum and Rotterdam.
PhD Positions at Koç University, Türkiye 🇹🇷
Doctoral Researcher 2 – Sociology / Political Science
Topic: Remote Work, Control, and (International) Mobility in Post-Industrial Contexts
This project explores how remote work reshapes mobility, inequality, and governance, with fieldwork in Türkiye and Spain.
Doctoral Researcher 15 – Political Science / Sociology
Topic: Temporalities of Legal Belonging
Focusing on legal status and migrant futures, this PhD examines how citizenship regimes shape settlement, mobility, and long-term aspirations.
PhD Positions at University College Cork, Ireland
Doctoral Researcher 7 – Sociology
Topic: Temporal Home: Migrant Everyday Placemaking through Home
This project examines homemaking practices among migrants in Cork and Rotterdam, focusing on conflicting temporalities of settlement.
Doctoral Researcher 8 – Social Sciences
Topic: Crossing Time, Crossing Borders
This PhD explores borderscapes, migrant resistance, and liminality, with secondments in Finland and Greece.
PhD Positions at University of Deusto, Spain
Doctoral Researcher 9 – Political Science / Sociology
Topic: Diasporic Identities and Placemaking
Based in Bilbao, this project studies diaspora mobilization, memory, and belonging in post-industrial cities.
Doctoral Researcher 10 – Human Rights & Social Sciences
Topic: Story Time: The Temporal Logics of Urban Narratives
This PhD investigates displacement, trust, and urban narratives using creative and participatory research methods.
PhD Positions at University of Liège, Belgium
Doctoral Researcher 12 – Political and Social Sciences
Topic: Silenced Moments: Memories, Futures, and Diaspora
This project uses art-based and ethnographic methods to explore migrant narratives, belonging, and identity formation in Liège.
Doctoral Researcher 13 – Political and Social Sciences
Topic: Bordered Subjects: Temporal Logics of Urban Policymaking
Comparing Liège and Rotterdam, this research examines how time is used as a bordering mechanism in access to rights and welfare.
PhD Position at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
Doctoral Researcher 14 – Public Administration
Topic: The Governance of Migration Temporalities
This comparative PhD studies how migration policies respond to complex temporalities of stay among different migrant groups in Rotterdam and Bilbao.
Eligibility and Who Should Apply
MITIME PhD positions are ideal for applicants with:
- A Master’s degree in relevant social science or humanities disciplines
- Strong interest in migration, urban studies, and temporality
- Experience with qualitative, quantitative, or mixed research methods
- Willingness to undertake international mobility and secondments
- Proficiency in English (additional languages are an advantage)
How to Apply for the Fully Funded MITIME PhD Positions
- Carefully review the Recruitment Overview, Selection Criteria, and Programme Overview on the MITIME website
- Select the PhD position that best fits your background and research interests
- Contact the listed supervisor(s) if you have specific academic questions
- Submit your application through the official application link for that position
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and early submission is strongly encouraged.
Training, Secondments, and Career Development
One of the defining strengths of the MITIME doctoral programme is its structured training and international secondment framework. Unlike traditional PhD programmes that are largely institution-bound, MITIME doctoral researchers benefit from mobility across universities, cities, and non-academic partners.
Each PhD researcher will complete one or more secondments lasting several months at partner institutions such as universities, city administrations, NGOs, cultural institutions, or policy organizations. These secondments are not optional add-ons; they are an integral part of the doctoral training and are designed to:
- Expose researchers to comparative and transnational perspectives on migration and temporality
- Build skills in policy analysis, urban governance, and applied research
- Strengthen collaboration between academia, public institutions, and civil society
- Enhance employability both inside and outside academia
In addition to secondments, MITIME offers network-wide doctoral training events, summer schools, and workshops focused on advanced qualitative and quantitative methods, ethics in migration research, academic publishing, and career development.
Funding Structure and Employment Conditions
All MITIME PhD positions are fully funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) framework. This means doctoral researchers are employed as salaried staff members at their host institutions rather than being treated as students with stipends.
While exact salary levels vary by country due to national regulations, MSCA funding typically includes:
- A living allowance adjusted to the host country
- A mobility allowance for researchers relocating internationally
- A family allowance (where applicable)
- Full social security coverage, including pension and health insurance
In countries such as Germany, positions follow national collective agreements (e.g., TV-L E13), while other host institutions apply equivalent MSCA-aligned employment contracts.
Important Eligibility and Mobility Rules – Fully Funded MITIME PhD Positions
As an MSCA-funded doctoral network, MITIME follows strict mobility rules. At the time of recruitment, applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies) in the host country for more than 12 months in the previous 36 months.
Applicants must also:
- Hold a Master’s degree (or equivalent) by the specified deadlines
- Meet the doctoral admission requirements of the host university
- Demonstrate strong academic potential and alignment with the specific PhD topic
Language skills beyond English are often advantageous but are not always mandatory, depending on the research design and field sites.
Final Thoughts
The MITIME PhD positions represent one of the most comprehensive and competitive fully funded PhD opportunities in Europe within migration, urban studies, and social sciences. With 15 doctoral positions across multiple countries, strong MSCA funding, international secondments, and close supervision by leading scholars, the programme offers exceptional training for early-career researchers.
For candidates interested in migration, temporality, urban transformation, labour, borders, and belonging, MITIME provides not just a PhD, but a structured pathway into academic, policy, and research careers at the European and global level.