Job Posting

The University of Luxembourg is looking for its Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education within the Research Unit IPSE for a

Research Associate (M/F) – Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning

• Ref: F3R-IPS-PAU-15SPMI (code budgétaire du projet)
• Fixed-term contract, start date as soon as possible until 31st October 2015, 40 hours/week
• Employee status

 Project outline
The overall objective of the contract is to help develop and draft the Luxembourg national report for the International Migration Outlook (SOPEMI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in cooperation with the European Migration Network, National Contact Point Luxembourg, and the Luxembourgish Reception and Integration Office (Office luxembourgeois de l’accueil et de l’intégration - OLAI).

Your Role
The research associate will work within the research project “SOPEMI” in the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning.  Under the supervision of the Professor Birte Nienaber, he/she will:

• Follow the latest developments in the national migration policies;
• Research the necessary data for the SOPEMI report 2015;
• Draft and finalize the report in accordance to the OECD regulations in English language;
• Prepare a national annual expert meeting and discuss the national migration topics with the OECD officials;
• Participate at a meeting together with other national experts at the OECD.

For further information please contact:
Prof. Dr. Birte Nienaber
E-Mail: birte.nienaber@uni.lu
Tel: +352 466644-9318

Your Profile

• Master (or equivalent) in Geography, Migration Studies or any other related field
• Experienced in the field of migration
• Ability to establish contacts at national and international level
• Ability to work independently and within an interdisciplinary team
• Knowledge in Data collection, tables and graphs creation and Reporting
• Experienced in the use of common computer software (Microsoft Office)
• Good communication and drafting skills

As the candidate will have to deal with in a multilingual context, he/she must be fluent in English and French (written and spoken). Knowledge of German and Luxembourgish will be considered as an advantage.

We offer

• The research associate will work in the international environment of the University of Luxembourg and will be member of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning
• He/She will have the opportunity to work closely with the Luxembourg and OECD migration experts and to participate in the OECD annual expert group meeting.

Further Information

Candidates should submit the following documents:

• letter of motivation
• curriculum vitae
• copies of diplomas

Please apply online by May 22nd, 2015.
The University is an equal opportunity employe

28 May 2015 - Introducing Prof. Dr. Birte Nienaber

Seit September 2013 ist Birte Nienaber Professorin für Politische Geographie an der Universität Luxemburg. Am 28. Mai hält Prof. Nienaber ihre öffentliche Antrittsvorlesung,
Zur Rolle der Geographie in den Border Studies, um 18 Uhr im Raum Piaget (Bât III) auf Campus Walferdange.

Die „Border Studies” sind ein Forschungsfeld im Schnittpunkt von sozial- und kulturwissenschaftlichen Disziplinen, die Grenzen und Grenzräume analysieren und deren Auswirkungen betrachten. Dieses Forschungsfeld gewinnt in den letzten Jahren deutlich an Bedeutung. Während innerhalb der Europäischen Union die nationalen Grenzen durch die Schengen Abkommen geöffnet sind, werden sie an den EU-Außengrenzen zunehmend starrer und die politischen wie sozialen Folgen immer deutlicher. Die Vorlesung wird sich damit befassen, welchen Beitrag die Geographie zu diesem Forschungsfeld liefern kann. Was sind Grenzen aus geographischer Sicht ? Welche geographischen Implikationen lassen sich daraus ableiten ? Welche Chancen und Herausforderungen bietet das Thema für die Wissenschaft ?

Birte Nienaber is Professor in Political Geography at the UL, Member of the UniGr-Center for Border Studies, Coordinator of the European Migration Network (NCPLU), and National Contact Point for the European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion (ESPON). She will deliver her inaugural lecture entitled, The Roll of Geography in Border Studies,

May 28, in the Piaget Room, (Building III), on Walfer Campus.  (Lecture in German)

Dr. Gerald Taylor Aiken, Transition Initiatives to Low Carbon Futures as a Social Learning Process for Sustainability

Tuesday, May 12,
19.00-20.30
Bâtiment des Sciences, 1st floor, lecture room 3 (BS 1.03)

At the last public lecture given in the frame of the interdisciplinary course “Science & Citizens meet Challenges of Sustainability,”

Dr. Gerald Taylor Aiken will speak about, Transition Initiatives to Low Carbon Futures as a Social Learning Process for Sustainability

The Transition movement, since emerging from Totnes in 2007, have proliferated worldwide and emerged as a important grassroots community response to climate change and peak oil. Transition has also been of increasing theoretical interest, but not yet analysed as a site for social learning. Social learning processes--such as backcasting, open space techniques, preparing energy descent action plans--are integral to Transition initiatives. Because of this, the community Transition imagine acting for sustainability is not only a place-based and small-scale social arrangement of togetherness, but also a process where opening up to (environmental) others can be deliberately and purposively fostered. This is often carried out through what Transition call ‘deepening’ exercises based on, among others, the work of Johanna Macy. The chapter is empirically based on in-depth ethnographic research with three Transition groups. Understanding Transition’s community as a process transcends traditional understandings of community as place-bound and locally-rooted, it also looks to the profound implications that the more ecosophic subjectivities required for sustainability can be purposively produced. 

Gerald Taylor Aiken is a Post Doctoral Researcher in the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning at the Research Unit ‘Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces’ at the University of Luxembourg. He received his Ph.D. from Durham University in 2014 on the role of ‘community’ within grassroots environmentalism. He previously taught Geography at Leeds University and writes on the role of community in the transition to low carbon futures. He has previously published on Transition Towns amongst other community-based social movements.

Forum - für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur

The April 2015 issue of Forum - für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur focuses on urban and regional planning in Luxembourg.  It includes some contributions by members of our institute, Prof. Markus Hesse, Prof. Christian Schulz, Tom Becker (Research Associate), and Annick Leick (PhD candidate).  You can find a full list of contents and links to the individual articles here.