Open PhD position: Footwear design for reuse (project 1)
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Open PhD position: Footwear design for reuse (project 1)
PhD positions in the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project SCARPA: Training the next generation of researchers for circular footwear in the EU. Applications are invited for 2 PhD positions at Kolding School of Design in Denmark to be funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network “SCARPA – Sustainable and Circular Footwear Training Program” within the Horizon Europe Programme of the European Commission. SCARPA is a consortium of high-profile universities, research institutions and companies located in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Austria.
Background
Today, fewer than 5% of shoes are recycled, despite growing awareness around sustainability and initiatives from leading brands. Tackling the sustainability challenges of the footwear industry is one of the most pressing and overlooked issues in today’s circular economy transition. SCARPA lays the foundations for a Circular Footwear Economy through a European Joint Doctoral Network that trains 15 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) to become a new generation of scientists, engineers, and policy makers. They will address the full life cycle of footwear — from design to processing, use, reuse, and recycling. Each DC, developing their research skills under the guidance of at least two academic supervisors and an industrial co-promoter, represents a crucial piece of the puzzle. Together, they form a collaborative network that challenges conventional thinking and proposes innovative, system-based solutions to drastically increase material reuse rates in the footwear sector. The main SCARPA objectives are:
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Footwear Design for Resale
The PhD project will investigate consumers’ second-hand practices with the aim of informing and developing alternative design-focused business models and design for circularity and longevity strategies. The project will be unfolded through design anthropological and social practice theoretical approaches to understand factors that influence consumer decisions. In parallel, the project will engage with stakeholders from resale (platforms, companies and private sellers) to understand potentials and limitations of circular business models.
The overall design methodological framing will support strong dialogue between experiment-driven research in the studio and field-based engagements with consumers emphasizing the use of physical prototypes as media to communicate design intentions throughout the project.
Objectives
Skills and qualifications
Professional skills and qualifications:
We are looking for a candidate with training in product-based and experiment-driven design practice and experience working with design for circularity concepts including insight into strategies in theory and practice, preferably within shoes and footwear design.
You are interested in developing the knowledge field of footwear design for circularity through hands-on design development and engagement with consumer/users and companies and organisations throughout the footwear product lifecycle.
Personal and interpersonal skills and qualifications:
Required degree
A master’s degree (or equivalent) in design, e.g. with disciplinary specialization in industrial or accessory design or related fields such as design engineering.
Skills/qualifications:
Professional skills and qualifications:
We are looking for a candidate with training in product-based and experiment-driven design practice experience working with design for circularity concepts and strategies in theory and practice, preferably within shoes and footwear design.
You are interested in developing the knowledge field of footwear design for circularity through hands-on design development and engagement with consumer/users and companies and organisations throughout the footwear product lifecycle.
Personal and interpersonal qualifications:
Application
The application should include the following:
The application deadline is October 31, 2025, at 23.59 CEST.
After the application deadline, a shortlist of the most promising applications will be made, which will then be assessed. When the committee has finished its review procedure, shortlisted applicants will receive feedback on their application.
The position is to start between January – June 2026.
Interviews are expected to take place in November - December 2025 after completion of the assessments.
The position is a full-time position and salary is according to the current collective agreement that regulates the Danish labour market. The PhD student will be employed at Kolding School of Design and enrolled at the institution's PhD school. The PhD student will be part of one of the Lab for Sustainability and Design.
About Design for Planet - Laboratory for Sustainability and Design
Kolding School of Design has worked with sustainability in research, education and development projects for more than 20 years. We believe that a sustainable strategy must be part of the efforts to solve global problems with regard to resources, working conditions and pollution.
The research and development in sustainability at Kolding School of Design, the Laboratory for Sustainability and Design, aims to raise the level of sustainability in all sectors of society. Our goal is to contribute with new knowledge rooted in design processes that will tie together more closely the production and consumption, thus reducing the waste of resources.
In September 2018, Kolding School of Design launched the new MA programme, Design for Planet educating highly specialised designers with sustainability as a fundamental mindset. The program encourages the students to engage design to promote sustainable cultures of consumption and production through products and services that are valuable and meaningful to users, along with new business developments within, for instance, circular economy and sharing economy.
Additional information
For further information, please contact secretary of research and development Christina Stind Rosendahl, phone +45 91 33 30 04 or mail: csr@dskd.dk or Associate Professor Karen Marie Hasling, mail: kmh@dskd.dk
Kolding School of Design values diversity and welcome both national and international applicants who fulfill the above mentioned requirements.
We wish to reflect our surrounding community and encourage anyone who is qualified to apply for the position, irrespective of personal background.
Please note, Kolding School of Design has a policy that requires new employees unfamiliar with the Danish language to develop skills to communicate in Danish society within three years.
For more information please read:
Design for Planet, Laboratory for Sustainability and Design website
Kolding School of Design Research Strategy
Kolding School of Design website
Background
Today, fewer than 5% of shoes are recycled, despite growing awareness around sustainability and initiatives from leading brands. Tackling the sustainability challenges of the footwear industry is one of the most pressing and overlooked issues in today’s circular economy transition. SCARPA lays the foundations for a Circular Footwear Economy through a European Joint Doctoral Network that trains 15 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) to become a new generation of scientists, engineers, and policy makers. They will address the full life cycle of footwear — from design to processing, use, reuse, and recycling. Each DC, developing their research skills under the guidance of at least two academic supervisors and an industrial co-promoter, represents a crucial piece of the puzzle. Together, they form a collaborative network that challenges conventional thinking and proposes innovative, system-based solutions to drastically increase material reuse rates in the footwear sector. The main SCARPA objectives are:
- To develop footwear that is designed for circularity
- To instigate sorting systems that systematically facilitate reuse and recycling
- To develop efficient waste-to-resource recycling technologies for footwear
- To develop overarching strategies for circular footwear.
****
Footwear Design for Resale
The PhD project will investigate consumers’ second-hand practices with the aim of informing and developing alternative design-focused business models and design for circularity and longevity strategies. The project will be unfolded through design anthropological and social practice theoretical approaches to understand factors that influence consumer decisions. In parallel, the project will engage with stakeholders from resale (platforms, companies and private sellers) to understand potentials and limitations of circular business models.
The overall design methodological framing will support strong dialogue between experiment-driven research in the studio and field-based engagements with consumers emphasizing the use of physical prototypes as media to communicate design intentions throughout the project.
Objectives
- To understand the current state of the art of commercial and conceptual resale strategies
- To design footwear for longevity by introducing strategies that foster consumer engagement for implementation of these strategies
- To strengthen implementation potential of footwear design for longevity strategies with focus on resale in companies and organisations
Skills and qualifications
Professional skills and qualifications:
We are looking for a candidate with training in product-based and experiment-driven design practice and experience working with design for circularity concepts including insight into strategies in theory and practice, preferably within shoes and footwear design.
You are interested in developing the knowledge field of footwear design for circularity through hands-on design development and engagement with consumer/users and companies and organisations throughout the footwear product lifecycle.
Personal and interpersonal skills and qualifications:
- Motivation for working within an interdisciplinary frame to achieve common goals
- Good communication skills to engage with different stakeholders, within and outside a professional scope.
- Good knowledge of English is a requirement.
- Compliant with MSCA mobility rule: not have resided or carried out your main activity (work/study) in Denmark for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to recruitment
Required degree
A master’s degree (or equivalent) in design, e.g. with disciplinary specialization in industrial or accessory design or related fields such as design engineering.
Skills/qualifications:
Professional skills and qualifications:
We are looking for a candidate with training in product-based and experiment-driven design practice experience working with design for circularity concepts and strategies in theory and practice, preferably within shoes and footwear design.
You are interested in developing the knowledge field of footwear design for circularity through hands-on design development and engagement with consumer/users and companies and organisations throughout the footwear product lifecycle.
Personal and interpersonal qualifications:
- Motivation for working within an interdisciplinary frame to achieve common goals
- Good communication skills to engage with different stakeholders, within and outside a professional scope.
- Good knowledge of English is a requirement.
- Compliant with MSCA mobility rule: not have resided or carried out your main activity (work/study) in Denmark for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to recruitment
Application
The application should include the following:
- Motivated application (1 page)
- CV (1 page)
- Diplomas or alternatively a complete transcript of records (for BA and MA degrees)
- Visual portfolio (max. 3 projects)
The application deadline is October 31, 2025, at 23.59 CEST.
After the application deadline, a shortlist of the most promising applications will be made, which will then be assessed. When the committee has finished its review procedure, shortlisted applicants will receive feedback on their application.
The position is to start between January – June 2026.
Interviews are expected to take place in November - December 2025 after completion of the assessments.
The position is a full-time position and salary is according to the current collective agreement that regulates the Danish labour market. The PhD student will be employed at Kolding School of Design and enrolled at the institution's PhD school. The PhD student will be part of one of the Lab for Sustainability and Design.
About Design for Planet - Laboratory for Sustainability and Design
Kolding School of Design has worked with sustainability in research, education and development projects for more than 20 years. We believe that a sustainable strategy must be part of the efforts to solve global problems with regard to resources, working conditions and pollution.
The research and development in sustainability at Kolding School of Design, the Laboratory for Sustainability and Design, aims to raise the level of sustainability in all sectors of society. Our goal is to contribute with new knowledge rooted in design processes that will tie together more closely the production and consumption, thus reducing the waste of resources.
In September 2018, Kolding School of Design launched the new MA programme, Design for Planet educating highly specialised designers with sustainability as a fundamental mindset. The program encourages the students to engage design to promote sustainable cultures of consumption and production through products and services that are valuable and meaningful to users, along with new business developments within, for instance, circular economy and sharing economy.
Additional information
For further information, please contact secretary of research and development Christina Stind Rosendahl, phone +45 91 33 30 04 or mail: csr@dskd.dk or Associate Professor Karen Marie Hasling, mail: kmh@dskd.dk
Kolding School of Design values diversity and welcome both national and international applicants who fulfill the above mentioned requirements.
We wish to reflect our surrounding community and encourage anyone who is qualified to apply for the position, irrespective of personal background.
Please note, Kolding School of Design has a policy that requires new employees unfamiliar with the Danish language to develop skills to communicate in Danish society within three years.
For more information please read:
Design for Planet, Laboratory for Sustainability and Design website
Kolding School of Design Research Strategy
Kolding School of Design website