CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

PhD Opportunities for Bangladeshi Nationals

Climate Change and Plastic Waste in Bangladesh’s Garment Industry Project

 

Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED) at BRAC University (BRACU) (hereinafter CED-BRACU) is pleased to announce the availability of three (3) vacant PhD positions under a large-scale research project titled “Addressing Climate Change and Plastic Waste in Bangladesh’s Garment Industry through a Global Value Chain Perspective,” funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).

This PhD scholarship is reserved for Bangladeshi nationals and is a part of the Danida-sponsored project to develop the knowledge capacity of Bangladeshi scholars on climate change in global value chains and plastic waste in the garment and textile industry.

This project is being coordinated locally by CED-BRACU with the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) (as Principal Partner) and Aalborg University (AAU). The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) at the University of Dhaka will provide the necessary academic support for enrolling and supervising the PhD students. Candidates will have the opportunity to receive supervision from both Bangladesh and Denmark.

Assuming that the PhD student completes all of the requirements of the PhD program and successfully defends his/her PhD thesis, the student will be awarded a PhD degree from the University of Dhaka.

Key Dates

Last Date for Application: 31 October 2024

Start Date : 1 December 2024

Duration : 3 Years

Stipend/Funding Package

The selected PhD students will receive a stipend for 3 years. All the relevant admission and course fees, field cost, publications, and other relevant expenses will be funded by the project.

Project Overview

This project aims to deeply analyze the interactions between environmental challenges, climate change, and social sustainability within Bangladesh's garment industry, focusing on post-production plastic waste. Key research areas include the local biophysical effects, Scope 3 emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, and social consequences of sector transformations. The project seeks to provide theoretical and empirical insights into these complex dynamics.

The project’s objectives are to:

  • Investigate the environmental, climate, and social impact of diverse local waste value chain activities.
  • Explore linkages between environmental up and downgrading processes and outcomes as well as the linkages of these processes to selected social sustainability dimensions.
  • Identify challenges for transformation to sustainable practices perceived by various actors along the value chain.
  • Examine the role of global lead firms in the transformation.
  • Develop and evaluate the effectiveness of sustainability orchestration policies.
  • Investigate the challenges of integrating re-environmentalisation and social dimensions into GVC theory
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the modified GVC theory in explaining post-production waste management.

In summary, the long-term objective aspires to significantly enhance knowledge through interdisciplinary exploration, drive policy-relevant insights, and promote pragmatic solutions that integrate social and climate imperatives within the intricate tapestry of the sustainability and global value chain (GVC) landscape. Project details can be found here.

Research Themes

PhD candidates will develop their own research proposals based on the project's objectives, with potential areas, including:

  • Mapping local plastic waste recycling value chains.
  • Evaluating/measuring the impact of plastic waste recycling on production and emissions.
  • Co-creating local innovative solutions for sustainable plastic recycling.

The proposed research will be part of a large-scale project and involve different methods including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research work with emphasis on interventions research methods.

Eligibility Criteria

  • All students must fulfil the criteria for PhD enrollment in IBA, University of Dhaka given in the link. 
  • In addition, the candidate must have a Bachelor’s degree from a reputed public university and a Master’s degree from any reputed institution. Preferences would be given to specialization in Operations Management, Environmental Science, Climate Change, or Risk Management, technological innovation, entrepreneurship, design ethnography, industrial engineering, and mechanical engineering.
  • Applicants must have a CGPA of 2.5 out of 4, or Second Class in both Master's and Bachelor's degrees.
  • Applicants must not have  below 2nd division in any other examinations.
  • Strong analytical and research skills, with experience in both qualitative and quantitative methods.
  • The candidates must have one publication in a reputed peer-reviewed journal.
  • PhD applicants working in Public Universities or reputed research organizations must have two years of working experience with substantial evidence of research output.
  • Candidates should also demonstrate the capability to conduct research independently under supervision, indicating a level of self-motivation and initiative. Good proficiency in English and academic writing skills is essential.

Admission Process

If you are interested in applying for the PhD position, please submit the following documents electronically by 31 October 2024 to ced@bracu.ac.bd.

  • Research proposal within one of the three themes described above (maximum five pages). This research proposal should contain a presentation with research questions, a description of the initial theoretical framework and methodology, a presentation of the suggested empirical materials, and a work plan. 
  • Copies of Bachelor's and Master’s degree certificates or other certificates of a corresponding level along with a grade transcript.
  • Brief curriculum vitae (CV).
  • List of papers and publications.
  • One copy of a selected written work (e.g. Master’s thesis).

Recruitment Procedure

The recruitment committee will shortlist the applicants for the position. All applicants will be notified of their status in the recruitment process shortly after the application deadline.

The shortlisted applicants will go through the assessment by the PhD sub-committee of IBA and will be notified of the assessment result. The shortlisted applicants will be required to participate in interviews via video call (Zoom/Team).

Once the recruitment process is completed, applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application. It should be noted that once the project team has selected a candidate, the candidate will have to go through the formal admission process of the University of Dhaka before s/he can start the PhD studies.

Any questions related to the PhD scholarship should be directed to Dr Melita Mehjabeen (Professor, IBA, University of Dhaka) at melitam@iba-du.edu and Dr Matin Saad Abdullah (Professor, Dept of Computer Science and Engineering, BRACU) at mabdullah@bracu.ac.bd.