Description

SUPER | Radically rethinking how we promote and practise physical activity to fight climate change

We have an exciting opportunity to join the Horizon Europe MSCA Doctoral Network, SUPER, as a PhD Fellow. The successful candidate will be registered as a fee free PhD student at Universidad Europea de Madrid. and enrolled in the SUPER Doctoral Network, with secondment opportunities in industry and other European academic institutions.

SUPER (Sustainable Sports and Physical Activity for Equity and Resilience) is offering 17 pioneering fellowship opportunities at the intersection of sustainability and sports science.

Sports and physical activity are an essential part of the fabric of our lives, but also impact the planet through transport, infrastructure, equipment and energy use in ways that are widely unknown. At the same time, sports and physical activity will be affected by the impacts of climate change and must adapt to continue promoting health and resilience.

SUPER will reshape physical activity and sports practices, equipment and infrastructure to ensure equitable access for all, regardless of where they live, their socioeconomic status or background.

It will reduce sport’s environmental impact through sustainable practices and mitigate the negative health effects of climate change by fostering resilience and wellbeing, especially among vulnerable populations.

Through SUPER, sports and physical activity will become a platform to raise awareness of planetary health, helping to inspire broader engagement in sustainability.

SUPER will confront the need for equity and climate justice head-on, creating a transformative and mission-driven science to guide the future of sport for future generations.

A new wave of scientists and leaders will emerge, equipped with transdisciplinary expertise that bridges physical activity, sports, public and planetary health, circular economy and sustainability.

The Doctoral Candidate in the project “Development of a Digital tool to assess safe and environmentally friendly Physical Activities (PA)”, will play a central role in the network and will:

Co-create a digital tool to assess and recommend safe and environmentally sustainable physical activities.
Integrate physical activity (PA), weather, and environmental data to support the development of the digital tool.
Collect data and evaluate the usability, accessibility, and overall performance of the digital tool.
Integrate PA data with carbon footprint indicators of different physical activities.

The project will result in the development of a digital tool capable of assessing and recommending safe and environmentally sustainable physical activities

The Doctoral Candidate will be expected to:

Report on findings by publishing scientific articles, resulting in a PhD dissertation;
Present findings at (inter)national meetings/conferences;
Contribute to the wider work of the SUPER project
Contribute to educational activities of the department and within the consortium.

Benefits

This PhD position is funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) of the European Union’s “Horizon Europe” research and innovation program under grant number [101226793] and SERI [REF‑1131‑52304]

You will be appointed as a full-time PhD Fellow for three years at Universidad Europea de Madrid.

The MSCA programme offers competitive and attractive working conditions. The successful candidates will receive a monthly salary in accordance with the MSCA regulations for doctoral candidates:

Living Allowance: €4010 (subject to a country correction coefficient)

NOTE: In case of Spain monthly living allowance is €3.833,56

Mobility Allowance €710***
Family monthly (if applicable): €660

All amounts are subject to tax, employer, employee and pension contributions.

The research project should result in a PhD thesis.

Eligibility criteria:

To be eligible for this position, the applicant must satisfy the following requirements:

Must not already hold a doctoral degree;
Must comply with the mobility rule: not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the three years immediately prior to their recruitment.

Selection process

For more information see the project’s website www.thisissuper.eu

Funding Acknowledgements

SUPER is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network funded by Horizon Europe [grant number 101226793] and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation Europe [REF113152304].

Additional Comments

For more information about this position, you can contact de PI: Borja del Pozo, email: borja.delpozo@universidadeuropea.es

For more information about the application procedure, you can contact rocio.salguero@universidadeuropea.es

We are hosting two information sessions on Monday 23^rd March 2026 for those interested in applying for a PhD fellow position with SUPER. The session will start with a 15-minute presentation and then there will be a Q&A. We are running two sessions to ensure maximum global reach. Both sessions will be the same so you should only attend one.

Sign up here:

Monday 23^rd March 2026, 10am UK time – sign up here

Monday 23^rd March 2026, 6pm UK time - sign up here

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Development of a Digital tool to assess safe and environmentally friendly Physical Activities (PA)