15 funded PhD positions in technology governance and regulatory learning: REGULAIRE MSCA Doctoral Network

About this position

How can institutions learn to govern technologies whose capabilities, risks and societal effects are still emerging?

REGULAIRE offers 15 connected PhD projects examining regulatory learning in the governance of transformative technologies. Funded through the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and coordinated by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the network brings together ten universities with regulators, public agencies, international organisations and research networks.

The doctoral projects investigate how institutions anticipate emerging challenges, test regulatory responses, evaluate their effects and use evidence to improve governance. Research spans artificial intelligence, digital platforms, quantum technologies and cybersecurity.

Recruitment is planned for autumn 2026. Each position will have an official university advertisement specifying its application procedure, requirements, deadline and intended start date. Vacancies may open at different times.

About the research

Technological change creates uncertainty about what should be regulated, which interventions are proportionate and how their effects should be assessed. New legislation provides a framework, but its implementation depends on institutions being able to recognise problems, interpret evidence and revise their practices. Regulatory experiments can generate useful insights, yet those insights are often difficult to evaluate, preserve or share across organisations.

REGULAIRE, Regulatory Learning for the Governance of Transformative Technologies , studies how this capacity for learning can become a lasting part of governance. Its doctoral projects address four connected themes:

• Anticipation and foresight: How can authorities detect emerging problems, recognise gaps in existing regulation and make use of signals from outside established institutions?
• Regulatory tools and processes: How can research access, public procurement, prototyping and AI literacy help institutions test interventions and learn from their effects?
• Institutional capacity: What enables organisations to act on new knowledge, reconsider established assumptions and retire outdated rules while maintaining necessary safeguards?
• Feedback and shared learning: How can evidence and experience travel across authorities, sectors and jurisdictions while preserving accountability and democratic legitimacy?

Together, the projects will develop comparative evidence, practical methods and guidance for adaptive regulation. A shared observatory will bring together signals, research methods and results to support learning beyond individual projects and regulatory experiments.

Participating universities

Doctoral researchers will be recruited and supervised at the following universities:

• Technical University of Munich (TUM) , network coordinator, Germany — DC05, DC13 and DC15
• University of St. Gallen , Switzerland — DC01 and DC07
• University of Amsterdam , Netherlands — DC04 and DC14
• BI Norwegian Business School , Norway — DC03 and DC08
• Maastricht University , Netherlands — DC06
• Lund University , Sweden — DC02
• Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Católica Global School of Law , Portugal — DC12
• Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE) , Romania — DC10
• University of Copenhagen , Denmark — DC11
• Politecnico di Milano , Italy — DC09

Practice and secondment partners

REGULAIRE connects doctoral research with organisations involved in technology governance. Planned secondments provide opportunities to study regulatory practice and develop research with practitioners outside the recruiting university.

The network’s practice and secondment partners include:

• The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) , Netherlands
• Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) , Switzerland
• Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens , the Dutch data protection authority, Netherlands
• Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) , France
• Digital Hub Association (Network of Internet and Society Centers) , Switzerland
• Norwegian Digitalisation Agency (Digdir) , Norway
• Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management (DFØ) , Norway
• European University Institute / European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) , Italy
• International Telecommunication Union (ITU) , Switzerland
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) , France
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) , France
• Department of Economic Affairs, Canton Zurich , Switzerland

The Munich School of Politics and Public Policy (Hochschule für Politik München) , Germany, also participates as an associated partner, contributing training and expertise through the TUM Think Tank.

Secondment arrangements are planned and may be refined as the projects develop. For international organisations and networks, the country identifies the participating organisation recorded in the project materials; individual placements may involve other locations. The relevant university announcements and project descriptions will confirm the arrangements.

The 15 doctoral projects

Each project examines a distinct question within REGULAIRE’s shared research programme. The summaries below identify the host university. Consult the individual university advertisements for the definitive project description, eligibility requirements and application details.

DC01: Building Problem Sensing Capacities Through Portfolio Analysis

Host university: University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Examines national AI policy portfolios to understand how combinations of regulatory instruments support learning and provide predictable regulatory environments. Drawing on the Digital Policy Alert dataset, the project develops methods for detecting early signs that regulation no longer fits its context, including approaches to analysing legal and policy texts.

DC02: Between Flexibility and Fixity: Supervisory Authority and Power Shifts in AI Governance

Host university: Lund University, Sweden.

Investigates how regulatory flexibility changes the distribution of authority among legislators, supervisory bodies, standard-setting organisations and private actors. Using the AI Act to structure comparisons, the project examines how supervisory powers and practices affect legal predictability, institutional learning and protection for citizens.

DC03: Outside-In Signals: Outsider Innovation as Foresight Infrastructure

Host university: BI Norwegian Business School, Norway.

Studies how open-source communities, civic technologists, small businesses and marginalised users generate early insights that regulators may overlook. The project traces how these signals emerge and develops ways for authorities to receive, assess and act on them while preserving legality and proportionality.

DC04: Research Exemptions and Feedback Loops in AI Governance

Host university: University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Examines how research exemptions and access rights allow independent researchers to generate evidence for AI governance. The project investigates how access works in practice and develops arrangements that connect research findings to regulatory responses while protecting academic freedom, legal safeguards and the interests of affected people.

DC05: Procurement for Foresight: Regulatory Learning in Quantum and Cybersecurity

Host university: Technical University of Munich, Germany.

Investigates public procurement as a way for governments to learn about quantum technologies and cybersecurity. The project examines how procurement spreads knowledge and security norms among public bodies, laboratories and standard-setting organisations, and develops procurement clauses and evidence practices that support learning without weakening security or legal certainty.

Apply here: TUM Jobportal

DC06: Prototyping the Rule: Software Engineering for Regulatory Learning

Host university: Maastricht University, Netherlands.

Explores how software-engineering approaches to prototyping can help regulators test interventions before adopting them fully. The project develops and evaluates prototypes, such as disclosure formats, audit cycles and review triggers, and examines how they can help authorities adjust regulation as evidence emerges.

DC07: Enhancing Absorptive Capacity: AI Literacy Interventions for Regulatory Learning

Host university: University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Studies how AI literacy programmes strengthen public bodies’ ability to recognise, understand and use new evidence. The project evaluates how training affects evidence generation, procurement decisions and escalation processes, and examines whether individual learning becomes part of shared organisational practice.

DC08: Unlearning Obsolete Rules: Designing for Sunset and Regulatory Delearning

Host university: BI Norwegian Business School, Norway.

Examines the deliberate retirement of outdated regulatory obligations that prevent institutions from adapting. Drawing on audits, regulatory sandbox outcomes and interviews, the project investigates when rules should be reconsidered and how institutions can remove obsolete requirements while preserving safeguards, accountability and public trust.

DC09: Design-Driven Institutional Reframing for Anticipatory Governance

Host university: Politecnico di Milano, Italy.

Investigates how institutions’ assumptions about their roles and responsibilities enable or hinder learning as AI becomes part of governance. Using systemic and service-design approaches, the project examines organisational routines, accountability and dependence on AI-generated knowledge, and evaluates ways to strengthen institutions’ capacity to anticipate change.

DC10: Frugal Regulation: Learning Loops for Low Resource Regulators

Host university: Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania.

Studies how regulators with limited resources can sustain learning as technologies develop. Through case studies of AI policy, the project identifies capacity constraints and develops affordable feedback processes, open tools and exchanges between agencies that help regulatory knowledge circulate across regions.

DC11: Street-level Bureaucracy of Regulatory Implementation for AI

Host university: University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Examines how developers in small and medium-sized businesses interpret and implement EU digital regulation, including the AI Act and the Digital Services Act. The project follows how legal guidance becomes technical and organisational practice, and develops feedback approaches through which businesses and regulatory institutions can learn from implementation.

DC12: Enforcement Overlap and Multi-Authority Coordination in EU Digital Governance

Host university: Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Católica Global School of Law, Portugal.

Investigates how overlapping responsibilities for data protection, cybersecurity and AI affect legal certainty, enforcement and cooperation. The project compares coordination practices and develops approaches to decision-making and information sharing that turn overlapping authority into opportunities for regulatory learning.

DC13: Evidence Stewardship and Regulatory Memory for Adaptive Governance

Host university: Technical University of Munich, Germany.

Studies how institutions preserve regulatory knowledge across staff changes, organisational boundaries and successive rounds of regulation. The project develops documentation and stewardship practices that make the origins of evidence traceable and support its responsible reuse across teams and jurisdictions.

Apply here: TUM Jobportal

DC14: Systemic Actors and the Enforcement of Digital Rules

Host university: University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Examines how regulators adapt enforcement strategies when dealing with systemic digital actors under the Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, AI Act and GDPR. The project traces learning across cases and jurisdictions to identify practices that support effective enforcement in complex platform ecosystems.

DC15: The Legitimacy Paradox: Anti-Capture Mechanisms in Adaptive Regulation

Host university: Technical University of Munich, Germany.

Investigates how experimental and adaptive governance can remain transparent, accountable and resistant to undue influence. The project examines the effects of rights and participation rules and develops feedback routines, public reporting approaches and evaluation criteria that connect regulatory flexibility with democratic legitimacy.

Apply here: TUM Jobportal

The doctoral experience

As a REGULAIRE doctoral researcher, you will develop your own project at a host university while participating in an international research community. The programme combines academic supervision across institutions with shared summer schools, methods workshops, research seminars and training in transferable skills.

Planned secondments with regulatory authorities, public agencies, international organisations and other partners will connect your research with the settings in which governance takes place. You will have opportunities to discuss emerging findings with practitioners and contribute to the network’s shared methods, evidence and guidance.

You will also receive support in developing your research, communicating its value and preparing for careers in academia, regulation, public policy or industry.

Each university advertisement will specify the salary, applicable allowances, employment benefits, contract duration and intended start date. These arrangements vary between institutions and countries.

Who should apply

We welcome applicants with a strong interest in the governance of transformative technologies and the ways institutions learn. Relevant backgrounds include law, public policy, political science, computer science, design, communication, economics, sociology and related disciplines. Specific academic and methodological requirements vary by project.

Applicants should hold a relevant Master’s degree, or an equivalent qualification giving access to doctoral study, by the required start date and meet the host university’s doctoral admission requirements. Recruited researchers must be enrolled in a doctoral programme leading to a doctoral degree in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. English is the working language of the network; individual advertisements will specify any required language evidence or additional requirements for fieldwork.

Applicants may be of any nationality. You must not hold a doctoral degree at recruitment. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis are also ineligible, even if the degree has not yet been formally awarded.

In general, the MSCA mobility rule requires that you have not lived or carried out your main activity, such as work or study, in the recruiting institution’s country for more than 12 months during the 36 months immediately before recruitment. Eligibility is assessed for the country of each recruiting institution. Full details appear in the individual advertisements and the official MSCA guidance .

We encourage applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences. If you need an adjustment to make the application or interview process accessible, contact the recruiting university.

How to apply

Explore the doctoral projects on the REGULAIRE website , then follow the link to the relevant university’s official vacancy announcement when it opens. Vacancies will also be advertised on EURAXESS.

All applications must be submitted through the procedure specified in the relevant university advertisement. This network overview provides information and links; it does not receive applications.

If you apply for more than one REGULAIRE project, follow the submission instructions for each position and tailor your application to the project concerned. Please briefly identify your other REGULAIRE applications in each motivation or cover letter, using the project numbers or titles, and follow any limits or ranking instructions in the recruitment guidance.

Application windows, deadlines and start dates may differ between universities. The deadline in the relevant official vacancy announcement applies to that position. Follow its checklist for documents, proposal requirements and submission format.

For questions about a particular position, use the academic or recruitment contact listed in its university advertisement.

Further project information: Visit the REGULAIRE website and the REGULAIRE project page on CORDIS .

REGULAIRE receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, grant agreement No. 101312218.