PhD Fellowship - Maritime Observatory

The World Maritime University (WMU) and Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) entered into a strategic partnership in 2026. One of its

pillars is the Maritime Observatory, a new strategic initiative to strengthen the availability, analysis and use of high-quality

evidence in support of maritime policy and decision making. The Observatory works at the intersection of data science, maritime

research and policy making, drawing on data analysis and the wider evidence base to produce insights for informed decision making

in the maritime sector. It works in connection with LRF’s Global Safety Evidence Centre (GSEC) and is geared primarily towards

evidence-based policy making at WMU’s parent, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and across the wider maritime sector.

WMU is offering two PhD fellowships under this framework, one quantitative and one qualitative. Each fellowship supports a focused

doctoral research project with defined research questions, appropriate methods, and an original academic contribution. The

Observatory provides the setting and the opportunities for applying this research. Together with the Observatory’s core team, the

Fellows will form a complementary team. Each fellowship will contribute research that strengthens a distinct part of the

Observatory role as an evidence centre:

• Quantitative Fellowship: Research that advances the data and measurement base that lets the Observatory say what is happening

and what works;

• Qualitative Fellowship: Research that advances the evidence-use and convening practice that helps to translate knowledge into

decisions.

Seafarer data is limited and harder to access than data in other industries. Yet seafarer statistics are of vital importance for

decisions on training and certification, working and living conditions and welfare at sea, and for planning the workforce the

sector will need as fuels and technologies change.

Digital technologies, automation and autonomous ships are changing operations, ports and regulation faster than the evidence about

them accumulates. Experience is spread across trials, simulations, approvals and early operations, and is hard to compare across

vessel types and jurisdictions. A current example is the experience-building phase for the IMO code for maritime autonomous

surface ships (MASS). The evidence base remains thin and scattered, thus hard to incorporate when shaping policy and taking

risk-adjusted decisions.

Whether maritime policy outcomes play out as intended is a question the sector rarely answers with evidence. Casualties,

incidents, detentions and compliance are recorded unevenly, and the link between an IMO instrument or national measure and what

happens at sea is seldom tested. Measuring safety outcomes and examining what makes regulation effective in practice is of key

importance for guiding international policy and decision-making.

Applicants must apply online via WMU’s portal: https://wmu.se/programmes/phd-maritime-affairs. Click “Apply now” to the Maritime

Affairs (PhD).

3. A one-page motivational letter, subject line of Application: Maritime Observatory PhD Fellowship 2026: Quantitative Fellowship

or Qualitative Fellowship

In addition to completing the application, the applicant must make arrangements for two academic reference letters to be sent

directly by two referees to the Doctoral Office, email phd@wmu.se with subject line: Maritime Observatory PhD Fellowship 2026:

Quantitative or Qualitative Fellowship

Applications for admission will be considered by WMU’s Doctoral Admissions Board, with the participation of the Observatory and

LRF. The Admissions Board will select only the best-qualified candidates taking into account their research proposal as well as

all their qualifications and achievements. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for next steps, which may include an

interview through remote audio-video meetings.

Further information regarding the Observatory and the fellowships can be obtained through communication with Dr Tiago Fonseca,

Head of Data and Insights, Maritime Observatory, at: observatory@wmu.se. Applicants are welcome to make informal contact before

applying.