The SMUS team proudly congratulates our first Doctoral candidate to successfully defend their thesis, Samane Niazkhani from the University of Tehran.
Thesis Title:
“Analyzing the Settlements’ Sustainability in the Spatial Plans of Less Developed Regions of Iran: Emphasis on Economic Growth and Sustainable Employment”.
Supervisors:
- Primary Supervisor: Professor Esfandiar Zebardast, University of Tehran
- Secondary Supervisor: Professor Angela Million, Technische Universität Berlin
Samane Niazkhani, from Tehran, Iran, earned a BSc in electrical engineering but later redirected her focus toward urban and regional planning, motivated by her concern for socio-economic challenges and their impact on land use. She went on to pursue a Master’s degree in regional development planning at Allameh Tabatabai University.
Samane was selected as one of 40 junior researchers from the SMUS global network to participate in the six-month (September 2020–February 2021) “Developing a PhD Proposal” research stay at the Global Center of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability (GCSMUS), hosted by Technische Universität Berlin in Germany.
She was also one of the 12 successful researchers to be awarded a prestigious three-year (2021 to 2024) DAAD-funded Scholarship to carry out their dissertation.
Samane is now working on a proposal for a postdoctoral course, which will further build on her research, aiming to deliver enhanced conceptual and practical insights.
Below is a short video clip from Samane on her research progress.