Dr Timea Nochta

• PhD in Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham, 2018
• MSc & BSc (joint degree) in Architecture and Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, 2012

Timea is an urban studies scholar with an interdisciplinary background rooted in public policy and management and architecture, with further training in urban geography.

Her research focus is on understanding the dynamics of multi-actor decision-making processes in public policy and implementation in networked (collaborative and participative) governance settings. It also extends to the role and impact of data and digital technologies – as ‘evidence’ – in shaping governance processes and outcomes.

Prior to joining INLOGOV as lecturer in 2021, Timea worked for three years at the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction at the University of Cambridge, as Research Associate and Senior Research Associate. During her time at the University of Cambridge she co-led the ‘Digital Cities for Change’ programme, researching digitally-enabled urban governance.

She was awarded early career researcher grants by the Cambridge Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) and the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS), as well as a research fellowship at Hughes Hall, Cambridge.

Before moving to Cambridge, she was EPSRC research fellow at the Birmingham Energy Institute, University of Birmingham, working on the Across Scales in Energy Decision-making (AScEnD) project. AScEnD produced initial findings on how whole energy system analysis is currently used in policy decision-making processes across political-organisational scales in the UK.

Timea recently published a book entitled Network Governance and Energy Transitions in European Cities as part of the Routledge Focus on Energy Studies series.

Timea teaches on the following INLOGOV modules:

• Public Management and Governance
• Partnerships and Collaboration
• Governance, Participation and Collaboration
• Digital Era Public Policy

Timea is happy to supervise doctoral students in her areas of research expertise and interest such as:

• Governance networks
• Urban governance
• Multilevel governance
• Wicked problems
• Social Network Analysis (SNA)
• Climate change and sustainability transitions
• Smart cities and digitalisation.

Please get in touch for an informal chat about potential topics and support for developing your research proposal.

Research Interests

Timea is particularly interested in developing methodologies for the study of governance based on comparative design and mixed methods combining quantitative network and qualitative context and discourse analyses.

Empirically, her research interests cover issues relating to the local governance of technological change in the context of contemporary ‘wicked’ problems of climate change, low-carbon transitions, smart cities, digitalisation and automation. 

Current projects

Timea is currently researching networks in the multilevel governance of transport decarbonisation in the UK focusing on two city regions: Birmingham and Cambridge. This work is part of the Facilitating Policy Change for Low Carbon Mobility: The Role of Multilevel Governance project, carried out in collaboration with Dr Louise Reardon (INLOGOV).

She is also working on disseminating findings from her previous projects: Digital Cities for Change (DC²) and The Local Governance of Digital Technology – Implications for City-Scale Digital Twins.