Joe BIRSENS is a PhD candidate in the field of urban and social geography. He holds a Master's degree in Geography from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). After an internship in 2019, he started his PhD at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) in January 2020, under the supervision of Dr. Antoine Decoville.

His research focuses on the concept of socio-spatial integration and the relations between large-scale urban development projects and their urban environment. In his PhD thesis, he aims to develop an analytical framework to evaluate socio-spatial integration at the neighbourhood scale, by focusing his empirical research on the case of the 'Cité des Sciences' in Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg). His main interest lies in the analysis of the socio-spatial integration process of "knowledge districts" into the local urban realm. Joe is also actively involved in the Social Observatory of Esch-sur-Alzette that aims to analyse the social development of the city on a regular and systematic basis.