Build4People is proud to announce that another PhD degree has been awarded to a member of Build4People research team: On 24 May 2025 Dr. Bunleng Se from Royal University of Phnom Penh successfully defended his PhD thesis with the title „Implications of Urban Heat Island Dynamics under Urbanization on Precipitation Patterns in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.“
Members of the PhD board are further members the Build4People team, among them Prof. Dr. Seak Sophat from Royal University of Phnom Penh, Prof. Dr. Tep Makathy from Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia, Dr. Hor Sanara from Royal University of Agriculture, and finally, Prof. Dr. Lutz Katzscher (INKEK, formerly: University of Kassel, Germany), leader of the Build4People Work Package “Urban Climate”.
Besides consultation and guidance of Bunleng Se’s research by our team members, Build4People also provided funding to support the purchase and installation of three weather stations in Phnom Penh which delivered key empirical data for his PhD research.
The supervisor and co-supervisor of the thesis are also Build4People team members: Dr. Daniel M. Choi and Prof. Dr. Nyda Chhinh, both from Royal University of Phnom Penh.
The thesis was based on following three major publications:
1. Se, B., Choi, D. M., Katzschner, L., Rang, C., Chhinh, N., Yav, N., Hahne, J., & Kupski, S. (2025). Characteristics of the urban heat island in a tropical city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. International Journal of Geography, Geology and Environment.7(3), 19-28. https://www.doi.org/10.22271/27067483.2025.v7.i3a.349
2. Se, B., Choi, D. M., Chhinh, N., Hahne, J., Yav, N., Kupski, S., Rang, C., & Katzschner, L. (2024). The Effects of Urban Heat Island in Phnom Penh: A Case Study of Khan Boeung Keng Kang and Khan Pou Senchey. The Cambodia Journal of Basic and Applied Research, 6(1) 2024. https://doi.org/10.61945/cjbar.2024.6.1.00.
3. Se, B., & Katzschner, L. (2023). Urban Climate Recommendations for Urban Planning in Phnom Penh. 36th PLEA 2022 (Passive and Low Energy Architecture) Conference Proceedings. Santiago, Chile.