Job description

PDEng-position

In the coming decades, countries are facing the enourmous task to renovate the existing building stock to improve the energy-efficiency of buildings and realize the transition to renewable energy, to achieve the goals of the world-wide climate agreement. In the Netherlands, the social housing sector constitutes a large part of the total housing stock and housing associations are playing a frontrunner role. Acceptance of residents to renovate their homes requires that chosen renovation measures are well-adapted to their demands and that residents who live in the same apartment building, street or neighborhood actively join in a collective decision-making process. We are looking for a candidate to work as part of a large team of researchers and practitioners in a national project that aims to develop solutions for the energy transition in the built environment.



The PDEng candidate will, in close cooperation with housing associations, investigate needs and preferences of residents regarding options for home renovations and develop a method to support collective decision-making. Residents' preferences are investigated via a combination of stated choice experiments, data analytics, interviews and focus groups. Discrete choice and econometric models are used to analyze the data quantitatively and to design tailor-made solutions. Group decision making processes are investigated and optimized to support collective decision-making of individual residents within larger units (complexes or neighborhoods). Finally, the candidate is involved in dissemination of scientific results, participation in project meetings and publication activities.



This position is part of a large transdisciplinary grant 'Energy Transition in the Built Environment'.



The team

You will join the Urban Systems and Real Estate Group of the Department of the Built Environment of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). TU/e is a world-leading research university specializing in engineering science & technology, and is the world's best-performing university in terms of cooperation between research and industry (#1 since 2009). The Department of the Built Environment is responsible for research and education in Architecture, Civil Engineering, Urban Planning, Urban Economics and Real Estate. The department has a strong focus on the highly socially relevant fields of smart cities and sustainable systems.



The Urban Systems and Real Estate group consists of three full professors, ten assistant and associate professors, several postdocs, about 40 PhD and PDEng candidates and support staff. The USRE group is world-renowned for its research on mobility, urban planning, urban economics, real estate and information systems in the built environment. The group has a strong focus on the analysis and modelling of individuals' behavior and use of smart technologies to create more sustainable solutions and healthy environments for people.



Smart Buildings & Cities PDEng program (www.tue.nl/sbc)

Smart Buildings & Cities (SB&C) is a two-year post-master technological designer program. The SB&C program wants to contribute to the transition towards smart, intelligent and sustainable cities where quality of life is high. This transition requires new solutions which can only be created through multiscale and transdisciplinary (design) approaches.



The program is fully in English and consists of two main parts. Half of the program involves post-master level education in the form of courses and design projects about design methods, entrepreneurship and professional skills. Furthermore, it includes several technical courses about topics relevant to SB&C. This part of the program also offers ample opportunity to develop professional skills. The other half of the program is dedicated to an individual design project in collaboration with a company. During this design project the trainee is supported by an advisor from the company and an advisor from the university. A business plan for implementation or marketing of the designed product or process is part of the final deliverables.



The SB&C program trains excellent and highly motivated MSc graduates to become highly qualified technological designers. After the two year program our trainees are technological designers with a broad technological understanding of the disciplines relevant to SB&C, who excel in their own discipline and who are able to work in multidisciplinary design teams, contribute to design issues outside their own core disciplines, integrate different technologies into new products and concepts, and who understand the commercial aspects of these innovative products and concepts. The trainee receives a Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng degree) after finishing the program successfully.



CCTO Certification

This program is recognized as a PDEng program by the CCTO, the Dutch certification institute for technological designer programs.

Job requirements

We are looking for

• an excellent and highly motivated candidate with a MSc degree in Building Science, Civil or Environmental Engineering, or equivalent,

• solid knowledge of social quantitative and qualitative research methods and data analysis is essential,

• an academic attitude in order to develop new technologies and perform applied research with an integral view on what is needed for the future built environment and users.

• good English writing skills; speaking the Dutch language is not a requirement but is an advantage.

Conditions of employment

We offer a fulltime traineeship (1.0 fte) of two years. The traineeship is a formal employment at the Eindhoven University of Technology according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (CAO-NU). Trainees receive a financial compensation according to this standard. Gross monthly salary: € 1913.



Trainees are provided with their own work place in the building of the Department of the Built Environment. The university provides all general modern facilities belonging to first class universities; mediation in housing, excellent sports facilities, language courses, modern digital library facilities etc.