You will collaborate in the Horizon Europe project REINCARNATE, together with TU Delft colleagues and a large consortium of European partners. The REINCARNATE project intends to develop the technical and social means to establish a reincarnation practice within the building sector that allows to:

• maximise the cumulative virtues of a building, a building product, or a building material during its life.
• establish a transparent track record of these virtues.
• use this track record to ensure that a building, building product, or building material can be reused at a high quality in an afterlife.

The PhD project will focus on developing concepts for the adaptive reuse of functionally obsolete buildings to extend their functional lifetime, incorporating circular economy principles. The project should furthermore develop knowledge about possibilities to reuse real estate space for different purposes. A specific focus will be to develop knowledge about how buildings can be upgraded to respond to changing requirements with respect to occupant comfort and operational requirements across real estate portfolios, applying circular decision making for real estate assets. Although adaptive reuse itself can be considered as a circular approach, past approaches have not considered the full potential of circular building approaches, by for example considering alternative (off site) re-use purposes of building components as well as re-usability and adaptability of the building after the initial intervention. Circular principles should be added to existing concepts for adaptive re-use. The research will contribute to the aim of the REINCARNATE project to develop design and renovation process guides for continuous upgrading of buildings throughout their life-cycle. A decision model will be developed to support the choice between circular adaptive re-use strategies.

• Graduated or will graduate within 3 months with an MSc in Architecture, Real Estate or related disciplines;
• Excellent English language skills;
• Knowledge of the Dutch language is a plus, because we will conduct case studies and interviews with the Dutch practice;
• Good academic writing skills and excellent communication skills;
• Being able to organise your work independently;
• Curious and critical mind;
• Keen to work together in an interdisciplinary and international team;
• Interested in doing research with a clear application of the knowledge in industry.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2443 per month in the first year to € 3122 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. For international applicants we offer the Coming to Delft Service and Partner Career Advice to assist you with your relocation.

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context. At TU Delft we embrace diversity and aim to be as inclusive as possible (see our Code of Conduct). Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Architecture & the Built Environment

The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment has a leading role in education and research worldwide. The driving force behind the faculty’s success is its robust research profile combined with the energy and creativity of its student body and academic community. It is buzzing with energy from early in the morning until late at night, with four thousand people studying, working, designing, conducting research and acquiring and disseminating knowledge. Our faculty has a strong focus on 'design-oriented research’, which has given it a top position in world rankings.

Staff and students are working to improve the built environment with the help of a broad set of disciplines, including architectural design, urban planning, building technology, social sciences, process management, and geo-information science. The faculty works closely with other faculties, universities, private parties, and the public sector, and has an extensive network in the Netherlands as well as internationally.

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