TU Delft is a top-tier university and we have been growing in our investment in the field of Artificial intelligence. Within the University, the Management in the Built Environment (MBE) Department strives for a sustainable built environment in which the interests of the end user and other stakeholders are the starting point. MBE focuses on solutions for developing and managing buildings, portfolios and urban areas and training the next generation of managers in the built environment. MBE is part of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. The PhD will be hired by MBE, but positioned in the Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions in Amsterdam, of which TU Delft is founding partner. The PhD candidate will collaborate with the PhD candidates and other researchers involved in the Future-Proof Living Environment project. The AMS Institute offers a thriving transdisciplinary community in the city centre of Amsterdam. The PhD candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment and is therefore also expected to be regularly in Delft for courses, meetings and events.

We are looking for a PhD candidate who is going to be involved in a programme “Future-Proof Living Environment: Transition towards zero-emission, circular and climate proof buildings and infrastructures”, funded by the National Growth Fund in the Netherlands. The PhD position is part of the sub programme “Living Lab Learning Environments”. Aim is to develop a scientifically grounded co-creative approach to innovation which is reproduceable and scalable. It aims to do so by combining testing and implementation of new technologies with social innovation in living labs, in which social innovation is about enabling flexible and reproducible way of learning. Within this focus, this PhD position will hone in on the role of data and digital innovation, including Artificial Intelligence, in planning, design and decision-making for a future-proof living environment. In the context of the built environment, there has been an increasing focus on digitalisation and digital tools recently to understand the transformative changes in cities. However, understanding the complexities and interdependencies between different scales and levels is difficult to predict and conceptualise in practice. In that sense it is important to understand how digitalization/Artificial Intelligence/data can help to make the choices between priorities within cities and within neighbourhoods, bringing also the multi-scalar interdependencies of choices into focus. In this PhD, we aim to use urban experiments/living labs to gain understanding of how an experimental approach on multiple spatial levels can help to make a multi-level transition in the built environment. In other words, this PhD position explores how digitalization/digital tools can be supportive in deciding on what transformative changes to make in the built environment..

• Must have completed a relevant MSc degree in architecture and the built environment, industrial design, computer science or an applied sciences field relevant to the PhD research;
• Must have knowledge and interest in digital technologies appropriate to planning, design and decision-making in the built environment;
• Nice to have knowledge of and preferably experience with co-design processes;
• Nice to have an affinity with teaching and guiding students;
• Must have proficiency in expressing yourself verbally and in writing in English (Dutch speaking is not essential but you must be flexible enough to work in a bi-lingual – i.e. Dutch and English – setting (it is important to demonstrate willingness to learn the Dutch language);
• Must have the ability to work in a team and take initiative;
• Nice to have BIM/modelling knowledge;
• Must have interest in interdisciplinary research and contributing to the intellectual life of the MBE  department and the AMS Institute. 

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.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

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 € 2770 per month in the first year to € 3539 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 a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. 

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

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 as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

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.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built.

Department of Urbanism
The department of Urbanism is one of the four departments at the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. The department sees Urbanism as an interdisciplinary planning and design activity that focuses on the (re)creation of sustainable urban landscapes aimed toward climate adaptability, circularity, social equity, and ecologically inclusive urbanisation at all scales. Urbanism has an international reputation for academic research, scholarship and education built on the Delft Approach to Urbanism. This is reflected in our mission: to advance, share and apply knowledge on how to adapt the built environment to societal and environmental changes, and on how to apply contextual design, planning and engineering strategies and interventions with impact for a better society.

For more information about this vacancy, contact Aksel Ersoy, assistant professor, via email: a.ersoy@tudelft.nl.

For more information about the application process, contact Paulien Stastra, HR advisor,
email recruitment-BK@tudelft.nl.

The position will remain open until June 9, 2024 (local Dutch time + 2 hrs). You must apply via the "Apply now" button. Applications via email will not be processed.