PhD Candidate in environmental analysis of a circular built environment

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At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

About the job

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.

A PhD position in environmental analysis of a circular built environment is now open at the Energy and Environment Group at the Department of Architecture and Technology, NTNU. The Energy and Environment Group lead centres/projects like the Research centre on zero emission neighbourhoods in smart cities (ZEN), syn.ikia – Sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods, and the Green Deal ARV project on Climate positive circular communities, and use real demonstration projects and our laboratory facilities (like the ZEB laboratory) extensively in our research. The group currently comprises 10 senior staff members (professors and associate professors), and around 20 research fellows (research assistants, PhD candidates, and post-doctoral researchers). The duration of the position is 3 or 4 years.

The construction sector urgently needs to transition towards a circular economy to achieve sustainability goals. This includes ensuring climate neutrality and minimizing negative impacts of pollution and biodiversity loss. Key strategies for increased sustainability include material-efficiency measures such as material-efficient building design, material circularity, design for circularity, or using materials that store biogenic carbon. There is a need for better quantification of the environmental implications of novel circular and material-efficient practices.

The main objective will be to improve existing methods for evaluating the environmental consequences of material-efficient solutions for buildings and infrastructure and apply them to relevant case studies. Research will be highly data-driven through quantitative research and model development. The work will be linked to ongoing activities in International Energy Agency TCP Cities - Task Climate Neutral Districts.

The immediate leader is head of department. The place of duty is Trondheim.

Duties of the position

• Advance the modelling of material-efficiency strategies for a more sustainable built environment.
• Model development and documentation.
• Data processing, and analysis of geospatially explicit datasets.
• Publishing in high-quality peer-reviewed journals.
• Presentation of results at international conferences.

Required selection criteria

• You must have a Master’s degree in Engineering, Architecture, Natural Science, Industrial Ecology, Environmental Science, Computer Science, or similar relevant to the position.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's doctoral program in architecture.
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• Good programming skills in one or several languages (e.g., Python, MATLAB, R, C++, Fortran, etc.).
• Master students in the end stage of their studies can apply.
• Excellent written and oral English language skills
• Strong analytical skills and capabilities, proven through courses and or/thesis deliverables.
• Motivation to work on the given topic.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Phd candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate and Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant

Preferred selection criteria

• Good understanding of fundamentals in mathematics and physics.
• Competence on data processing and parsing, and an ability to work with large datasets.
• Experience with geographical information systems (e.g, through programming or software such as ArcGIS, QGIS, etc.).
• Previous experience with Life Cycle Assessment, Material Flow Analysis, Building Stock Modelling, and/or other environmental sustainability analysis methods is an advantage.
• It is considered a strength if the candidate also speaks a Scandinavian language.

Personal characteristics

• Strongly motivated to work on the topic.
• The successful candidate will become part of a multidisciplinary research environment. The candidate is expected to embrace this setting and be a true team player.
• Self-driven with a strong ability to work independently when required.
• Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities.

Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities.

We offer

• exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment
• an open and inclusive work environment with dedicated colleagues
• favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• employee benefits

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 532 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3 years or 4 years with 25 % teaching duties.

AAppointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in Architecture within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

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The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must be attached to the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include:

• CV and certificates
• transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees. If you have not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted.
• A copy of the master's thesis. If you recently have submitted your master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Research plan or project proposal (max 3 pages incl. references), indicating your view of the main research challenges in the area of the position, the methodological approach and how this is relevant to your own background and the above research objectives.
• The list of publications or other relevant research work if applies.
• If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well.

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills, please attach this as well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates.

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

General information

Working at NTNU

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees’ needs.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources to promote equality.

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The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

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As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Associate Professor Jan Sandstad Næss, email jan.s.nass@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR Advisor Natalia Swahn, Natalia.swahn@ntnu.no.

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.

Application deadline: 04.08.2024