PhD Student in Urban Water Engineering

Luleå University of Technology experiences rapid growth with world-leading expertise within several research domains. We shape the future through innovative education and groundbreaking research results and drawing on our location in the Arctic region, we create global societal benefit. Our scientific and artistic research and education are carried out in close collaboration with international, national and regional companies, public actors and leading universities. Luleå University of Technology has an annual turnover of SEK 1.9 billion. Today, we have 1,815 staff and 19,155 students.

In the coming years, multi-billion investments will be made in large projects in Northern Sweden to create a fossil-free society both nationally and globally. Luleå University of Technology is involved in several of these cutting-edge research projects and in the societal transformation that they entail. We offer a broad range of courses and study programmes to match the skills in demand. We hope that you will help us to build the sustainable companies and societies of the future.The research group of Urban Water Engineering at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology is recruiting in the field of source-separating wastewater systems and greywater management. We are looking for two PhD students and a postdoctoral researcher to work in the projects AquaClim and GREW. The research in these projects will lead the way to the future resource-efficient wastewater system, challenge the current paradigm and provide new insights in how to close nutrient loops and re-use water.

The research group of Urban Water Engineering has a strong position in research and education within the area of urban water systems mainly regarding stormwater, wastewater management and sewer systems. The overall aim of the group is to contribute to the development of sustainable urban water systems. Being a part of the Urban Water Research Group implies working in an international and creative environment. The group has an extensive national and international collaboration network. The research education is well organized, with access to good PhD courses. For the PhD students a mixture of research methodologies is encouraged to be included in the PhD studies, such as experimental- and modeling studies or system analyses, which is a clear competitive edge of the Urban Water Research Group.

Project description
The research project you will work in, AquaClim, is a large project that finance five PhD students distributed at different universities in Sweden, and a research school of more than 70 PhD students. The subproject you will work with is to investigate in which contexts if would be suitable, from different sustainability perspectives, to implement source separated sewer systems, in both new and existing areas. The starting point is the transformation to new system solutions for new housing areas. Later, it would be interesting to study how the transformation of the existing sewer network to for instance vacuum systems could be carried be in already built areas. When the buildings in these areas are renovated, would it be possible to change the sewer system to another type of system and how would that transition look like.

This research will be carried out within the research subject of urban water engineering but is closely related to building and renovation. The selected methodology for the studies would in first place be system analyses and modeling where the transformation of the sewage system is analyzed based on criteria such as resource efficiency, climate impacts and costs. One hypothesis is that intermittent technical solutions will be part of this transformation.

Duties
You will work independently and plan and carry out studies, write scientific papers and your PhD thesis. In between the research tasks you take courses and take part in national and international conferences and seminars. This project will be carried out in cooperation with Swedish municipalities and water utilities. You will have two supervisors belonging to the research group Urban Water Engineering, have support from researchers from other subjects and also have one external supervisor at Lumire AB in Luleå.

Qualifications
To be employed as a PhD student you need a master within Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Natural Resources Engineering, or another comparable Master. Knowledge in Sanitary Engineering, especially sewer systems and wastewater treatment, is a merit, as well as well as experiences in system analyses, LCA, modeling and knowledge in Swedish. Good knowledge in English is a prerequisite since the research results are presented at international conferences and in international journals. Furthermore, it is important to be able to work independently, be able to lead your project forward and have the capability to penetrate new areas and questions. We expect you to have a driving license or take a driving license as soon as possible. You should be able provide two reference persons on request.

For further information about a specific subject see:
* General curriculum for PhD studies in Urban Water Engineering

Further information
Employment as a PhD student is limited to 4 years (up to maximum of 5 years, depending on the amount of department duty). Teaching and other department duties may be added up to a maximum of 20% of fulltime employment. Starting: According to agreement.

For further information about the position, please contact
Professor Annelie Hedström, +46 920 492309 Annelie.Hedstrom@ltu.se
Associate professor Inga Herrmann, +46 920 492528 Inga.Herrmann@ltu.se

Union representatives:
SACO-S Kjell Johansson (+46)920-49 1529 kjell.johansson@ltu.se and OFR-S Lars Frisk, 0920-49 1792 lars.frisk@ltu.se

In case of different interpretations of the English and Swedish versions of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence. For complete vacancy announcement please visit ltu.se/openposition.se.  

Application
We prefer that you apply for this position by clicking on the apply button below. The application should include a personal letter, CV and copies of verified diplomas from high school and universities. Mark your application with the reference number below. Your application, including diplomas, must be written in English or Swedish.

Reference number: 202-2023
Last day of application: March 20, 2023