PhD student position in Environmental assessment of urban mining strategies

Are you interested in circular economy and the building sector? Are you currious about applying AI for sustainable cities? We offer a Phd position that will allow deepening your knowledge and actively contribute to developing methods for circular economy (CE) strategies in the built environment.

Project description
The PhD position is part of a project funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF). The main goal of the project is to develop a novel method supporting reuse and recycling of urban construction materials based on digital twins to save greenhouse gas emissions. The project includes two PhD and a postdoc position. This second PhD position will focus on the development of robust environmental assessment framework of urban Circular Economy strategies using Life Cycle Assessment and future scenario modelling. 

Information about the division and the department
The position is part of the Sustainable Building Research group at the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering (ACE). ACE represents a broad field of knowledge theory ranging from natural sciences and engineering to social sciences, humanities and design-based artistic research. These different perspectives enable strong interdisciplinary development and a broad research approach to different aspects of sustainability. The research will be carried out in close collaborations with the Digital Twin City Centre at Chalmers and its partners such as the City of Gothenburg and leading architecture practices including White or Liljewall, amongst others.

Major responsibilities
The candidate is expected to independently review existing literature and approaches on environmental assessment of CE in an urban context and then develop a novel framework. This should match the stakeholders' needs, the available data, and the future development scenarios. The framework shall be tested using real case studies. Interdisciplinary collaboration with other PhD students and colleagues at Chalmers, for example in the Digital Twin City Centre, and the practitioners in the reference group of the project is very important. The position may include teaching or other departmental duties up to a maximum of 20%. The intended start of the project is August 1st, but the starting date for the candidate is flexible.

You will be employed by Chalmers on a full-time temporary contract. The employment is limited to four years’ effective time on the PhD project, plus additional time spent on teaching and other departmental duties up to a maximum of five years. The employment is tied to successful progress of the doctoral studies, as evaluated throughout the project.

Qualifications
Applicants should have a Master’s degree in Architectural, Civil, or Environmental Engineering, Industrial Ecology, or a similar field, with a strong interest in digitalisation. We are seeking an innovative, self-motivated candidate with brilliant analytic skills, who will be able to work independently in interdisciplinary teams and pursue new ways. Previous expertise in environmental assessment (e.g. LCA) and computational skills are therefore very important. The position requires excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. As important merits will be considered knowledge of digital methods and tools such as Grasshopper, GIS, BIM and experiences in applying machine learning. The person assigned to the position is expected to acquire sufficient knowledge to be able to communicate in Swedish in two years.

You are expected to take initiatives, work independently when needed and take responsibility for your work. Furthermore, the project interacts closely with adjacent disciplines and industrial partners. Thus you need to have significant collaborative skills. Finally, you need to be able to disseminate results and knowledge within existing and new networks. This includes academia, industry, and society at large.

The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in English. If Swedish is not your native language, Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Contract terms
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

We offer
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20230012 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.

CV: (Please name the document: CV, Family name, Ref. number)
• CV
• Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust.
• Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)
1-3 pages where you:
• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous experience of relevance for the position (e.g. education, thesis work and, if applicable, any other research activities)
• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Other documents:
• Copies of bachelor and/or master’s thesis.
• Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates, e.g. TOEFL test results.

Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form. 

Application deadline: 28-02-2023

For questions, please contact:
Associate Professor Alexander Hollberg
E-mail: alexander.hollberg@chalmers.se

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***