Deadline: As Soon As Possible
The Ecological Systems Design Group of the Institute of Environmental Engineering at ETH Zurich are inviting applications for the PhD position on Environmental Assessment of Circular Future Cities.
About the PhD Programme
The group is an internationally leading research group in the field of modeling, analyzing and improving the resource efficiency and environmental performance of products and processes, new technologies, and consumption patterns from a systems perspective. They offer a friendly, inspiring and professional working environment.
This PhD position is part of the “Circular Future Cities”-project in the scope of the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) programme (a joint initiative between ETH Zurich and Singapore’s National Research Foundation). The “Circular Future Cities”-project aims to develop integrated frameworks and tools based on advanced digital technology for informing the design of circular buildings and deploying more effective resource solutions. Driving questions are:
How can circular cities contribute to the abatement of environmental impacts?How can tailored site-specific system solutions for circular housing be derived?
To address these questions, a close collaboration and exchange among civil and environmental engineers, material scientists, architects, urban designers and computer scientists based in both Singapore and Switzerland is envisaged. A special focus will be laid on developing a systems approach for the design of sustainable housing with circular material flows in urban areas by considering building materials, construction and circular design (keyword circular economy).
Duties and Responsibilities
- The work will be carried out in an interdisciplinary team at the Ecological Systems Design Group in close collaboration with other groups in the “Circular Future Cities”-project.
- An important goal of your work will be to develop new approaches for the combination of dynamic material flow analysis and life cycle assessment in order to assess environmental impacts of material flows and stocks in urban systems. Thereby, different highly resolved bottom-up models shall be advanced and combined; particularly, 3D-building stock models and building energy and construction-material models.
- Hotspot materials shall be identified, resources in the building stock spatially and temporally mapped and supply chains explicitly modelled to capture environmental effects in the hinterlands of settlements.
- Finally, the PhD work will comprise the environmental assessment of future circularity scenarios. An integral part of your work is publishing your results in peer-reviewed journals and presenting them at international conferences.
Eligibility
Applicants for this PhD position are expected to have the following attributes:
- Qualifications should include a university degree in environmental engineering, environmental sciences, civil engineering, computer sciences, geoinformation, urban design, architecture or similar studies with excellent grades. Interest and experience in modeling and programming is a must.
- A background in life cycle assessment and building stock/building energy modeling would be highly desirable. In-depth knowledge and experience in spatial analysis, geoinformation, big data, and/or data science would be beneficial.
- Your employment will be contracted according to standard regulations at ETH (funding secured for 4 years). The project will start as soon as possible or upon mutual agreement.
- You are expected to contribute to the teaching and research activity of the chair up to a maximum of 20% of your working time.
Application
To apply for this position, they look forward to receiving your online application with the following documents:
- a letter of motivation,
- CV,
- diplomas, and
- contact details of two referees.
They will start interviewing candidates as soon as possible. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
Please note that they exclusively accept applications submitted through their online application portal link below. Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.
Further questions about the position, Questions regarding these positions should be directed to Dr. Andreas Frömelt, froemelt@ifu.baug.ethz.ch or Prof. Stefanie Hellweg, hellweg@ifu.baug.ethz.ch (no applications).
For more information about the Ecological Systems Design Group, Visit the institution website
To apply for this Vacancy, Click here
