Are you excited about shaping the wastewater systems of the future? Join us in a Dutch research project where your assessment of wastewater treatment innovations will support decision-making.
Job description
Innovations in wastewater treatment are emerging rapidly, offering exciting possibilities for meeting stricter water-quality standards, recovering valuable resources, and enabling safe water reuse. Yet even the most promising technologies carry uncertainties, from environmental and economic tradeoffs to questions about how they integrate with existing infrastructures, markets, and other elements of the broader socio-technical system. Therefore, as we shape the wastewater systems of the future, it is essential to understand not only how new technologies perform in technical terms, but also how these socio-technical uncertainties influence their impact across environmental, economic, and social dimensions.
Impact assessment methods, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing, are structured approaches that have been applied in the context of water treatment and resource recovery. However, these methods often rely on historical data and have limited attention to uncertainties inherent in early-stage technologies. This project aims to address that gap. Building on previous work with ex-ante and constructive sustainability assessments, seeks to align impact assessment methods with a Responsible Innovation perspective that fosters anticipation and critical reflection on the impacts and societal acceptability of emerging wastewater technologies.
This project is part of the larger NWO Blue Vantage project, bringing together various Dutch universities, waterboards, drinking water companies, and industrial partners. You will join a modelling and assessment‑oriented work package and collaborate closely with other PhDs, Postdocs, and EngDs working on legal and regulatory innovations, transformation pathways, new treatment technologies, and digital twins.
Research topic
You will investigate the environmental and economic impacts of emerging wastewater treatment innovations, exploring the trade-offs and socio-technical uncertainties that characterize early-stage technologies. Your work will support the development of future wastewater systems by translating these insights into a practical decision‑support tool.
Particularly, you will:
- Develop an assessment framework based on literature and stakeholder engagement.
- Develop, model, and assess implementation scenarios for selected wastewater treatment innovations based on data from, e.g. pilots, digital twins, and transformation pathways available within BlueVantage.
- Build a decision‑analysis tool to compare treatment options and support evidence‑based planning of wastewater treatment systems.
- Explore stakeholders’ acceptability of different implementation scenarios in the Dutch context.
Job requirements
Need-to-have:
- A Master’s degree in industrial ecology, environmental engineering, bioprocess engineering or a closely related field, with wastewater treatment experience/knowledge.
- Experience with Life Cycle Assessment and Techno-Economic Analysis.
- Experience or affinity with Participatory Research and Responsible Innovation.
- Strong communication skills to interact with supervisors, project partners and external stakeholders.
- Initiative and pragmatic spirit, hands-on approach to problem-solving.
Nice-to-have:
- Experience with modeling and uncertainty analysis.
- Experience with qualitative research methods and qualitative data analysis.
TU Delft
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!
The Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences
The Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences (CEG) is committed to outstanding international research and education in the field of civil engineering, applied earth sciences, traffic and transport, water technology, and delta technology. Our research feeds into our educational programmes and covers societal challenges such as climate change, energy transition, resource availability, urbanisation and clean water. Our research projects are conducted in close cooperation with a wide range of research institutions. CEG is convinced of the importance of open science and supports its scientists in integrating open science in their research practice. The Faculty of CEG comprises 28 research groups in the following seven departments: Materials Mechanics Management & Design, Engineering Structures, Geoscience and Engineering, Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Transport & Planning, Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management.
Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences.
Conditions of employment
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 €3059 - €3881 gross per month, from the first year to the fourth year based on a fulltime contract (38 hours), plus 8% holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.
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.
Will you need to relocate to the Netherlands for this job? TU Delft is committed to make your move as smooth as possible! The HR unit, Coming to Delft Service, offers information on their website to help you prepare your relocation. In addition, Coming to Delft Service organises events to help you settle in the Netherlands, and expand your (social) network in Delft. A Dual Career Programme is available, to support your accompanying partner with their job search in the Netherlands.
Additional information
For more information about this vacancy, please contact Mar Palmeros Parada, m.d.m.palmerosparada@tudelft.nl
Application procedure
Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply before 17 May 2026 via the application button and upload:
You can address your application to Mar Palmeros Parada.
Interviews are scheduled starting from June 8.
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.
Please note:
- You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.
- As part of knowledge security, TU Delft conducts a risk assessment during the recruitment of personnel. We do this, among other things, to prevent the unwanted transfer of sensitive knowledge and technology. The assessment is based on information provided by the candidates themselves, such as their motivation letter and CV, and takes place at the final stages of the selection process. When the outcome of the assessment is negative, the candidate will be informed. The processing of personal data in the context of the risk assessment is carried out on the legal basis of the GDPR: performing a public task in the public interest. You can find more information about this assessment on our website about knowledge security.
- Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.
