Postdoc position in Vulnerability of Buildings in Dense Urban Areas to Climate-Induced Extremes

Challenge: Enhance the resilience of buildings to climate extremes
Change: Develop robust methods for assessing building vulnerability

Impact: Improve urban community preparedness to climate change

Jobdescription
Delft University of Technology is hiring a Postdoc on “Vulnerability of Buildings in Dense Urban Areas to Climate-Induced Extremes”. The Postdoc position is part of the Horizon Europe MULTICARE project.

You will develop multi-risk decision-making frameworks to aid in the selection and design of resilient building technologies for existing buildings. This project will focus on assessing the vulnerability of densely populated urban environments to climate-induced extremes, such as heatwaves. A comprehensive risk-based approach will be defined to integrate multi-domain losses, while also considering human factors and the exposure risks posed by neighboring buildings. Vulnerability models will be created to support the selection of resilient building designs and retrofits. Real-time data collected from outdoor weather stations, indoor environmental sensors, and thermal cameras will be utilized to refine these models, thereby contributing to data-driven vulnerability assessments. By leveraging these workflows, you will play a pivotal role in the development and demonstration of building technologies (such as façade solutions) that significantly enhance the preparedness and responsiveness of buildings to extreme events.You will have the opportunity to apply the research and innovations on a real pilot case in Amsterdam, working with physical models, sensors and monitoring with the goal of solving real challenges in the scale of the city.

You will collaborate with two research groups at the Faculty of Architecture & the Built Environment, namely: the Sustainable Architectural Materials & Structures group and the Building Physics group. In addition, you will hold a research fellow position at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute), where they will benefit from a dynamic, interdisciplinary research environment focused on urban challenges and innovation. At AMS Institute, they will be part of an inclusive team, where they will work together with project managers and other researchers in a non-hierarchical environment. To benefit from the research fellow position, you are required to be at AMS office (in Amsterdam) at least once a week (on Thursdays). The position is funded for a duration of 24 months (with a possible extension up to 33 months), during which you will (i) undertake research on their Postdoc topic and (ii) assist with the educational and research agenda of MULTICARE and the host groups. The project will offer opportunities to collaborate with several industrial and academic partners involved in the MULTICARE project, namely: human comfort and building physics; façade engineering; climate design; probability and uncertainty analysis; risk modelling.

About the MULTICARE project
This large international project aims to create a more resilient built environment by providing digital tools for assessing, improving and responding to future climate threats, and by delivering technological construction solutions to improve the resilience of buildings. In particular, the project will develop (i) novel multi-criteria decision-support frameworks and a suite of digital services to facilitate the whole-life cycle multi-hazard resilience assessment, design and management across material-to-urban scales: (ii) low-carbon technologies to upgrade the resilience of buildings against multiple hazards, with a focus on climate-related extremes. The project results will be demonstrated in large-scale pilots (3 buildings, 4 neighborhoods/cities) in different European countries with diverse conditions.

Requirements
For this position you need to have:

• A MSc degree in Architectural Engineering / Building Technology, Civil Engineering, Building Physics, Computer Science or a related discipline.
• Knowledge on decision making procedures, façade technology, building physics, human comfort, building energy performance simulation.
• Experience in data collection, management and analysis.
• Experience with programming (e.g. Python).
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• The ability to work in a team, take initiatives, and be results-oriented.
• You enjoy performing research. You are independent, self-motivated and eager to learn.
• You are keen to develop new fundamental knowledge and engineer novel solutions for addressing real-world societal challenges.

Furthermore it would be nice, but not mandatory, if:

• You have knowledge on risk assessment.
• You have basic knowldege on parametric design.
• You have experience with thermal imaging, and microclimate measurements using mobile temperature / humidity sensors.
• You have knowledge on the latest innovations and tools on LCA assessments and in EU Directives and ISOs on energy performance.     

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
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!

Faculty Architecture & the Built Environment
The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment has a leading role in education and research worldwide. The driving force behind the faculty’s success is its robust research profile combined with the energy and creativity of its student body and academic community. It is buzzing with energy from early in the morning until late at night, with four thousand people studying, working, designing, conducting research and acquiring and disseminating knowledge. Our faculty has a strong focus on 'design-oriented research’, which has given it a top position in world rankings.
Staff and students are working to improve the built environment with the help of a broad set of disciplines, including architectural design, urban planning, building technology, social sciences, process management, and geo-information science. The faculty works closely with other faculties, universities, private parties, and the public sector, and has an extensive network in the Netherlands as well as internationally.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.

Conditions of employment

• The position is funded for a duration of 2 years (with a possible extension up to 33 months).
• A job of 36-40 hours per week (1,0 FTE).

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Additional information
For additional information about the position, please contact Dr. Simona Bianchi via e-mail: s.bianchi@tudelft.nl.

For more information about the application procedure, please contact Nynke Schik, HR advisor, via e-mail: recruitment-BK@tudelft.nl.

The position will remain open until 22 December 2024 (local Dutch time + 2 hrs).

Application procedure
Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply no later than 22 December 2024 via the application button and upload the following documents:

• Detailed CV - highlight examples of projects and/or achievements that demonstrate skills relevant to the advertised position.
• Motivational letter (no more than 600 words) addressing your interests and describing how your experience and plans fit with the position.
• Contact information of two referees (letters not required at this stage).
• PhD and MSc thesis, and one notable publication you have authored.

Please note:

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.
• A pre-employment screening can be part of the selection procedure.
• A knowledge security check will be part of the selection procedure (for details page 45: national knowledge security guidelines).
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.