PhD Scholarship – Enabling the Prevention of Rebound Effects by Simulation and Design

Do you want to break new ground and push the boundaries of sustainable design towards higher impact? 

If you have a MSc in (1) Design & Innovation, Behavioural Design, Product Design & Development, Sustainable Design, Systems Design, or related areas or (2) Modelling and Simulation of Dynamic Systems (i.e., System Dynamics) or related areas and you want to work at the very front of the new scientific revolution within design for sustainability, this is a job for you to thrive. 

At DTU Construct you will break new ground at the absolute forefront for enabling the design of sustainable solutions and be an active part of REBOUNDLESS, a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant project, awarded by the European Research Council.  

Your main goal will be to drive a paradigm shift in design science to enable the prevention of rebound effects (i.e., unintended consequences of interventions that arise due to behavioural and systemic changes, which undermine ca. 40% of all potential sustainability gains) by design.  

You will have the opportunity to join top interdisciplinary scientists from all over the world and make a personal impact in solving some of the most critical challenges the world is facing. Never before has there been a stronger global focus on solving the pressing sustainability challenges, but the expected positive societal impact will not be achieved unless rebound effects are prevented. 

Responsibilities and qualifications

We are looking for a talented early-stage scientist with a collaborative mindset and critical thinking backed by excellent communication ability in written and spoken English. Equally important is it that you like to create results based on knowledge sharing and positive teamwork. 

(1) Unveiling design strategies that can enable the prevention of rebound effects.

Your focus will be to drive the identification of design strategies that can prevent rebound effects at the product, product/service-system, and socio-technical system levels. 

More specifically, you will focus on expanding the current understanding of how design decisions give rise to rebound effects, further advancing current knowledge of rebound effects with a strong sustainability, design, and behavioural perspective.  

(2) Modelling and simulating the occurrence of rebound effects

Your focus will be to support the modelling and simulation of rebound effects triggered by efficiency, effectiveness and sufficiency design strategies at the product, business model, and socio-technical systems levels, building upon systemic mechanisms of rebound effects across four needs (housing, nutrition, mobility, and consumables). 

Application procedure

To apply, please read the full job advertisement, by clicking the ‘Apply’ button