PhD-position at the Maastricht Sustainability Institute in Circular Business Models and Ecosystems

27 May 2023
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Maastricht University (UM)

Research Field

Cultural studies
Physics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Netherlands

Application Deadline

29 Jun 2023 - 21:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Hours Per Week

38.0

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Maastricht Sustainability Institute (MSI) offers an exciting opportunity for a fulltime PhD position for four years in circular business models and ecosystems.

The PhD in circular business models and ecosystems will be funded through project DRASTIC which is about Demonstrating Real and Affordable Sustainable Building Solutions with Top-level whole life-cycle performance and Improved Circularity.

Project DRASTIC is a collaborative Horizon Europe project involving several European academic and business partners, led by VITO (Belgium) and with Maastricht University as one of the key academic partners. DRASTIC is about designing sustainable buildings with reduced embodied energy and carbon emissions, high life-cycle performance, and reduced life-cycle costs. The project addresses systemic changes in a rapidly evolving EU building and construction sector. It aims to accelerate the circular processes of constructing, renovating, reusing, and relocating new and existing products to empower local ecosystems to make the CE transition by implementing Circular Systemic Solutions (CSS). This is done through providing frameworks and a digital platform to assess, trace, and validate the reduction in GHG emissions throughout the lifecycle(s) and by recommending new business models that accelerate market uptake. DRASTIC revolves around 5 demonstrators each with a different focus on the building sector, in France, Germany, Spain, Norway and Estonia.

The PhD candidate is expected to conduct novel research with a focus on novel circular business models and ecosystems in the building sector related to the project. Objectives of the work e.g., include:

• Investigating stakeholders for decarbonisation processes of innovative solutions in the construction industry that contribute to a more circular economy.
• Addressing drivers and barriers to reuse in the construction industry.
• Creating an innovative circular business model for the construction industry to address reuse and decarbonisation.
• Creating awareness of to increase the demand for circular solutions to fasten the market uptake.

The candidate will be working in a transdisciplinary team, led by Prof. Nancy Bocken, based at Maastricht Sustainability Institute (MSI), Maastricht University, and will be co-supervised by Dr Veronique Vasseur at MSI.  The candidate is expected to contribute to teaching activities in the field of Sustainable Business at the department, taking max. 20% of his/her time. We offer a dynamic and challenging job in an internationally oriented organisation. MSI has strong collaborations with other institutes and departments at Maastricht University and elsewhere.

Requirements
Specific Requirements

We are looking for:

• Eligible candidates must have successfully completed a Master in relevant areas to the project, including, for example: Sustainable and Circular Business, the Sustainable or Circular Built Environment, Sustainability Science, Science and Technology Studies (STS) or Innovation Studies (with a focus on sustainability).
• Someone who has a record of high academic achievement (e.g. good grade for final dissertation, other research papers and/or involvement in other academic activities).
• A candidate with a good competence in written and spoken English.
• Strong collaborative and networking skills are desirable.
• Affinity with / or experience with collaborating in multi-disciplinary and international teams.
• Affinity with / or experience with environmental sustainability issues in the built environment and sustainable / circular business model issues (e.g., demonstrated via a relevant dissertation or group work).
• Someone who is able to start in the position fully by September 1th, 2023.

Applicants are expected to include a concise CV, and a motivation letter (max 1 page) which makes reference to their background and dissertation in the field of Sustainable or Circular Business and/or the Sustainable or Circular Built Environment. In addition, a 2–3-page research proposal related to the topic will need to be submitted (with references and reference list, using APA-referencing style). This is to get a broad idea about how you would be addressing this topic.

Additional Information
Benefits

The full-time position is offered for four years (1+3), with a yearly evaluation.

Remuneration will be according to standard salary levels for PhD students starting with a gross monthly salary of € 2.541 with a yearly growth to € 3.247 (based on a full-time appointment). Each year the standard salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.

In addition to good primary employment conditions, UM also offers an attractive package of secondary employment conditions.

You should be willing to move to (the vicinity of) Maastricht.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website www.maastrichtuniversity.nl  > About UM > Working at UM .

Selection process

Please send your attachments only as PdF.

You can respond to this vacancy by sending your motivation letter and CV (as pdf file), stating the vacancy number AT2023.232, by email to: recruitment-sbe@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM, and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students. We encourage you to apply for this position.

Please note, the system cannot upload the following attachments (xyz.zip .htm .html).

Additional comments

For more information please send an email to:  Veronique.Vasseur@maastrichtuniversity.nl  or Nancy.Bocken@maastrichtuniversity.nl

To apply at this vacancy, press the button ‘apply now’ to see the application procedure.

Website for additional job details

https://www.academictransfer.com/328420/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Maastricht University

Country

Netherlands

City

Maastricht

Postal Code

6211 ME

Street

Tapijnkazerne 11

Where to apply

Website

https://www.academictransfer.com/328420/phd-position-at-the-maastricht-sustaina…

Contact

City

Maastricht

Website

http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/

Street

Minderbroedersberg 4

Postal Code

6211 LK

STATUS: EXPIRED