PhD Position Bio-receptive concrete for the NWO project Hidden-Biodiversity

Bio-receptive concrete supports spontaneous and abundant growth of specifically mosses but also other types of vegetation. In a number of currently running demonstrator projects spontaneous and abundant growth of moss on specifically developed bio-receptivity concrete products has been shown. In these demonstrators it was observed that specific concretes developed a dense and biodiverse moss layer within a period of 3–6 months.

Task of the PhD candidate in this project is to quantify the performance of the moss layer with respect to ecosystem services it delivers and to establish its ecological value to society. Targeted performance of moss-receptive concrete products address the following functional properties: removal of air contaminants, water retention, heat stress reduction, noise reduction, aesthetic appearance, moss biodiversity increase, provision of habitat for invertebrates, CO2 mitigation, biomass production and possibly the extension of service life of the supporting concrete products. Each functional property presumably increases the ecological value of the concrete product. Subsequently societal cost benefit assessment (SCBA) of the bio-receptive concrete products covering the economic, environmental, and societal value it delivers is also part of the task of the PhD candidate. Bio-receptive concrete products are thought to become important assets for climate change adaptation in cities.

The PhD project is part of the Hidden-Biodiversity project financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) under the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA). Hidden-Biodiversity comprises a diverse consortium of partners from universities, universities of applied sciences, municipalities, companies, nature organisations and other societal stakeholders. The candidate will work closely together with different consortium partners and in particular with three other PhD candidates, who will address soil animal diversity (VU Amsterdam), the role of trees as habitat for urban hidden biodiversity (Leiden University/Hortus botanicus Leiden), and Tree-associated soil biodiversity and urban topology (Naturalis, Leiden).

The PhD project will be carried out at the TU Delft, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Materials & Environment section. The candidate will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Henk Jonkers and Dr. Marc Ottelé.