Phd Researcher on Responsive Information Exchanges for Infrastructures-in-transitions

This project is funded by NWO (Principal Investigator: Dr. Daan Schraven), and is a collaboration between the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CITG), Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management (TBM) in TU Delft, as well the Erasmus Initiative on the Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity at Erasmus University Rotterdam. This PhD position will be supervised by Dr. Daan Schraven (CITG), Dr. Martijn Leijten (TBM) and Prof. dr. Paul W Chan (ABE, Main Promotor).

Infrastructure development is a multi-actor endeavour prone to investment lock-ins. Agencies often wait for others to innovate, leading to and reinforcing conservatism. Policies have also recognised the need to connect multiple agencies across different sectors (e.g. energy, transport, water) to build responsive infrastructures for sustainability and sociotechnical transitions. To address these challenges, ADEPT aims to analyse and redesign ways in which multiple infrastructure agencies can come together to explore and exploit interdependencies through cross-agency information exchanges. ADEPT takes a system-of-systems approach to answer the question of how multiple infrastructure agencies can connect their long-term visions to address infrastructures-in-transitions while adapting to everyday needs of and short-term pressures on the infrastructural system. ADEPT will be delivered through three work packages that (1) understand and redesign activity systems for multiple agencies to work together towards building responsive infrastructures; (2) develop a framework of implicit communication exchanges so that stigmergic cues between multiple agencies can happen without explicit effort from parties, and; (3) propose institutional arrangements and capacities that facilitate new activity systems for cross-agency communication.

In this collaborative research project, one PhD researcher and one postdoc researcher (both based at TU Delft) will be appointed. The PhD researcher will address Work Packages 1 and 2. We are looking for candidates with a strong affinity with transdisciplinary research, who can combine theoretical innovation and scientific rigour with an interest in driving societal change.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct transdisciplinary research that contributes to the project deliverables and the writing of a PhD thesis;
• Engage effectively with key stakeholders on the project and support their work;
• Be an active member of the network of infra partners, including Alliander, Rijswaterstaat, Prorail and Vitens;
• Undertake relevant coursework and other training;
• Contribute to the writing of high-quality, high-impact publications;
• Participate in the general intellectual life of the Design and Construction Management Section in the Department of Management in the Built Environment, and the community of the Construction Management and Engineering programme.