PhD Candidate in Digital Circular Wood

About the position

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.  The Ph.D. position will offer opportunities to develop high-quality research within the field of digitalization of circular construction.

The position will specifically focus on tracking and tracing of return wood at circWood project, which is funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN).

circWOOD will follow the life cycle of Norwegian recycled wood and find new ways to make use of this resource. The project will analyze the sustainability and environmental footprint of the wood-value chain based on strategies and new technologies that contribute to circularity. circWOOD will identify and investigate ways in which processes can be simplified, by using the latest methods for digital collection, analysis and sharing of data. In addition, the project will address the underlying political frameworks and study the economic impact they have. circWOOD is an integral part of sirkTRE that aims to lift the wood industry and the construction industry towards the holistic circular, green shift.

This Ph.d position will mainly focus on the digital tracking of circular wood value chain: develop technology for tracking the circular wood value chain by securely integrating and sharing  information from different stakeholders on one platform, to improve process-tracking and decision-making at both national/regional and product levels.

The Ph.D. candidate will be a member of the group of a digital twin for a sustainable built environment at NTNU and will tightly cooperate with other Ph.D./post-docs in projects and research groups at the department.

You will report to the head of department.

Duties of the position

• Examine data source and collecting data for circular wood value chain in the construction industry.
• Developing a method for fusing the data fusion, sharing and protection to tracing and tracking the value chain of circular wood for sustainability assessment and policy-making.
• Developing a digital twin platform at the micro and macro level to track property, quality, quantity, and location of used wood from existing buildings to the next life and further analyze the product’s circular process.
• Within the project, a small prototype and experimental validation of the digital twin in the wood industry will be performed.

Required selection criteria

• You must have a professionally relevant background in Civil engineering, Computer Science and technology, or computer system engineering.
• Your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian degree program, where 120 credits are obtained at master's level
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's doctoral program (https://www.ntnu.edu/studies/phiv )

Applicants must have fluent skills in both written and oral English. Non-English native speaker applicants who do not have master in Europe must provide evidence of good English language skills, written and spoken. The following tests can be used as such documentation: TOEFL, IELTS or Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) or Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE). Minimum scores are: TOEFL: 600 (paper-based test), 92 (Internet-based test); IELTS: 6.5, with no section lower than 5.5 (only Academic IELTS test accepted); CAE/CPE: grade B or A. In extraordinary circumstances, formal documentation of language skills can be relinquished. In such cases, the candidate’s language skills will be assessed in a personal interview

Preferred selection criteria

• Academic publication in relevant field.
• Skilled experience in GIS, BIM, and digital twin development.
• Experience in game engines, such as UNREAL, UNITY, OMNIVERSE, etc.
• Experience in programming skills, block chain and artificial intelligence will be weighed
• Experience with semantic web

Personal characteristics

• The candidate must be independent, have great work capacity and enthusiasm for research. 
• The candidate is expected to contribute to a good research and work environment. 
• Personal qualities such as creativity, analytical, and structured reasoning, as well as the ability to carry out projects will be considered in the selection process.  
• The applicant must be motivated to work closely with teams and external partners
• Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities.

We offer

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 501 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3 years .

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in engineering(https://www.ntnu.edu/studies/phiv )   within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants , and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

The position is subject to external funding.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include : 

• CV and certificates
• transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees. If you have not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted.
• A copy of the master's thesis. If you recently have submitted your master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Project proposal
• Name and contact information of three referees
• If you have publications or other relevant research work

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here . If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates. 

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

General information

Working at NTNU

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees’ needs.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources to promote equality.  (tas bort hvis ikke aktuelt)

The city of Gjøvik has a population of 30 000 and is a town known for its rich music and cultural life. The beautiful nature surrounding the city is ideal for an active outdoor life! The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world.

As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation . You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Associate Prof. Lizhen Huang, email [email protected]  . If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact  Senior Adviser Per David Nielsen, e-mail: [email protected]

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.  

Application deadline: 14.11.2022

NTNU - knowledge for a better world

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life.

Department of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering

Our profile of expertise can help to solve the world’s most important societal challenge: the development of sustainable solutions in industry and society. This profile includes research on modern industrial processes, use of new and recycled materials, new technological solutions and the application of new forms of organization and business models. The Department of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering  is one of eight departments in the Faculty of Engineering.

Deadline 14th November 2022
Employer NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality Gjøvik
Scope Fulltime
Duration Temporary
Place of service Gjøvik