Doctoral student in Lighting Design in Architecture

KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has grown to become one of Europe’s leading technical and engineering universities, as well as a key centre of intellectual talent and innovation. We are Sweden’s largest technical research and learning institution and home to students, researchers and faculty from around the world. Our research and education covers a wide area including natural sciences and all branches of engineering, as well as architecture, industrial management, urban planning, history and philosophy.

Third-cycle subject: Architecture 

As a PhD student in the program of architecture you will join the transdisciplinary outdoor lighting design research project: “NorDark: Mediating the needs of people and nature in Nordic after-dark environments”. This project, led by Ute Besenecker at KTH, involves collaboration with Tyréns Lighting Design, and academic partners at Aalto University, NTNU Ålesund, Lund University, Stockholm University and SLU Uppsala/Umeå.

Urban green areas are a vital part of a city, and electrical lighting plays an important role in after-dark outdoor environments enabling pedestrian use for commuting and recreation; but it also has an impact on flora and fauna. Two outdoor lighting design testbeds are planned, one in Sweden and one in Norway to map and analyse lighting qualities, human responses, and wildlife behaviour throughout the Nordic dark season. The project also includes designing, simulating, implementing and testing lighting aimed at mitigating the needs of pedestrians with nature, in accordance with the sustainable development goals set forth by Agenda 2030. With the transition to new lighting technologies, there is an opportunity to rethink sustainable lighting solutions. This project aims to develop, test and critically evaluate lighting design options and strategies, enabled by LED technology.

As PhD student, you will be part of the project team, and contribute to grounding the project conceptually as well as conducting on site fieldwork, design explorations, and case study investigations.

Supervision:Ute Besenecker is proposed to supervise the doctoral student. Decisions are made on admission

To be admitted to postgraduate education (Chapter 7, 39 § Swedish Higher Education Ordinance), the applicant must have basic eligibility in accordance with either of the following:

• passed a second cycle degree (for example a master's degree),
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 second-cycle higher education credits, or
• acquired, in some other way within or outside the country, substantially equivalent knowledge

In addition to the above, there is also a mandatory requirement for English equivalent to English B/6, read more here

In order to succeed as a doctoral student at KTH you need to be goal oriented and persevering in your work. During the selection process, candidates will be assessed upon their ability to:

• independently pursue his or her work
• collaborate with others,
• have a professional approach and
• analyse and work with complex issues.
• work in a transdisciplinary research environment

After the qualification requirements, great emphasis will be placed on personal competency and suitability for studies at doctoral level in the subject. Documented experience in architectural outdoor lighting design or engineering is a prerequisite.

Only those admitted to postgraduate education may be employed as a doctoral student. The total length of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education in four years ' time. An employed doctoral student can, to a limited extent (maximum 20%), perform certain tasks within their role, e.g. training and administration. A new position as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, and then the employment may be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

You will find contact information for union representatives on KTH's website .

You will find contact information for doctoral section on the section's website .

Apply for the position and admission through KTH's recruitment system. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the advertisement.

Applications must be received at the last closing date at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/entral European Summer Time).

Applications must include the following elements:

• CV including your relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Application letter with a brief description of why you want to pursue research studies, about what your academic interests are and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. (Maximum 2 pages long)
• Copies of diplomas and grades from previous university studies and certificates of fulfilled language requirements (see above) . Translations into English or Swedish if the original document is not issued in one of these languages.Copies of originals must be certified.
• Representative publications or technical reports. For longer documents, please provide a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

For information about processing of personal data in the recruitment process please read here.

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Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.