PhD Candidate in Road and Transport Engineering

About the position

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.

The job is a full-time position for Doctoral Candidate (DC) in the field of road and transport engineering. You will be a key resource to the project “Sustainable Maintenance of paved Areas for year-round Accessibility for All users (ACCESS4ALL)”. The goal of this project is to develop sustainable maintenance methods and strategies for urban paved areas. These methods and strategies are needed to ensure year-round accessibility of all users and economic sustainability, while reducing CO2eq.-emissions. Today, many municipalities in cold climates struggle to reach their CO2eq.-emissions targets, within their economical constrains, without sacrificing accessibility and safety for all users. Your research will ultimately help and enable municipalities to make better decisions and design their winter maintenance of the facilities to ensure that all users have safe access to the transportation facilities in urban spaces. This position is part of the Marie Skłodwska-Curie Doctoral Network GreeNexUS, an EU funded training program for 10 doctoral candidates.  More information about the GreeNexUS network and the project ACCESS4ALL can be found below.

The project will take place at the Roads, Railways and Transport research group at the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The group consists of nine permanent faculty staff and about 25 temporarily employees (doctoral candidates / post-doctoral fellows / research associates). In the group we have a long history of doing research within accessibility for all types of users (universal design) and maintenance of transportation infrastructure. Secondments are scheduled at Trondheim Municipality and at the Research Institute of Sweden, (RISE). These secondments provide the Doctoral Candidate a more practical and wider perspective to the problem of sustainability in the maintenance our urban spaces.

Your immediate leader is a Professor.

About the project

Project description (ACCESS4ALL)

Municipalities use large amounts of efforts to maintain paved areas so that all users can get access to these transport facilities. Pavement repairs, re-surfacing, re-painting markings, and removing leaves, dirt, snow/ice are needed to keep our urban spaces attractive and accessible. Today, municipalities also expected to contribute to the reduction of CO2 eq.-emissions and these maintenance efforts do contribute significantly to their total ecological footprint. Good methods and strategies for sustainable pavement maintenance is lacking and this makes it hard for municipalities to balance efforts (measured in costs or emissions) with the benefits of offering year-round accessibility of all users. Specifically in cold climates, snow and ice on paved urban areas is challenging as it directly limits accessibility for vulnerable users and the snow/ice removal requires heavy machinery. The objective of this research is to develop sustainable maintenance methods and strategies for urban paved areas to ensure year-round accessibility of all users and economic sustainability, while reducing CO2eq.-emissions.

The project has four main tasks: 1) identify existing literature and common practices in winter maintenance and mobility requirements for all users. 2)  develop an analytical framework to evaluate the sustainability of existing winter maintenance practices. The framework details the three dimensions of sustainability. Social sustainability will be expressed by quantifying accessibility and safety of all users; environmental sustainability considers emissions of greenhouse gasses, chlorides and dust; economic sustainability is expressed by costs increase. 3) develop CO2-budget based scenarios for winter maintenance, which specify how much maintenance can be done for a given CO2eq.-emission and cost (investment and operational), and what the expected consequences are for the accessibility and safety of all users. 4) apply the developed framework to evaluate the sustainability of winter maintenance of selected real scale urban scenarios. The expected Results of this research are: 1) Guidelines on how to achieve CO2 emission reduction in maintenance of urban paved areas without compromising the accessibility of vulnerable users. 2) Analytical framework to evaluate CO2-reducing strategies in urban winter maintenance from a holistic sustainability perspective. 3) Demonstration of how CO2 emission reduction can be reached for urban winter maintenance without sacrificing accessibility of users within reasonable budgets.

Marie Skłodwska-Curie Doctoral Network GreeNexUS

In our increasingly anthropised planet, many cities are facing multiple societal and environmental challenges and the link between the characteristics of the urban green contexts and people’s health and safety represents an emerging topic and of urgent importance. Air pollution and urban climate, reduced contact with nature, limited access to quality green spaces, and urban fabrics and infrastructure that discourage sustainable&safe mobility and active lifestyles, are threatening the mental and physical well-being of an aging society and increasing its social disparities. The GreeNexUS project proposes a novel and multidisciplinary approach to promote urban greening, territorial regeneration and safety/accessibility/walkability of urban infrastructures, as key strategies to face those challenges, while addressing climate change and preventing pandemics from exacerbating inequalities in disadvantaged/vulnerable groups. The GreeNexUS participants (20 institutions from 9 European countries) are joining forces to offer a collaborative Training-through-Research programme involving universities, research centres, companies, NGOs, and local authorities that share this new vision of fostering greener, healthier and safer urban realms of Europe’s cities and towns. This will drive the GreeNexUS process to train specialists, whose cutting-edge and intersectoral expertise will be developed and managed through a challenging general programme of training that combines and integrates the various fields of innovative knowledge of the GreeNexUS’ participants, and also includes career planning, entrepreneurship and soft skills training. In terms of research, 10 specific and multidisciplinary topics will be addressed by 10 Doctoral Candidates, who are envisaged to spread the GreeNexUS approach beyond the project’s scope and duration, under the guidance of a supervisory group of academic and non-academic experts.

Rights and responsibilities of researchers participating in Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

The European Charter for Researchers is a set of general principles and requirements, which specify the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of both researchers and the employers and/or funders of researchers. The aim of the Charter is to ensure that the nature of the relationship between researchers and employers or funders is conducive to successful performance in generating, transferring, sharing and disseminating knowledge and technological development and to the career development of the researchers. It is obligatory for applicants to read and understand the detailed information regarding the rights and responsibilities of researchers engaged in a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network. The European Charter for researchers can be accessed at: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/european-charter

Duties of the position

As doctoral candidate you do research while being guided by your supervisors and at the same time fulfill a PhD training program. The goal is to complete  the doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree. For this specific project you will be able to build up a unique set of skills and competences on sustainability within road and transport engineering. These skills and competences are highly sought after, not only in academia but also in the public and private sector.

Required selection criteria

DC appointments are full-time fixed term for 3 years. Candidates matching the required profile will be evaluated until a successful candidate is appointed. There are strict eligibility rules associated with the recruitment of Doctoral Candidates in MSCA Doctoral Networks.

• You must have a Master Degree in Civil Engineering, Transport Engineering or Environmental Engineering, and NOT to hold any PhD degree (a PhD degree in any field is not compatible with this position)
• You must have a professionally relevant background in Civil Engineering, Transport Engineering or Environmental 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/admission)
• You cannot have more than 4 years of previous research activity
• Transnational mobility is an essential requirement of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks. At the time of recruitment, the DC must not have resided in Norway for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment date and not have carried out in Norway his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.). Applicants must be prepared for a secondment for a total of 3 months at RISE in Sweden and a 3-month secondment at Trondheim Municipality in Norway.
• A good knowledge of spoken and written English is required and will be evaluated during the selection process

Previous research experience, (which must be no longer than 4 years), although appreciated, is not mandatory.

Willingness to travel internationally for the purpose of research, training and dissemination is mandatory.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Phd candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate  and Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant 

Preferred selection criteria

• Good oral and written communication skills in a Scandinavian language is an advantage (Norwegian, Swedish or Danish)
• Programming skills

Personal characteristics

• Analytic
• Curious
• Problem solver

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.

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:

• The signed GreeNexUS application form
• 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 (max 1 A4 page)
• Name and contact information of three referees
• If you have publications or other relevant research work, up to 5 publications

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.

The selection process will consist of CVs, motivation and records evaluation and an interview (additional interviews could be required). The interview to assert the skills, the motivation and the fluency in English, will take place mainly online. The candidates will be ranked according to both their records and the interview. The candidate at the highest-ranking position will be offered the position. If, for any reason, the selected candidate will decline the offer or will fail to comply with the requirements for enrolment in the position, the one following in the list will be selected. More details on the selection process could be found on https://greenexus.unibo.it/ and on https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/.

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.

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

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 Professor Eirin Ryeng, email [email protected] . If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR Consultant Martine Sulen, 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: 04.06.2023

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 Civil and Environmental Engineering

We conduct research and teaching in civil and transportation engineering, technical planning, structural engineering, water and wastewater engineering and hydraulic engineering. Graduates from our programmes become employees – in both the public and private sectors – with a sustainability mindset combined with competitive knowledge and skills. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering  is one of eight departments in the Faculty of Engineering.

Deadline 4th June 2023
Employer NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality Trondheim
Scope Fulltime
Duration Temporary
Place of service Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering