PhD position on Transitioning public organizations for future-proof infrastructure
Do you enjoy conducting socially engaged research within an interdisciplinary team? Would you like to collaborate closely with both practitioners and academics to contribute to our living environment? If so, this position could be an excellent fit for you!
Society is facing major challenges like circularity, digitalisation and climate adaptation. These challenges have a significant impact on our built environment and the actors that operate in this field. Addressing these challenges requires a fundamental change in how public organisations operate and coordinate themselves and their relations with private parties.
This PhD project aims to develop organisational principles and action perspectives to help infrastructure agencies that maintain our roads, bridges, waterways, electricity networks and railways adapt to these emerging challenges. The PhD candidate will focus on bridging the gap between mission-oriented policies, organisational strategies and project practices,. They will work across multiple levels, studying how infrastructure administrators handle uncertainty and complexity at the organisational and inter-organisational level.
The candidate will actively engage with Dutch (semi) public organisations to co-create integrated solutions for a resilient infrastructure sector, gain experience in different professional settings, and operate at the intersection of various academic disciplines. This requires a curiosity for interdisciplinary and qualitative empirical research and a sense of urgency for turning theory into practice and practice into theory.
Information and application
Are you interested in this position? Please send your application via the 'Apply now' button below before 15th October 2024, and include:
· A cover letter (maximum 2 pages A4), emphasizing your specific interest, qualifications, motivations to apply for this position.
· A Curriculum Vitae, including a list of all courses attended and grades obtained, and, if applicable, a list of publications and references.
· Contact information of two scientific staff members (one of whom could be the supervisor of your MSc thesis/final project) who we may contact for references.
For more information regarding this position, you are welcome to contact Ruth Sloot (r.n.f.sloot@utwente.nl).
Date of first round interviews:
- Wednesday 6 November 2024
- Friday 15 November 2024
Date of second round interviews:
- Wednesday 4 December 2024
- Friday 6 December 2024
About the department
You will work in the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) research group at the faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) of the University of Twente. The Integrated Project Delivery group envisions sustainable and resilient civil infrastructure through integrated project delivery. To achieve this vision, the IPD research group’s mission is to contribute to innovative solutions on different levels in which socio-technical transitions take shape, ranging from sector dynamics to project practices. This asks for interdisciplinary research, in which different disciplines and fields like civil engineering, organisational sciences and design sciences are combined. Our mission is guided by two research lines, each addressing two levels on which innovations are developed: 1) resilient infrastructure systems, and 2) value-based project and programme delivery of infrastructure assets.
About the organisation
The Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) engages in education and research of Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Industrial Design Engineering. We enable society and industry to innovate and create value using efficient, solid and sustainable technology. We are part of a ‘people-first' university of technology, taking our place as an internationally leading center for smart production, processes and devices in five domains: Health Technology, Maintenance, Smart Regions, Smart Industry and Sustainable Resources. Our faculty is home to about 2,900 Bachelor's and Master's students, 550 employees and 150 PhD candidates. Our educational and research programmes are closely connected with UT research institutes Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Center and Digital Society Institute.
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