PhD Position in Circular Infrastructure Hubs & Digital Matchmaking (RE:Match.D Project)
Turn demolition into opportunity — start your PhD with us
We are looking for a highly motivated and curious PhD candidate to help build the “missing middle” of circular construction: regional hubs and the digital infrastructure that makes high-quality reuse practical at scale. You will work at the department of Civil Engineering and Management on RE:Match.D project (“Digital matchmaking for reverse logistics in regional infrastructure ecosystems”), an applied, consortium-driven research project that develops methods and tools to match reclaimed infrastructure materials to new projects, while reducing emissions and transport.
This PhD position is part of RE:Match.D, which aims to develop a digital matchmaking approach that combines semantic material data, design-for-circularity, and hub logistics to scale high-quality reuse in regional infrastructure ecosystems (primary focus: Twente; validation: Brabant).
Reuse of infrastructure components (e.g., pavement stones, concrete kerbs, sewage pipes) is gaining momentum, but scaling remains difficult: supply and demand rarely align in time, place, and specification, and documentation is often incomplete. Hubs can bridge these gaps by acting as regional nodes for sorting, storing, refurbishing, and redistributing reclaimed materials, while digital systems create transparency and coordination across many stakeholders.
You will work in a strong multi-actor consortium with University of Twente (UT), Tilburg University, Saxion, regional networks (e.g., Pioneering, Midpoint Brabant), multiple municipalities in Twente and Brabant, and industry partners including platform provider DuSpot and contractors in demolition and infrastructure works. The academic supervision team includes dr. ir. Marc van den Berg, dr.ir. Rob Bemthuis, and dr. Hans Voordijk.
Your research sits at the intersection of circular economy, reverse logistics, information systems, and decision support, delivering both scientific outputs and practical tools that partners can use in living lab projects.
The challenge
In this PhD project, you will help design, evaluate, and digitally enable regional hubs for reclaimed infrastructure materials. Your research includes four connected research and development tracks:
- Understand what makes hubs: review existing and emerging construction/circular hubs and translate lessons into a framework for hubs in regions such as Twente and Brabant.
- Make the hub viable through business models and value propositions: analyze how hubs can operate sustainably in practice, including governance, services, revenue/cost structures, and implications for layout and capacity.
- Go from “a hub” to “a hub network”: model and compare regional hub configurations (centralized, decentralized, hybrid) to understand trade-offs in coordination, transport, and reuse performance under different scenarios.
- Develop a digital warehouse management system for reuse hubs: design and prototype a hub inventory system that supports real-time visibility and interoperable data exchange with external matchmaking tools and project partners.
Across these activities, you will work closely with municipalities and companies in living labs, contribute to workshops and consortium meetings, and help ensure that your results are usable in practice (not only published).
Information and application
Are you interested in joining our team? Please submit your application before 1st of March, 2026 and include:
- A cover /motivation letter (maximum 2 pages A4), emphasizing your specific interest, qualifications, and motivations to apply for this position;
- A Curriculum Vitae (CV), if applicable, a list of publications and references,
- An IELTS-test, Internet TOEFL test (TOEFL-iBT), or a Cambridge CAE-C (CPE). Applicants with a non-Dutch qualification and who have not had secondary and tertiary education in English can only be admitted with an IELTS-test showing a total band score of at least 6.5, TOEFL Internet-based Test (TOEFL iBT) showing a score of at least 90, or a Cambridge CAE-C (CPE).
Additional information can be acquired from
- Dr. ir. Marc van den Berg – m.c.vandenberg@utwente.nl
- Dr. ir. Rob Bemthuis – r.h.bemthuis@utwente.nl
Screening is part of the procedure.
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.
Want to know more
