University of Twente

Jobid=619203650882580449 (0.0996)

As a PhD candidate, you will investigate how construction professionals adapt their everyday practices in a rapidly transforming built environment. The sector is undergoing fundamental change across the entire building lifecycle, from design and construction to demolition and reuse. This project rethinks the built environment as an “urban mine,” where materials needed for the energy transition, such as installations and cables, are no longer treated as waste, but recovered and recirculated to enable more circular futures.

Your research will focus on how these shifts play out in real-world practice. Instead of staying at the level of policy visions or technical potential, you will examine what designers, contractors, and demolition actors really do when confronted with reuse, digital tools, and sustainability targets. You will conduct in-depth case studies of the key practices that are currently being reshaped.

Using a combination of ethnographic observations, interviews, and document analyses, you will uncover how digital tools and emerging approaches are being used to transform construction processes. A central part of your work will be to analyse how practices evolve over time, paying attention to the interactions between tools, organisational structures, regulations, and collaboration across different actors.

You will identify, analyse, and resolve tensions that arise in this transformation – for example, between circularity ambitions and economic or practical constraints. Understanding these tensions is key to enabling meaningful change. Based on your findings, you will develop digital solutions and actionable recommendations to support the large-scale adoption of material reuse and more sustainable practices throughout the building lifecycle.

Your work will contribute directly to shaping future jobs, skills, and training pathways in the construction sector, ensuring that the workforce is equipped to deliver on the ambitions of a circular and digital built environment.

FUTURED project

This PhD position is part of the NWO-funded FUTURED project (Fostering Upskilled Talent for Urban Resilience, Energy Transition, and Digitalisation in the Built Environment). FUTURED unites seven research institutions and 20 societal partners to address the challenge of labour shortage in a changing built environment. The Netherlands faces an urgent need for qualified professionals to make its built environment more sustainable and digitally advanced. The pace of the energy and digital transitions is faster than the labour market can adjust, creating shortages and hindering attraction and retention. Current initiatives are scattered, and cooperation between education providers and employers remains insufficient. The FUTURED project integrates four work packages to equip construction actors with the scenarios, evidence and tools needed to boost the workforce in the built environment.

Your profile

You are enthusiastic and highly motivated to conduct excellent research in close collaboration with practice.

You have, or will shortly, acquire a master degree in the field of Construction Management & Engineering, Civil Engineering & Management, Architecture, Business Administration, Organizational Studies, or a related field.

You have affinity with qualitative research methods, such as case studies or ethnography.

You have a creative mindset and excellent analytical and communication skills.

You are comfortable with contacting and collaborating with different organizations in the Dutch construction industry.

You have good communication skills and a sound project approach.

You are proficient in English and, preferably, also in Dutch (or willing to learn).

Our offer

A full-time position for four years, with a qualifier in the first year, and the flexibility to work (partially) from home.

Your salary and associated conditions are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-NU).

You will receive a gross monthly salary ranging from €3059,- (first year) to € 3881,- (fourth year).

There are excellent benefits including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, and a solid pension scheme.

A minimum of 232 leave hours in case of full-time employment based on a formal workweek of 38 hours. A full-time employment in practice means 40 hours a week, therefore resulting in 96 extra leave hours on an annual basis.

Free access to sports facilities on campus.

A family-friendly institution that offers parental leave (both paid and unpaid).

You will have a training programme as part of the Twente Graduate School where you and your supervisors will determine a plan for a suitable education and supervision.

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Deel deze vacature:

PhD position on Circular Construction Management & Engineering Futures – University of Twente – Enschede

University of Twente