All Things Urban

Roskilde University is a state university founded in 1972 with the objective of providing research and education at the highest level in the fields of natural science, social science and the humanities. These activities at Roskilde University are organised in six departments; degrees are offered in a wide range of subjects at Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. levels. Many study programmes are now being offered in English at both undergraduate and graduate levels, thus creating an exciting and inspiring study environment for both Danish students and students coming from abroad.

Department of People and Technology, Roskilde University, invites applications for a position as PhD of circular economy from 15.08.2020 or as soon as possible thereafter. **Job description** The research activities are part of the interdisciplinary H2020 CityLoops project. The CityLoops project aims to develop, implement, and replicate a series of urban planning approaches and instruments, aimed at facilitating closing the loops of urban material and resource flows and promoting the transition to a circular economy, thereby reducing the environmental footprint, increasing regenerative capacities, and stimulating new business opportunities and job creation in European cities. The project consortium consists of 27 European partners from 6 cities (Seville, Porto, Apeldoorn, Mikkeli, Bodø, Roskilde/Høje Taastrup). RUC’s task in the project is to develop planning approaches and instruments to implement and measure the circular economy in the construction and demolition sector, focusing on reducing overall environmental impact of construction activities and urban development. Together with local partners, RUC will demonstrate ways to improve the design and planning of urban transformation using recycled materials whereby saving primary resources and energy. The project furthermore aims at improving the cascading flow of construction materials hereby moving excess soil, waste and recycled CDW up in the waste hierarchy and identifying opportunities for valorizing those. A central question related to the development of planning approaches and tools is how to measure and monitor circular economy. Several competing systems have been developed for national economies (and on EU level) but relatively little research has been conducted on city and sectoral level. The PhD study is expected to contribute to the international scientific knowledge base on circular economy theories and methods with a special focus on circular economy monitoring frameworks and indicator systems. The PhD-study will primarily contribute to developing and testing frameworks and systems for measuring and monitoring circular economy at city and sector level. This includes developing and testing frameworks and indicator systems in the demonstration cities but also to evaluate potential data sources and data management systems as well as evaluating the potential use of such monitoring systems in planning processes on municipal/city level. The monitoring frameworks will be developed and tested in collaboration with demonstration cities (especially Roskilde and Høje Taastrup) and international project partners (especially Metabolism of Cities). **The Doctoral School** You will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Doctoral School for People and Technology framing research that seek to address sustainability, often by applying experimental approaches and situating the individuals active and learning involvement. The research comprises approaches of a human, societal, health and information technological character and often apply planning, interventions and design-oriented subject areas. The Doctoral School has five PhD programs with each of their focus points: Information Technology; Learning, Working life and Social innovation; Research in Health and Society; Social Psychology of Everyday Life and Society, Space and Technology. For info: https://ruc.dk/en/doctoral-school-people-and-technology The PhD position will be part of the Program in Society, Space and Technology, that takes an interdisciplinary approach harvesting from technology-natural science, social sciences and the humanities. Two research groups are associated with the program: METRIK (Environment, Energy, Transport, Regulation, Innovation and Climate Policy) and MOSPUS (Space, Place, Mobility and Urban Studies). (See https://ruc.dk/en/phd-programme-society-space-and-technology) This PhD position will be affiliated with METRIK research group, whose research focus is the interaction between social development and the natural environment in relation to planning and regulation of the environment, energy, production, transport and climate, including sustainable development strategies and public involvement in this area (see https://forskning.ruc.dk/en/organisations/milj%C3%B8-energi-transport-regulering-innovation-og-klimapolitik) **Responsibilities and tasks** The PhD position is an educational position and the main tasks are in accordance with chapter 3, Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions (https://ufm.dk/en/legislation/prevailing-laws-and-regulations/education/files/engelsk-ph-d-bekendtgorelse.pdf).

You must hold a master’s degree or equivalent within TekSam, geography, urban planning, industrial ecology or similar subjects. Qualifications within the following areas are required: Knowledge about - Circular economy theory and methods - Quantitative data analysis - Municipal planning praxis, theory and methods We also emphasize the following qualifications: Knowledge about: - Urban planning - Material flow analysis - Construction and demolition You are required to be enterprising and to possess good communication skills and to be a visible, involved participant in the department’s daily activities, in addition to being willing to engage in disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration across the department.

The PhD position is a unique possibility to focus and concentrate on a 3-year PhD research project. The yearly salary scale (included pension) is between 365416 and 445267 Danish kroner/ 48907 and 59593,99 Euro (depending on seniority). https://dm.dk/din-loen/offentligt-ansat/satser-for-forskning-og-undervisning/loen-phd-stipendiater

This job is available for international candidates.