All Things Urban

The MIT Senseable City Lab's research focuses on studying and predicting how digital technology is changing the way we describe, design, and occupy cities.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) seeks an outstanding Postdoctoral Associate or Research Associate to orchestrate the Senseable City Lab’s expanding portfolio of digital technologies and urban planning.

The Senseable City Lab is leading an MIT multi-departmental initiative to deploy a fleet of autonomous boats in Amsterdam's canals, called Roboat. Roboats will be used to transport people and goods, as well as to create temporary urban infrastructures, such as bridges and stages.

The Roboat project is looking for exceptional candidates to fill a postdoctoral position in design at the urban scale. The successful candidate will work under the supervision of professor Dennis Frenchman and professor Carlo Ratti, at the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

• Engage in researches related to the project, involving design and urban analysis.
• Work on design solutions, including the Roboat platform and the interfaces with Amsterdam's canals' edges.
• Propose temporary infrastructures and other use cases for Roboat at the urban scale.
• Publish, present and disseminate the research to the global community.
• Collaborate with Lab leadership and stakeholders to develop the Lab’s future vision and research agenda.

• Preferred candidates will hold a PhD (for post-doc) or Master’s degree (research associate).
• Preferred candidates will hold degrees in industrial design, architecture, urban design and/or landscape architecture.
• Capabilities in diagraming and illustrating urban concepts.
• Understand the interaction design, sensor technologies, data analytics and its applications to urban planning.
• Proven track record of independent and collaborative research.
• Knowledge of design and 3D-modelling tools.

We’re not fully sure whether this role is open to international candidates. If you would need visa sponsorship or work authorisation, we recommend checking directly with the employer before applying.