PhD position on Ecodesign and Mitigation of Rebound Effects

Are you driven by the ambition to make sustainable design truly effective? We seek a motivated PhD candidate to investigate one of eco-design's most overlooked challenges: rebound effects.

Job description

TU Delft’s Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering has an opening for a PhD candidate in the Design for Sustainability section, who will contribute to the research on mitigation of rebound effects through design.

Your challenge

Eco-design interventions do not always deliver their promised environmental benefits. Rebound effects, i.e. systemic responses that partially or fully offset environmental gains, can undermine even the best-intentioned designs. Beyond well-known economic rebounds, such as increased consumption following energy savings, rebound effects can emerge through the interaction of behavioural, social, technological, infrastructural, and systemic dynamics. These effects often propagate across multiple scales, from individual user practices to broader societal transitions. Yet such interactions remain poorly understood. As a result, designers currently lack the conceptual frameworks and practical tools needed to recognise recurring rebound patterns, anticipate unintended consequences, and intervene more strategically at multiple levels of the system.

Your research

You will build a deeper understanding of rebound effects in eco-design and develop practical methods to help designers recognize, predict and mitigate them. Starting with a systematic review of documented rebound cases, you will map the mechanisms behind rebounds and categorize their patterns. In-depth studies of current eco-design cases will uncover contextual factors and the interrelation of different rebound effects. Building on these insights, you will develop and refine a predictive method together with designers and stakeholders in real-world case studies, in collaboration with European companies. For this, the PhD includes two international secondments (2-3 months), providing direct exposure to industrial design practice and real world constraints.

This PhD position is part of the academic network working on Ecodesign, an international research and training initiative. The network aims to advance digital and Ecodesign methodologies that enable circular economy practices at an industrial scale, in line with European sustainability and design objectives.

The research will be carried out in the Design for Sustainability section, part of TU Delft's Department of Sustainable Design Engineering. Our research focuses on sustainable and circular product design throughout the entire product life cycle. It offers a multidisciplinary environment where researchers work toward a circular economy transition, developing design methods that enable strategies like reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling. The section's work spans design activities, material selection, implementation of emerging technologies, societal impact, and sustainability assessment, frequently in close partnership with industry and public organizations.

Job requirements

• Master degree in Industrial Design, Industrial Ecology, or a closely related field.
• Clear affinity with design engineering is required if you don’t have a design engineering background.
• Demonstrated strong interest in design for sustainability and/or circular economy.
• Scientific writing skills and effective communication in English, both orally and in writing.
• Motivated to collaborate in a multidisciplinary environment and to participate in mandatory international secondments.
• International mobility rule: To foster international exchange, at the time of recruitment, you must not have resided or carried out your main activity (work or studies) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months during the 36 months immediately preceding 01/10/2026.

TU Delft

Delft University of Technology is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society.

Faculty Industrial Design Engineering

The Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering focuses on connecting advances in technology with the needs of people, organisations and society to create products, services and systems with purpose.

IDE is a leader in design research across the application areas of mobility, sustainability and health, as well as in the development of design tools and methods. A 350-strong research team and over 2,000 students work together in halls, labs and studios.

In close cooperation with industry, the public sector and NGOs, the faculty explores possible futures in research and education to design for a complex future.

Conditions of employment

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1.5 year contract includes an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months, followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2.5 years assuming performance requirements are met.

As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.