PhD position Co-creating circular business models and services for e-bikes and home appliances

Are you eager to make repair, refurbishment and reuse the new normal for e-bikes and white goods? Do you want to co-create product-service systems that nudge sustainable behavior with firms and users?

Job description

The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is hiring a doctoral candidate on the topic of “Co-creating circular business models and product–service systems (PSS) for consumer behavior change”. Despite growing policy attention and the introduction of new legislation such as Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the Right to Repair Directive, household consumption stays locked in a linear “take–make–dispose” pattern.

This PhD project will focus on circularity for two product categories in the Netherlands: e-bikes and washing machines. Behavioral data highlights a problematic reality: 43% of users would replace their e-bike if the motor failed, and 23% if the battery failed. 31% of washing machines are discarded while still working.

As a PhD candidate you will co-create market-ready propositions within new business models and PSS, focusing on circularity strategies and behavior-change elements, that are simultaneously attractive to consumers and viable for firms. Your research is anchored in two case studies: e-bikes as the primary case and white goods as a smaller comparative case. E-bikes offer an analytically rich and underexplored setting (more than 450,000 sold yearly in the Netherlands, motors and batteries often lasting far shorter than overall lifetime expectancy of e-bikes), while white goods provide a contrasting case to test transferability across product categories.

You will address the following research questions:

1. How can circular business propositions be co-created to make repair, reuse and refurbish strategies simultaneously attractive for consumers and viable for firms across the value chain?
2. Which behavior-change elements are needed to nudge consumers into new PSS business models?
3. How can co-designed propositions be piloted and tested in the case of e-bikes (primary case) and white goods (comparative case) – and what cross-sectoral learnings emerge?

During your PhD you will:

• Co-create user-centered opportunity spaces and R-strategy requirements with consumers, translating behavioral insights into personas, user journeys and opportunity spaces.
• Co-create circular propositions with value-chain and societal actors, e.g. repair subscriptions, like-for-like refurbished offers, deposit and take-back systems, mapping legislative barriers and enablers across the chain.
• Pilot the propositions in real-world settings, focusing first on e-bikes and then on white goods, qualitatively evaluating feasibility, desirability and product life-extension.

You will be based at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Section Design for Sustainability, supervised by Prof. dr. ir. Ruud Balkenende (promotor), Dr. ir. Sonja van Dam, and Dr. ir. Brian Baldassarre. You will collaborate closely with a parallel candidate at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, working on a complementary decision-framework track on co-existing self-repair and third-party R-strategies, with PhDs and postdocs across the wider CIVIC-4CE project, and directly with consortium partners in co-creation sessions and pilots.

About CIVIC-4CE

This fully funded, 4-year PhD position is part of the NWO KIC funded project CIVIC-4CE (Circular Consumption through Value-Chain Integration and Co-Creation for the Circular Economy), a five-year programme combining behavioral science (WP2), circular PSSs (WP3), immersive technologies (XR/AI) (WP4), transition pathways and agent-based modelling (WP5) to make R-strategies the norm.

The consortium unites TU Delft, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Wageningen University, The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, together with a quadruple-helix network of manufacturers and retailers (e.g. Decathlon, ATAG, Van Raam Mobility), designers, repair and reverse-logistics SMEs (e.g. E-ves, Re:first, Jafix), platform and innovation partners, civil-society organisations (Consumentenbond, Fietsersbond), and municipalities.

Job requirements

• Driven, enthusiastic and independent thinker
• MSc degree (or equivalent) in design engineering, business or innovation studies, or a related field
• Experience with participatory research methods, co-creation, or co-design approaches and their application in product–service system development
• Experience in the micromobility sector or affinity with e-bikes is highly beneficial
• Demonstrated interest in sustainability and circular economy
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in transdisciplinary contexts engaging with diverse stakeholders
• Affinity with design for behavior change
• Proficiency in English (written and spoken) is essential; working knowledge of Dutch is a strong advantage, given that fieldwork and pilots will largely take place in the Netherlands.

About TU Delft and the faculty

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.

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, but 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.