Postdoc Position - Conceptualizing Nature Driven Facades

Challenge | Overheating in existing dwellings due to increasing hot weather

Change | Affordable, acceptable, effective nature driven facades
Impact | Improved health and lower cooling energy demand

Postdoc Position - Conceptualizing Nature Driven Facades

Job description

As hot weather events are increasing, adaptation of existing dwellings is required to protect against unhealthy indoor conditions and mitigate future energy use for cooling. While nature driven measures have the potential to support health and mitigate operational energy, the application, affordability, and acceptance of such measures are limited. As postdoc researcher you will do research on nature driven building skin (façade) solutions for the NWO project Nature 4 homes. This is a 5.5 years project, starting in november 2026 and coordinated by Delft University of Technology.

You will contribute primarily to foundational work on conceptualization of nature driven building skin solutions. This comprises exploration of the overall definition of nature-driven building skin characteristics and the composition of a structured database, that includes refining key performance indicators (KPI) and protocols across different academic disciplines. You will contribute to scientific publications, project deliverables, workshops, and interviews in collaboration with the consortium partners.

A key aspect of your role is exploring and bridging academic concepts with professional and societal perspectives, through interviews and co-design workshops. You will collaborate closely with interdisciplinary project partners from academia, society, and industry. The role explicitly focuses on preparing integration of citizen science approaches with (living) lab studies, including data from surveys, physiological and psychological measurements, monitoring of thermal conditions and biodiversity, and modelling.

You will join the section Environmental and Climate Design, department of Architectural Engineering and Technology at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TU Delft. You will work in close collaboration with researchers from Urbanism, and Materials and Environment (Civil Engineering and Geo Sciences) at TU Delft, and with researchers from TU Eindhoven (Human Technology Interaction), Radboudumc (Integrative Physiology), Wageningen University and Research (Meteorology).

You will have the opportunity to work alongside research, industry, and public-sector partners. Moreover, you will closely work with 4 PhD candidates across the universities involved, who will be hired for this project.

Job requirements

• PhD in building engineering, meteorology, civil engineering, or related fields.
• Demonstrable affinity and interest in the built environment (building scale) and climate change.
• Excellent collaboration skills with academic, scientific, and industrial partners.
• Experience with co-creation, societal aspects,or human perception of built environment.
• Dutch language proficiency is considered a plus.
• Being able to start at December 1, 2026.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Working at TU Delft means contributing to solutions that really make a difference.

At TU Delft, our people make the difference. With their knowledge and curiosity, our staff provide a high-quality education and conduct pioneering research that extends beyond the campus. You will have the opportunity to take the initiative, work with others, and grow as a professional.

Working at TU Delft means join an international community of professionals and students. Together, we create knowledge, innovations, and solutions that help move the world forward.

Faculty Architecture & the Built Environment

The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment has a leading role in education and research worldwide. The driving force behind the faculty’s success is its robust research profile combined with the energy and creativity of its student body and academic community. It is buzzing with energy, with four thousand people enthusiastically studying, working, designing, conducting research and acquiring and disseminating knowledge. Our faculty has a strong focus on 'design-oriented research’, which has given it a top position in world rankings.

Staff and students are working to improve the built environment with the help of a broad set of disciplines, including architectural design, urban planning, building technology, social sciences, process management, and geo-information science. The faculty works closely with other faculties, universities, private parties, and the public sector, and has an extensive network in the Netherlands as well as internationally.

Conditions of employment

• Duration of contract is temporary for 18 months.
• A job of 32-38 hours per week.
• Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• Salary range: €3546 - €5538.
• An excellent pension scheme via the ABP.
• The possibility to compile an individual employment package every year.
• Discount with health insurers on supplemental packages.
• Flexible working week.
• Every year, 232 leave hours (at 38 hours). You can also sell or buy additional leave hours via the individual choice budget.
• Plenty of opportunities for education, training and courses.
• Partially paid parental leave
• Attention for working healthy and energetically with the vitality program.

Will you need to relocate to the Netherlands for this job? TU Delft is committed to make your move as smooth as possible! The HR unit, Coming to Delft Service, offers information on their website to help you prepare your relocation. In addition, Coming to Delft Service organises events to help you settle in the Netherlands, and expand your (social) network in Delft. A Dual Career Programme is available, to support your accompanying partner with their job search in the Netherlands.

• The project is a 5.5 years project, starting in november 2026.
• Being able to start at December 1, 2026.
• FTE: 1.

As part of knowledge security, TU Delft conducts a risk assessment during the recruitment of personnel. When the outcome of the assessment is negative, the candidate will be informed.