Post-Doc in Sustainability Optimisation in Libraries

Making national libraries more sustainable, efficient and accessible.

Job description

TU Delft is hiring a researcher for the JPICH-funded project ReVerDi: “Real Versus Digital: Sustainability optimization for cultural heritage preservation in national libraries”. You will be working in an international and interdisciplinary consortium with partners from universities and national libraries in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Your job will be to compare physical and digital library processes in theory and praxis in order to optimize environmental, economic and socio-cultural sustainability, while taking into account customer needs. The ultimate goal is to make national libraries future-proof.

As part of the consortium, you will conduct independent research for the benefit of scientific, academic and societal advancement at TU Delft in close cooperation with the National Library (Koninklijke Bibliotheek). You like to explore, structure, analyze and optimize processes and data related to libraries. Ideally you have a background in architecture, and experience in customer and user satisfaction methods. We are looking for a proactive researcher, who can work across academic and artistic contexts, someone who combines attention to detail with critical and creative thinking.

• Conduct research on built and planned libraries and repositories;
• Participate in project meetings (this may involve travel to United Kingdom and Switzerland, and eventually other locations);
• Present and discuss intermediate research results at workshops and conferences;
• Publish peer-reviewed journal articles, and contribute one book chapter in an edited volume emerging from the project;
• Organize knowledge dissemination activities;
• Contribute to the decision-making process and subsequent guidelines (national) libraries.

Requirements

You need to have the following qualifications:

• A PhD in architecture, architectural-engineering, heritage-cultural studies, or a related field;
• Knowledge of current debates around climate adaptation, sustainability, heritage;
• Experience with building data and services analyses and visualisations;
• Excellent research skills demonstrated through academic publications appropriate to the career stage and willing to develop further;
• A strong cooperative attitude and eager to engage in collaborative research;
• Enthusiasm for integrating teaching into research and for communicating results to non-academic audiences;
• Fluency in English; knowledge of Dutch (B2+) and German or French would be a plus.

Conditions of employment

Project is in close cooperation with KB and requires in average 1 day a week working at KB.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (based on scale 10: € 3.226,00 - € 5.090,00 per month gross). The employment contract is for 2,5 years for a position of 36-40 hours per week. The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

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 from early in the morning until late at night, with four thousand people 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.