PhD Position Mapping Historical 'Blue' Infrastructures for Urban Health

Are you passionate about the history of the built environment, urban health and digital research methods? Join TU Delft's History of Architecture and Urban Planning group as PhD candidate!

Job description

In this PhD position, you will adopt digital research methods to map water-related or 'blue' infrastructures, and link their historical and technological developments to changing urban health dynamics.

Historically, blue infrastructures and spaces have often been mapped as sources of contamination and to inform disease prevention. Think of John Snow's famous mid-nineteenth century London cholera map. However, urban and architectural scholarship has now increasingly started focusing on the promotion of health and well-being, rather than just combatting diseases. We therefore also need more understanding of the health promoting goals of blue infrastructures, and how they have historically become so embedded in the fabric of modern cities and buildings.

Using archival sources such as disease maps, building plans and construction drawings, you will identify and map historically relevant traces of blue infrastructures, their integration on both city and building scales, and their implications for dealing with water and public health in new ways over time. This PhD project potentially starts from previously collected archival material of the Amsterdam City Archives, to further identify comparisons between the modern history of Amsterdam and other relevant international cases.

Job requirements

For this full-time, fully funded PhD position, we are looking for a highly motivated candidate with:

• A Master's degree in architectural/urban history/planning, digital humanities/computer science/geomatics, or a related discipline.
• Preferably some academic research experience post-Master level.
• Demonstrable affinity with archival sources.
• Strong skills in GIS-based research, additional experience with computer vision and machine learning is a plus.
• An independent and creative working attitude.
• Excellent oral and written proficiency in English, Dutch and any additional languages, to potentially carry out comparative research.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught doctoral education courses, and write research articles and a final dissertation. For more details, please check the Graduate School's admission requirements: https://www.tudelft.nl/onderwijs/opleidingen/phd/admission.

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.

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 with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2872 per month in the first year to € 3670 in the fourth year. 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.

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