PhD in Reversible Assemblies for Sustainable Construction — EPFL
CHF 68'500 - 104'000
EPFL · Fribourg (FR)
- Location
- Fribourg
- Contract
- full-time
- Posted
- 48 days ago
SalaryCHF 68'500 - 104'000
Role overview
Mission The Materials in Transition (MATR) Lab at the School of ENAC, EPFL, is looking for a self-driven and inquisitive PhD candidate to start between July and September 2026, or upon agreement, in the field of sustainable construction.
The PhD research will focus on the development of design approaches for building elements that can meet functional performance criteria across multiple lifecycles enabling reuse adaptability
and reduced environmental impact.
- Mission The Materials in Transition (MATR) Lab at the School of ENAC, EPFL, is looking for a self-driven and inquisitive PhD candidate to start between July and September 2026, or upon agreement, in the field of sustainable construction.
- The PhD research will focus on the development of design approaches for building elements that can meet functional performance criteria across multiple lifecycles enabling reuse adaptability
- Main duties and responsibilities As a PhD candidate, you will be expected to:
- Conduct cutting-edge research including experimental design, data collection and analysis, and dissemination;
Main responsibilities
- Main duties and responsibilities As a PhD candidate, you will be expected to:
- Conduct cutting-edge research including experimental design, data collection and analysis, and dissemination;
- Research in collaboration with academic partners and international collaborators;
- Lead and contribute to scientific articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals;
- Present your work at international conferences;
- Contribute to laboratory activities, including co-supervision of MSc students and teaching assistance. Profile
- Masters’ degree in architecture, civil engineering, building technology, industrial design, material science or related field Faq's
- Strong interest in emerging, interdisciplinary fields within architecture and material science
- Interest in conceptual design and a practical and hands-on mindset
- Strong analytical background and problem-solving abilities
Application process
- Integrate resilience into the design and application of construction materials in response to evolving socio-economic challenges, such as climate change, social equity, occupant health, and strategic independence in material supply-chains.
- Develop comprehensive digital assessment methods to evaluate whole-life material flows and their associated impact across sectors to inform policy and practice.
- Engineer whole-life adaptability at the product-scale through material science and design.
Additional details
- The PhD research will focus on the development of design approaches for building elements that can meet functional performance criteria across multiple lifecycles enabling reuse; adaptability; and reduced environmental impact.
- Through this work, you will help redefine how building elements are designed, assembled and reused through the development and validation of practical and scalable approaches to multi-lifecycle design. Possible research directions include:
- MATR Lab The incoming PhD candidate will be part of a growing and dynamic research team at the MATR lab, led by Prof. Rebecca Hartwell, where we seek to:
- Contribute to laboratory activities, including co-supervision of MSc students and teaching assistance.
- Masters’ degree in architecture, civil engineering, building technology, industrial design, material science or related field
- Proficient in, or willing to learn, programming languages (e.g.
Notes and original content
- Through this work, you will help redefine how building elements are designed, assembled and reused through the development and validation of practical and scalable approaches to multi-lifecycle design.
- Possible research directions include:
- MATR Lab The incoming PhD candidate will be part of a growing and dynamic research team at the MATR lab, led by Prof.
- Rebecca Hartwell, where we seek to:
- MATLAB, Python, R)
