Tuesday 12 January 2016

2 PhD student positions in Architecture and Structural Design

Chalmers Architecture has a strong profile on sustainability working with central societal challenges in the built environment with explorative and practice-based approaches. The department’s teaching and research in architecture, urbanism and design processes integrate practice-based, artistic and scientific methods to explore the broad aspects of architecture – from building technology, physical design, and spatial structures to design methods, transformation of built environments and its role in sustainable development.

The department of Architecture has around 100 employees, and is located at Chalmers campus Johanneberg. The department has around seventy teachers and researchers working with teaching and research, and around twenty doctoral students. The administration consists of around ten persons.

Information about the division

The division of Architectural theory and methodology carries out research and education in the field of theory, history and practice of architecture and planning. The division focuses on different aspects of architecture, such as materials and technology, visualization and modeling, theory and history, as well as dialogue processes and design methodology. Knowledge is developed in collaboration with both external actors and with other departments at Chalmers. Here is not least the Area of Advance Built Environment an important platform.

Architecture and Structural Design is a research field strongly related to the architectural design process. This is characterized by developing, exploring and evaluating different solutions in an iterative design process. Today the field is under rapid development and span; from analysis of complex contexts, consisting of topological, geographical, social, economic, cultural, historical, etc. information that sets the boundaries, to parametric modelling of shape, computational modelling of different physical behavior and manufacturing processes ranging from smart materials to optimized structures covering all scales of interest.

Major responsibilitiesYou are invited to apply for a PhD student position in the project "Form finding in structures". The research project includes different aspects of form finding in different scales from material design to global shape of an architectural artifact. The project focus on:

• developing interactive computational models and tools for real time simulation and form finding of structures.
• developing user interfaces of computational tools which will promote creative cooperation between architects and engineers already in the conceptual stage of the design.
• using computational tools connecting parametric design soft wares with computational engines (FEM) to pursue different types of analysis such as structural / building physics / acoustic / lighting analysis
• exploring different concepts/forms by prototyping
• evaluating the working procedure using the computational tools in a real context.

Depending on your background and interest it is possible to choose focus within the topics above. An application can be for example textile membrane structures that offer a great potential for the built environment from architectural as well as engineering point of view since they with a minimum of material can span large distances, promoting space, light and sustainability. Other applications of interest can be how different architectural forms, free forms, can be generated and realized by panelization /tessalation with supporting truss and/or frame structures or other types of loadbearing systems. The realization of form through smart materials and advanced production/construction tools are also important research issues.

Your PhD-project in Architecture and Structural Design is supported by the Chalmers foundation and will be a natural part of the activities within the Area of advance Built Environment.

Position summaryFull-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

Qualifications

To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 300 higher education credits in a relevant field. A suitable background is a Master of Science or a Master of Architecture in Architecture and Engineering, Structural engineering with emphasis on structural mechanics and computational methods (e g FEM) or corresponding level of academic education for example in mathematics. Some years of practical experience in Architecture and or Structural engineering is welcome. The position requires verbal and written communication skills in Swedish and English. If Swedish is not your native language, you should be able to teach in Swedish after two years. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Since communication of research results is a central part of the work, communicative skills in English (oral as well as in writing) are vital. Furthermore, it will also be expected that you can take on responsibility, take own initiatives and work independently when needed. At the same time it is important that you are good at working in teams. This is especially vital since the current project will interact closely with adjacent disciplines and with industrial partners. Finally, you need to be able to disseminate results and knowledge within existing and new networks. This includes academia, industry and society at large.
Application procedure

The application should be marked with Ref 20150459 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as pdf-files, as below:
  1. Application: (Please name the document: APPLICATION, Family name, reference number)
    − CV
    − Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust.
    − Two references that we can contact.
  2. Personal letter/Qualifications: (Please name the document as: QUALIFICATIONS, family name, ref. number) 1-3 pages where you introduce yourself present your qualifications and describe your future research plans.
    − Previous research fields and main research results.
    − Future goals and research focus. Are there any specific projects and research issues you are primarily interested in?
  3. Other:
    − Copies of bachelor and/or master’s thesis.
    − Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates, eg. TOEFL test results.
Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form. The files may be compressed (zipped).

Application deadline: 31 January 2016

For questions, please contact:Professor Karl-Gunnar Olsson
karl-gunnar.olsson@chalmers.se
+46 31-772 23 50

Professor Monica Billger
monica.billger@chalmers.se
+46 31-772 23 83

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