Postdoc In Urban Planning and Design

Are you passionate about improving living conditions for vulnerable populations and tackling housing exclusion ? Would you thrive in a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment working towards impact with local governments and housing associations ? Join us at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) to drive systemic change in homelessness and housing policy.

The Department of the Built Environment at TU/e seeks a talented postdoctoral researcher to join the Urban Design group within the Urban Systems and Real Estate unit. You will contribute to the national NWA-funded project Passende Huisvesting: Paradigm Shift from Shelters to Housing, supervised by Dr. Oana Druta. The project is a large-scale consortium of over 30 partners.

The project tackles a pressing societal challenge: implementing a Housing First approach to eliminate homelessness in the Netherlands. It supports the National Action Plan to End Homelessness by advancing local policies, developing innovative housing solutions, and fostering institutional change. Key focus areas include:

• De-stigmatizing homelessness and promoting societal understanding.
• Strengthening housing-first initiatives to ensure adequate housing.
• Adapting policies to enable inclusive housing practices.
• Repositioning stakeholders, including local governments, housing associations, and care providers.

At TU/e Urban Labs, we are leading one work package centered on evaluating municipal housing policies, designing actionable solutions, and facilitating knowledge exchange in direct collaboration with two universities of applied sciences.

 What you will do:

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will:

1. Design an evaluation framework in collaboration with other consortium partners, evaluate housing policy and strategies in several Dutch municipalities and produce actionable recommendations.
2. Collaborate with design instructors to organize and conduct design research in the context of studios with master students. Coordinate the design assignments together with consortium partners and extract practical insights for stakeholders.
3. Conduct a literature review of housing first practices focused in housing policy, real estate, urban planning and design.
4. Publish high-impact academic papers based on evaluation studies and design outputs.
5. Build and maintain relationships with societal partners, including local governments and housing associations and lead knowledge-sharing sessions.
6. Contribute to the project's final report on implementation strategies for systemic housing solutions.

Requirements:

• A PhD in urban studies, urban geography, urban planning, urban design, real estate or a related field.
• Track record of working on issues of housing exclusion and housing policy.
• Demonstrated affinity for society oriented research that combines academic and policy/strategic/design oriented components
• Ability to conduct high quality academic research, reflected in demonstratable outputs.
• A team player who enjoys coaching PhD and Master's students and working in a dynamic, interdisciplinary team.
• Strong organizational and leadership skills to manage complex projects effectively.
• Excellent (written and verbal) proficiency in Dutch and English. Dutch is the language of the consortium, and necessary for collaboration with societal partners. English is the working language within the university and research group.

Salary Benefits:

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Employment at 0,8 fte for 3 years.
• Salary in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale 10 (min. €4,060 max. €5.331).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs on general skills, didactics and topics related to research and valorization.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• Partially paid parental leave and an allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A TU/e Postdoc Association that helps you to build a stronger and broader academic and personal network, and offers tailored support, training and workshops.
• A Staff Immigration Team is available for international candidates, as are a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) and a compensation for moving expenses.
   

30.4 hours per week

De Rondom 70