PhD In Urbanism

Co-design and adoption of European digital twin infrastructure for living environments

Introduction

Are you passionate about participatory and critical approaches to the design of digital infrastructures in cities? Do questions about fairness, legitimacy, and responsible AI in healthy urban living environments inspire you? In this PhD position, you will join a large international European consortium developing digital twin infrastructures across multiple countries. You will work alongside researchers, developers, healthcare actors, and housing/urban policy partners to strengthen the societal foundations of AI-enabled systems and contribute to a more just and inclusive digital transformation of living environments.

Job Description

Digital twins and AI-enabled infrastructures are increasingly shaping European health and living environments. Yet their success depends not only on technical robustness, but also on social acceptability, trust, and adoption. How can co-design processes contribute to fair, legitimate, and transferable digital infrastructures across countries and domains?

In this PhD project, you will work within a large international European consortium, funded under the Horizon Europe project AiGENT – AI-enabled digital twin infrastructure for health and living environments. The consortium involve universities, research institutes, healthcare and built environment actors, and civil society organisations across multiple countries. Your research will focus on evaluating and structuring co-design processes in this setting, with particular attention to how participatory approaches influence legitimacy, stakeholder value, and adoption dynamics in different national contexts.

You will design and analyse evaluation workshops and cross-domain focus groups in three pilot countries, engaging researchers, construction industry, housing portfolio managers, policy actors and residents. You will investigate issues such as fairness, bias, access, and power relations in AI-enabled infrastructures. In addition, you will develop a structured evaluation framework and explore how co-design processes can be enhanced by AI-supported tools, for example by comparing alternative scenarios, surfacing hidden tensions, or structuring stakeholder input in a transparent and comparable way across domains.

The project is embedded in an interdisciplinary research environment at TU/e, where you will collaborate with experts in urbanism, digital systems, and governance. You will contribute to methodological innovation, scientific publications, and the development of a European playbook for responsible and scalable digital twin infrastructures.

Through your work, you will help strengthen the societal grounding of AI-driven infrastructures and contribute to the responsible digital transformation of health and living environments in Europe.

Job Requirements

• A master’s degree (or an equivalent university degree) in urbanism, urban studies, geography, planning, information systems, or a related field
• Demonstrated experience with participatory design, stakeholder engagement, or co-design processes
• Familiarity with urban data systems, and AI-enabled information models
• Basic experience with computational tools for data or text analysis (e.g. Python) and interest in AI-supported methods such as large language models in research contexts
• Interest in the governance, adoption, and societal implications of AI-enabled infrastructures
• Ability to easily switch between disciplinary frames and work across academic and societal contexts
• A research-oriented attitude and motivation to develop scientific work
• A critical attitude toward AI-enabled technologies and their application to building and spatial issues.
• Fluent in spoken and written English (C1 level). Knowledge of Dutch, Finish, or Greek is a plus.

Conditions of Employment

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: 

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate assessment after nine months. You will spend a minimum of 10% of your four-year employment on teaching tasks, with a maximum of 15% per year of your employment. 
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. € 3,059 - max. € 3,881).  
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%. 
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process. 
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.  
• Unlimited access to the modern on‑campus TU/e Student Sports Center at an exceptionally affordable rate.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs. 
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates. 

On our website you can discover even more information about our conditions of employment. Build on your career at TU/e!

About us

We are a leading international university where scientific curiosity meets a hands-on mindset. We work in an open and collaborative way with high-tech industries to tackle complex societal challenges. Our responsible and respectful approach ensures impact — today and in the future. TU/e is home to over 13,000 students and more than 7,000 staff, forming a diverse and vibrant academic community.

Our university is located in Brainport Eindhoven — a world‑leading tech region with more than 7,000 high‑tech companies and strong R&D activity. Known for breakthroughs in AI, photonics, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing, Brainport is a place where technology serves people and society. Learn more about the Brainport region here.

Sustainability, in its broadest definition, is the cornerstone of research and education in the Department of Built Environment. We take the lead in (re)shaping the built environment to be future-proof, safe, healthy, inclusive and respectful of planetary boundaries. We house the entire spectrum of technology, engineering, design, and human behavior disciplines in the built environment, with world-class experimental facilities at all scales. This allows us to address societal challenges from a uniquely integrated perspective.

Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact the hiring manager Oana Druta ([email protected]) or Cem Ataman ([email protected]).

Visit our website for more information about the application process. You can also contact Leo van Houten (HR Advisor) – ([email protected]).

Curious to hear more about what it’s like as a PhD candidate at TU/e? Please view the video.

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application by using the apply button. The application should include a:

• Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position. No more than 2 A4 pages.
• Curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications (if applicable) and the contact information of two references. Kindly note that we may reach out to references at any stage of the recruitment process. We recommend notifying your references upon submitting your application.

Ensure that you submit all the requested application documents. Please note that incomplete applications may not be considered and could be rejected.

We look forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until the position is filled.

Please note

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post. 
• A pre-employment screening (e.g. knowledge security check) can be part of the selection procedure. For more information on the knowledge security check, please consult the National Knowledge Security Guidelines.
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.