PhD Positions in Systems Engineering (Up to 2 positions)

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Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KHQjc4ndas&t=41sAbout the position The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MTP) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has two vacancies for PhD candidates within different disciplines of Systems Engineering/New Product Development, funded through the Centre for Research-based Innovation, SFI-CELECT (Research Centre for Effective Engineering and Learning in Complex Systems). The positions are 3-year doctoral research fellowships starting in 2026/2027. Each PhD candidate will be embedded in the research activities of SFI-CELECT and will work closely with NTNU, University of Sout-Eastern Norway (USN), University of Agder (UiA), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), and leading industrial partners in the product manufacturing, defence and aerospace, and maritime sectors. You will be supervised by Professor Torgeir Welo.

About the project SFI-CELECT (Research Centre for Effective Engineering and Learning in Complex Systems) started in 2026 and is funded by the Research Council of Norway and industrial partners. The centre is led by the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN) in close collaboration with NTNU and UiA, and involves a broad consortium of leading companies across multiple industrial sectors. Through research on new methodologies for effective engineering and learning in complex systems, we aim to accelerate innovation and value creation in industry by developing better methods and smarter tools to ‘do more with less— and faster’. SFI-CELECT runs from 2026 to 2033 and is Norway’s most ambitious research initiative within innovation in complex systems. The primary objective of SFI-CELECT is to leap the innovation and product realization capabilities in some of Norway’s leading industries by enhancing how new products are developed and managed. Operating within an integrated academic-industry ecosystem, SFI-CELECT will generate research-based methodologies, methods and tools for effective and efficient product innovation and realization, embracing the complexity and dynamics in today’s business environments where digitalization and AI tools play an increasingly important role. A key aim of CELECT is to establish an integrated academic-industry learning and educational ecosystem, where PhDs and researchers work together across disciplines to solve complex problems of high industrial importance using industry-as-a-laboratory as the research context. Education and competence building are central pillars of CELECT. The centre will educate more than 30 PhD and postdoctoral researchers and over 120 MSc students, strengthening Norway’s international position in new-product innovation. Work location for the two positions posted here is NTNU - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Trondheim, Norway.

PhD position 1: Strategies for leveraging cross-functional knowledge flows in digitally supported NPD processes Since the outcome of NPD processes is not only the physical artifact but also the creation, acquisition and transfer of knowledge, cross-functional knowledge flows are central to NPD effectiveness in (quality of decisions and solutions) and efficiency (speed and ‘first-time-right’). This PhD will research how such cross-functional knowledge flows can be enabled, managed and leveraged in contemporary NPD settings where collaborations are increasingly mediated by shared digital tools rather than co-located interaction. Accordingly, s/he will investigate how organizations can make NPD work processes more productive by better understanding where digital tools has their limitations. Moreover, the candidate will determine which countermeasures that can be established to stimulate and improve interactions across functional boundaries to make work flows more tangible and transparent with regard to identifying potential waste sources and lack of value.

PhD position 2: Optimizing product design for efficient manufacturing using digital tools throughout the New Product Development (NPD) process The aim of this PhD is to develop knowledge-based, Design for Manufacturing (DfM) strategies for improved decision support in integrated product and process development. The PhD will develop, test and verify new DfM platforms, bridging theory, practices, processes, people and digital tools, and equipping companies with the capability necessary to effectively integrate manufacturing considerations, including product-service lifecycle responsibility, early in the product development process. This position will complement PhD position 1 above, which focuses more generally on cross functional knowledge flow in multidisciplinary NPD teams. Some key research questions are:

• •How can manufacturing considerations and requirements be efficiently and effectively integrated into the early stages of NPD?
• •How can we integrate AI into our digital thread to automatically retrieve DfM data, specifications, and essential knowledge for NPD?
• •How can we design modern learning frameworks to build a digital Design for Manufacturing (DfM) knowledge base?
• •What role does externally captured information play in design support related to DfM?
• •How can organizations utilize formal decision-support frameworks to operationalize and leverage their strategic Design for Manufacturing (DfM) capabilities?
• •How can organizations enable interoperability between people, processes and IT/AI tools within such frameworks?

Duties of the position

• Complete the doctoral education until obtaining a doctorate within a 3-year timeframe • Carry out high-quality research within the framework described above • Academic publications in high-quality journals and conferences • Participate in activities in associated research groups • Actively work companies in an industry-as-laboratory environment, combining qualitative and quantitative research • Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions • Active involvement in SFI CELECT’s doctoral team across NTNU, USN and UIA, including research school INRESCOS and participate in common workshops, learning events and courses Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria

• •You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's Doctoral Programme, see Section 6-1 of the PhD regulations for more information*
• •You must have a relevant Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Management or equivalent. Your degree must include a major independent project (minimum 30 ECTS) equivalent to a master’s thesis
• •Master students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position
• •You must have a strong and relevant academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master's degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared to NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you have a weaker academic background, you may be considered if you can document that you are exceptionally suited for a PhD education, for example through relevant work experience and/or peer-reviewed academic works.
• •Strong academic background relevant to the topic
• •Good written and oral English skills
• •You must meet the requirements to obtain NATO security clearance for access to the facilities of the partner companies
• •The hiring of each PhD candidate must be approved by the boar