PhD Candidate in Societal readiness for AI-supported Life Cycle Assessment of buildings

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Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KHQjc4ndas&t=41sAbout the position Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career opportunities? As a PhD Candidate with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia. A PhD position in Societal readiness for AI-supported life cycle assessment in the architecture, engineering, and construction sectors is now open at the Energy and Environment Group at the Department of Architecture and Technology, NTNU. The Energy and Environment Group lead centres/projects like the Research centre on zero emission neighbourhoods in smart cities (ZEN), syn.ikia – Sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods, and the Green Deal ARV project on Climate positive circular communities. We use real demonstration projects and our laboratory facilities (like the ZEB laboratory) extensively in our research. The group currently comprises 10 senior staff members (professors and associate professors), and around 20 research fellows (research assistants, PhD candidates, and post-doctoral researchers). The duration of the position is 3 years. Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department.

About the project Life Cycle Assessment is a key instrument for environmental governance in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. At the same time, new artificial intelligence (AI) based tools are beginning to automate central parts of the LCA-based design practice. This includes data gathering, model construction, scenario generation, results interpretation, and decision support. This development may increase speed and usability, especially in early-stage design, but it also raises important questions about transparency, methodological integrity, accountability, professional judgement, and institutional preparedness. This PhD project will examine the societal readiness of the architecture, engineering, and construction sectors for AI-supported environmental assessments. The use of AI-supported LCA tools will be studied through case applications, including usage of machine-learning approaches, large language models, and automated workflows. The project will analyze how such tools reshape trust, responsibility, accountability, and professional judgement in environmental decision-making, by adopting a mixed-method approach. The project will be carried out at the Department of Architecture and Technology at NTNU, in cooperation with SINTEF Industry, department of Manufacturing and NTNU Social Research. The immediate leader is head of department. The place of duty is Trondheim.

Duties of the position

• Carry out research of high quality on AI-assisted LCA in-light of applied use, environmental governance challenges, and societal readiness. • Publishing in high-quality peer reviewed journals and popular science dissemination. • Participate in the Energy and Environment research group at the Department of Architecture and Technology. • Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions. • Complete academic training consisting of coursework corresponding to a minimum of 30 ECTS • Career-enhancing work, which is in addition to the research project and doctoral education, may be offered to a candidate who demonstrates clear motivation and ability for such work, and if the Department determines there is a need. Examples of career-enhancing work include, but are not limited to, contributing to teaching, laboratory and exercise teaching, supervision, and examination work within the employee's areas of competence. Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment. Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria

• You must meet the requirements for admission to the doctoral program in architecture, see Section 6-1 of the PhD regulations for more information. • You must have a relevant Master's degree in Architecture, Industrial Ecology, Science and Technology studies, Computer Science, 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 and no later than November 1st, 2026. • 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. • Excellent written and oral English language skills. • Strong analytical skills and capabilities, proven through courses and/or thesis deliverables. • Motivation to work on the selected topic. The appointment is to be made in accordance with NTNUs guidelines for recruitment positions for general criteria for the position.

Preferred selection criteria

• •Competence in Life Cycle Assessment and/or other environmental sustainability analysis methods.
• •Previous relevant experience with use of Artificial Intelligence (e.g., large language models, machine learning, etc.), especially for Life Cycle Assessment or carbon accounting.
• •Good programming skills in one or several languages (e.g., Python, MATLAB, R, etc.).
• •Previous experience with relevant concepts from Science and Technology studies (such as co-production) will be seen in a positive light.
• •Good oral and written presentation skills in Norwegian/Scandinavian language(s).

Personal characteristics

• Strongly motivated to work on the topic. • The successful candidate will become part of a multidisciplinary research environment. The candidate is expected to embrace this setting and be a true team player. • Self-driven with a strong ability to work independently and maintain good structure and discipline in their work. • Demonstrated integrity and a strong sense of responsibility in their research conduct. Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities.

We offer Evaluate and remove/add what is relevant for the position.

• An exciting job with an important mission in society • Developing tasks in a strong and international professional environment • Career guidance and follow-up during the PhD period • Open and inclusive working environment with committed colleagues • Working capital that can be used to implement the project • Mentor programme as a new employee at NTNU • Favorable terms as a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (SPK) • Free Norwegian language training at a basic level (A2). As a PhD Candidate at NTNU, you will have access to employee benefits.

Diversity Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity in society and that makes use of the potential of the population's collective skills. Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values ​​are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse and gender-balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals. We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal missi