Stipend for doctoral researcher (m/f/d) at the interface between ecology and computational architecture

12.09.2022, Wissenschaftliches Personal [Beachten Sie die Hinweise beim Login !]

The Terrestrial Ecology Research Group at the TUM School of Life Science in Freising in cooperation with the D.DLab at the Architecture and Town Planning Faculty, Technion-IIT is recruiting a Doctoral researcher (Ph.D.-student, m/f/d) to work in the project Prototyping an Integrated Façade System (IFS) for Spontaneous Multi-Species Habitation: Overcoming ecological, architectural, and social bottlenecks (PROTOHAB). PROTOHAB proposes an interdisciplinary architectural, ecological and socio-ecological approach, coupling modelling with experimentation, to develop future integrated façade systems (IFS) for the urban environment that allow to combine human needs with the promotion of biodiversity. PROTOHAB is funded by the TUM International Graduate School of Science and Engineering (IGSSE). The project is carried out by an International Project Team consisting of two Doctoral Researchers at TUM and one Doctoral Researcher at TECHNION as well as a coordinating postdoc.

Background
Vertical building surfaces in cities appear as promising zones for interventions to support biodiversity, as they represent vast surface areas, are mostly inaccessible to people, and can be modified to offer food and shelter resources to various animal and plant species. Research into the ecological potential of man-made walls points at specific geometric formations, such as cracks, fissures, ledges, and micro-textures, that can contribute to making cities more biodiversity-rich. Architects’ current computational design tools enable the modelling of geometrical features that could be used to design integrated species-rich façades for spontaneous biodiversity. Designing such a façade for a given building needs to integrate information on local ecological conditions to evaluate the biodiversity outcomes. In addition, feedback on recent architectural projects show that the lack of social acceptance of an increased presence of biodiversity can be a limitation to the development of such projects.

The project is organized along three axes of research:
• Axis 1: Defining the ecological potential and design objectives of a site. This entails the use of ecological models and the empirical evaluation of the performance of façade mock-ups through biodiversity monitoring.
• Axis 2: Integrating ecology into façade modelling. This entails bringing ecological requirements into computational design generation and façade prototyping.
• Axis 3: Evaluating the perception and the level of acceptance of IFS. This entails the use of questionnaires and socio-ecological analyses.
The Doctoral researcher recruited here will be critical in the development of Axes 1 and 2, by making the ecological knowledge necessary for an IFS available for design. This is an interdisciplinary modeling position based on a combination of ecological and design modeling, and experimentation. We are looking for an enthusiastic open-minded candidate willing to learn in other disciplines and able to apply her/his modeling skills to ecological and design problems.

Your tasks
(1) Create a methodological tool to evaluate the ecological potential and objectives of a site in relation to façade parameters i.e., materiality, geometry, environmental and abiotic conditions.
(2) Lead the design, prototyping and set-up of a façade experiment and contribute to the monitoring of the species found on the mock-ups of the experiment.
What we expect
• M.Sc/M.Arch degree in one of the following areas, or a related area, earned no more than three years prior to the start of the PhD: Architecture, Computational Design, Landscape Architecture, Bioinformatics, Computational ecology, Mathematical modelling, Ecological Modelling
• Excellent modelling skills
• Programming experience, e.g. with Grasshopper in Rhino3D, R, C++, or Python
• A track record of research and publication;
• Ability and experience in academic writing and oral communication;
• Fully fluent in writing, reading and speaking English;
Additional skills that we are looking for include:
• Genuine enthusiasm for research;
• Ability and experience leading and working with teams;
• Research experience in interdisciplinary settings

Our offer:
We offer an interesting and challenging opportunity in a motivated international research team. The Doctoral researcher will be based at the Chair of Terrestrial Ecology, at TUM in Freising, but will spend extended periods of time at TECHNION in Haifa. The Chair of Terrestrial Ecology is an international and dynamic team of about 35 people almost equally shared between postdocs, PhDs, and technical staff. The team works on various topics, including biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, plant-insect interactions, urban ecology, and global changes impacts on biodiversity. More information about the Terrestrial Ecology Research Group can be found at toek.wzw.tum.de
D.DLab is a design-led technological research group of graduate, PhDs, and postdoc members with advanced laboratory facilities for computer aided design and manufacturing projects at the Technion-Architecture and Town Planning Faculty. The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology ranks among the world’s top universities, as measured by several key independent rankings. The Technion offers significant support to international research students through a broad range of scholarships and research travel awards, dedicated office spaces, skills training, and professional development opportunities. The campus is located in the coastal city of Haifa on the Carmel Mountain, offering a unique nature experience and quality of life. https://ddlab.net.technion.ac.il/
There will be cooperation with researchers of the project ECOLOPES (www.ecolopes.eu) where TUM, TECHNION, the University of Genua in Italy, the Technical University of Vienna, Austria, McNeel Europe, based in Barcelona, Spain, and Studio Animal-Aided Design in Germany are partners. Freising is a charming small student Bavarian city in Munich vicinity, very well connected to Munich by train, and a perfect start point to explore Bavaria and Germany.

Working hours are flexible and the Doctoral Researcher recruited here will receive a monthly stipend of € 2,000 for four years, provided that the progress of the doctoral project is positively evaluated after the first two years. Severely disabled persons will be given preference in the case of essentially equal suitability and qualifications. The TUM aims to increase the proportion of women; applications from women are therefore expressly welcomed.

Contact and application
Please send your application with a short letter of motivation, CV, certificates etc. as well as the contact details of two references to Technische Universität München, Chair of Terrestrial Ecology, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Email: [email protected], by 30 September 2022. If you are applying by email, please send all documents as a single PDF document.
When applying for a position at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), you will be submitting personal data. Please refer to our data protection information in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) http://go.tum.de/554159 regarding the collection and processing of personal data in the context of your application. By submitting your application, you confirm that you have taken note of the TUM data protection information.

Please direct questions about the position to Prof. Shany Barath ([email protected]), Dr. Jens Joschinski ([email protected]), or Prof. Wolfgang W Weisser ([email protected]).

Data Protection Information:
When you apply for a position with the Technical University of Munich (TUM), you are submitting personal information. With regard to personal information, please take note of the Datenschutzhinweise gemäß Art. 13 Datenschutz-Grundverordnung (DSGVO) zur Erhebung und Verarbeitung von personenbezogenen Daten im Rahmen Ihrer Bewerbung. (data protection information on collecting and processing personal data contained in your application in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)). By submitting your application, you confirm that you have acknowledged the above data protection information of TUM.

Kontakt: [email protected]