Postdoctoral Researcher Position in Data-Driven Design Evaluation of Urban Transformations

TU Delft; Delft; In loco; EUR 48.000 - 60.000; Tempo pieno

Vantaggi offerti da questo lavoro

ABP pension

232 annual leave hours (38h)

Education and training opportunities

Relocation assistance

Descrizione del lavoro

TU Delft, Department of Sustainable Design Engineering, invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher position in Data-Driven Design Evaluation of Urban Transformations as part of the ROUTES project. The role focuses on developing and applying monitoring and evaluation frameworks to assess schoolyard-street interventions across European pilot sites.

You will design metrics, perform cross-site analyses, and help translate findings into practical tools for cities and practitioners,

Competenze

• PhD in urban design, urban planning, transportation/mobility studies, geography, environmental psychology, or a related field.
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative monitoring, evaluation, and data collection and analysis methods.
• Experience with spatial data analysis, GIS, sensor-based mobility data, or behavioral mapping.
• Strong analytical and data-handling skills with data integration experience.
• Excellent written and spoken English; ability to work in an international, interdisciplinary consortium.
• Experience disseminating research to non-academic audiences.
• Willingness to travel to European pilot sites for fieldwork coordination.

Mansioni

• Define metrics and indicators across spatial and temporal scales for schoolyard, street, and neighborhood contexts.
• Develop harmonized data collection and analysis protocols ensuring interoperability across pilot sites.
• Coordinate on-site observation campaigns and multi-phase measurement across pilot sites.
• Perform comparative analyses on walkability, accessibility, safety, cohesion, and mobility transformations.
• Translate findings into accessible formats and support co-development of the ROUTES Atlas.
• Collaborate with project partners and pilot cities (Bratislava, Espoo, Rotterdam, Tirana) and contribute to deliverables.

Conoscenze

Quantitative & qualitative monitoring

Spatial data analysis (GIS)

Data integration across heterogeneous

Excellent English communication

Interdisciplinary teamwork

Formazione

PhD in urban design/planning or related field

Descrizione del lavoro

Postdoctoral Researcher Position in Data-Driven Design Evaluation of Urban Transformations

Join an ambitious Horizon Europe/New European Bauhaus project reimagining schoolyards and streets as common spaces for thriving neighborhoods across Europe!

This position is part of the Horizon/New European Bauhaus EU-funded research and innovation project 'ROUTES – Reimagining Open Schoolyards and Urban Streets as Equitable Spaces,' which will launch in September 2026.

About ROUTES

ROUTES is a €3.5 million Horizon Europe project running for four years from September 2026 and coordinated by Delft University of Technology. It brings together 16 organizations across 8 European countries to investigate how integrated transformations of schoolyards and school streets can improve safety, social cohesion, active mobility uptake, inclusivity, and well-being across neighborhood communities. Through living laboratories in Bratislava, Espoo, Rotterdam, and Tirana, the project works with citizens, schools, and local authorities to co-design and test urban interventions, generating evidence-based tools and guidelines for wider European implementation, with Braga, Kocaeli, Lund, and Nantes participating as Observer Cities. What makes ROUTES distinctive is its focus on the combined impact of schoolyard and school street interventions. While these environments have often been studied separately, the project will investigate how integrated approaches can benefit not only school communities but entire neighborhoods. By combining expertise in urban analytics, environmental psychology, mobility, behavioral science, citizen science, and urban design, the project aims to generate new evidence for future urban policy and practice.

The role

We are looking for a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to contribute to the development and implementation of the ROUTES' monitoring and design evaluation framework, its comparative data analysis, and the ROUTES Atlas co-development. You will help design standardized metrics, indicators, and data collection protocols to assess the short-, medium-, and long-term effects of joint schoolyard-street transformations on community well-being, accessibility, safety, and social cohesion, and translate multi-site data into comparative insights and practical tools for cities and practitioners.

What you will do

In this Postdoc position, you will:

• Contribute to defining metrics and indicators across spatial (schoolyard, street, neighborhood, city) and temporal (daily, weekly, seasonal) scales, combining sensor-based data with human-centered behavioral mapping and on-site observation.
• Help develop harmonized data collection, integration, and analysis protocols ensuring consistency and interoperability across pilot sites, in line with GDPR and FAIR data principles.
• Support the implementation of multi-phase measurements (pre-intervention, during tactical implementation, post-completion) across the pilot sites, including coordinating on-site observation campaigns.
• Conduct comparative (casual) analyses of intervention impacts across pilot sites and timeframes, covering walkability, accessibility, perceived safety and cohesion, and mobility transformations.
• Contribute to translating findings into accessible formats and support the co-development of the interactive ROUTES Atlas.
• Collaborate closely with project partners and pilot cities (Bratislava, Espoo, Rotterdam, Tirana).
• Contribute to project deliverables, reports, and scientific publications.

The successful postdoctoral researcher will be based at the Department of Sustainable Design Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands), and collaborate will all partners in the ROUTES project.

Job requirements

The postdoctoral researcher will work under the supervision of Dr. Achilleas Psyllidis and will become a member of the Urban Analytics Lab.

The successful candidate will have:

• PhD in urban design, urban planning, transportation/mobility studies, geography, environmental psychology, urban data science, or a related field.
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative monitoring, evaluation, and data collection and analysis methods in urban or built-environment contexts.
• Experience with spatial data analysis, GIS, sensor-based mobility data, or behavioral mapping methods.
• Strong analytical and data-handling skills and experience with data integration across heterogeneous sources.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Experience with publishing in top-tier journals and conferences is an advnatage.
• Ability to work in an international, interdisciplinary consortium.
• Experience with disseminating research to a non-academic audience (e.g., practicing designers, planners, and policy makers) is an advnatage.
• Willingness to travel occasionally to European pilot sites for fieldwork coordination.

Conditions of employment

• Duration of contract is 2 years. Temporary.
• A job of 36-40 hours per week.
• Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• An excellent pension scheme via the ABP.
• The possibility to compile an individual employment package every year.
• Discount with health insurers on supplemental packages.
• Every year, 232 leave hours (at 38 hours). You can also sell or buy additional leave hours via the individual choice budget.
• Plenty of opportunities for education, training and courses.
• Partially paid parental leave
• Attention for working healthy and energetically with the vitality program.

Will you need to relocate to the Netherlands for this job? TU Delft is committed to make your move as smooth as possible! The HR unit, Coming to Delft Service , offers information on their website to help you prepare your relocation. In addition, Coming to Delft Service organises events to help you settle in the Netherlands, and expand your (social) network in Delft. A Dual Career Programme is available, to support your accompanying partner with their job search in the Netherlands. .

Additional information

This is an EU funded project, named ROUTES, with project number 101308841, within the Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021/2027) and under the research and innovation component of the New European Bauhaus Facility.

Content-related questions about this vacancy or the selection procedure may be directed via email to Dr. Achilleas Psyllidis ( [e-mail] ). Please do NOT use this email address for applications

Faculty/Department: Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering

FTE: 1,0

Submission is possible until: 4 Dec 2026