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

Delft University of Technology via AcademicTransfer; Netherlands; On-site; EUR 52,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Duration of contract: 2 years

36-40 hours per week

ABP pension scheme

Leave hours (annual)

Job summary

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) invites applications for a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to join the ROUTES project in the Department of Sustainable Design Engineering. The role focuses on developing and implementing monitoring and design evaluation frameworks, and translating multi-site data into actionable insights for European cities and practitioners.

You will design standardized metrics, indicators, and data collection protocols, coordinate on-site campaigns, and

Qualifications

• This PhD-level candidate has strong urban analytics and evaluation skills.
• Experience with monitoring, evaluation, and data collection in urban contexts is required.
• Proven ability to work across disciplines and publish in journals.

Responsibilities

• Develop standardized metrics and indicators across spatial and temporal scales.
• Create data collection protocols ensuring GDPR/FAIR compliance.
• Coordinate multi-site field campaigns and data integration.
• Conduct comparative analyses of interventions on walkability, accessibility and cohesion.
• Translate findings into accessible formats and tools for cities.
• Collaborate with international partners and contribute to reports and papers.

Skills

Urban analytics

Data integration

Statistical analysis

Behavioral mapping

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Education

PhD in urban design, urban planning, transportation/mobility studies, geography, environmental psychology, urban data science, or a related field

Tools

GIS

Sensor data

Data visualization

Job description

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)

Organisation/Company Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) Research Field Engineering » Design engineering Engineering » Civil engineering Geography » Human geography Geography » Social geography Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Application Deadline 4 Dec 2026 - 22:59 (UTC) Country Netherlands Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Not Applicable Hours Per Week 40.0 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

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

Job description

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

• 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

• 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.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Working at TU Delft means contributing to solutions that really make a difference.

For over 180 years, we have been training engineers who make an impact worldwide in companies, government bodies, or as entrepreneurs. Our alumni turn knowledge into concrete solutions for the challenges of today and tomorrow. These challenges are changing rapidly. That is why we focus on themes such as energy, climate, digitalisation, artificial intelligence (AI), and smart mobility every day. Our education and research are directly aligned with what society needs now and in the future.

At TU Delft, our people make the difference. With their knowledge and curiosity, our staff provide a high-quality education and conduct pioneering research that extends beyond the campus. You will have the opportunity to take the initiative, work with others, and grow as a professional. Working at TU Delft means join an international community of professionals and students. Together, we create knowledge, innovations, and solutions that help move the world forward.

Faculty Industrial Design Engineering

Matching the evolution of people with the speed of the revolution of technology. This is the focus of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE). Delft designers act as a bridge between advances in technology and the needs of people, organisations and society to create products, services and systems with purpose.

IDE is a leader in design research across the application areas of mobility, sustainability and health, as well as its development of design tools and methods. A 350-strong research team and over 2,000 students work together in our inspiring hall, labs and studios.

In close cooperation with industry, the public sector and NGOs we rehearse possible futures in research and education to design for a complex future.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.

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