PhD Position in Marine Renewables: Energy and Societal Impacts under Climate Change

About the role

The PhD project aims to decode environmental information stored in living microorganisms, creating biodegradable, battery‑less sensing systems. It sits at the intersection of Sustainable Design Engineering, biodesign, machine learning and interaction design.

Key responsibilities

• Cultivate and maintain the target microorganism under controlled conditions.
• Characterise and model visible responses of the organism to varied environmental factors.
• Develop and validate computational decoders that translate organism images into quantitative environmental histories.
• Design and prototype fully compostable smart packaging for temperature and humidity monitoring.

Required profile

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Biodesign, Design Engineering or a related field.
• Experience building and deploying machine learning or computer‑vision models.
• Strong interest or experience in biodesign and hands‑on work with living organisms.
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary team, communicate effectively and take initiative.

Required skills

• Machine learning
• Computer vision
• Bio‑digital systems
• Biodesign
• Computational biology
• Physical prototyping

What we offer

• Four‑year employment split into two contracts, with a progress assessment after 15 months.
• Salary according to the Dutch University Collective Labour Agreement, including holiday allowance and end‑of‑year bonus.
• Enrollment in the TU Delft Graduate School with mentorship and a customisable compensation package.
• Relocation support, health‑insurance discounts and flexible work schedules.