PhD Researcher in Infrastructure Planning & Risk Management

About the role

This PhD position investigates how public‑private infrastructure ecosystems can align digitalisation and sustainability goals. Based at TU Delft, you will explore paradoxes in the twin transition and develop actionable insights for practitioners and policymakers.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct an embedded case study of Dutch infrastructure projects, including interviews with owners, contractors, consultants, regulators and community representatives.
• Analyse project documents, strategies and policies to map paradoxical tensions and their path‑dependencies.
• Apply systems‑thinking methods to model inter‑organizational collaboration and ecosystem orchestration.
• Produce research outputs that are directly usable by stakeholders, such as frameworks, guidelines and policy recommendations.
• Engage with practitioners and policymakers through collaborative activities and workshops.
• Collaborate with a second PhD candidate and an interdisciplinary supervisory team.

Required profile

• Master’s degree in construction management, civil engineering, project management, business administration, information systems or a related field.
• Strong interest in the twin transition of digitalisation and sustainability within complex infrastructure ecosystems.
• Motivation to develop into an independent researcher while staying closely connected to real‑world challenges.

Required skills

What we offer

• Placement in a multidisciplinary research environment at a leading technical university.
• Access to a broad network of industry and academic partners.
• Opportunities to publish research and translate findings into practical knowledge.