PhD in Assessing Wastewater Treatment Innovations, Trade-offs and Socio-Technical Uncertainties

TL;DR

PhD in Assessing Wastewater Treatment Innovations (Environmental Engineering): Investigating environmental and economic impacts of emerging wastewater treatment technologies with an accent on trade-offs and socio-technical uncertainties. Focus on developing assessment frameworks, modeling implementation scenarios, and building decision-support tools for future wastewater systems.

Location: Delft, Netherlands (relocation support provided)

Salary: €3059–€3881 gross per month

Company

Delft University of Technology, a top international university combining science, engineering, and design to address global challenges in energy, climate, health, and digital society.

What you will do

• Develop an assessment framework using literature and stakeholder engagement.
• Model and assess implementation scenarios for wastewater treatment innovations based on pilots, digital twins, and project data.
• Build a decision-analysis tool to compare treatment options and support planning.
• Explore stakeholders’ acceptability of scenarios in the Dutch context.
• Collaborate with PhDs, Postdocs, and EngDs across universities, waterboards, and industry partners in the NWO Blue Vantage project.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in industrial ecology, environmental engineering, bioprocess engineering or related field, with wastewater treatment experience/knowledge
• Experience with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Techno-Economic Analysis
• Experience or affinity with Participatory Research and Responsible Innovation
• Strong communication skills for interacting with supervisors, partners, and stakeholders
• Initiative, pragmatic spirit, and hands-on problem-solving approach
• English proficiency required for communication, courses, and thesis writing

Nice to have

• Experience with modeling and uncertainty analysis
• Experience with qualitative research methods and data analysis

Culture & Benefits

• 4-year employment (initial 1.5-year contract + 2.5-year extension after assessment)
• Salary increasing from €3059 to €3881 gross/month (full-time, 38 hours), plus 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• Customizable compensation package, health insurance discounts, monthly work costs contribution, flexible schedules
• Enrollment in hirify.global Graduate School with research skills development
• Diversity and inclusion focus; relocation support via Coming to Delft Service and Dual Career Programme

Hiring process

• Apply by 17 May 2026 with CV and motivation letter
• Interviews starting from June 8
• Knowledge security risk assessment at final stages