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EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, is one of the most dynamic university campuses in Europe and ranks among the top 20 universities worldwide. The EPFL employs more than 6,500 people supporting the three main missions of the institutions: education, research and innovation. The EPFL campus offers an exceptional working environment at the heart of a community of more than 18,500 people, including over 14,000 students and 4,000 researchers from more than 120 different countries.

Research Associate / Post-Doc for Global Building Data Initiative

Mission

The Laboratory of Construction Materials (LMC) under the lead of Professor Scrivener, together with GLOBE - The Global Consensus on Sustainability in the Built Environment and RISE Institute for Regenerative Spatial Systems Science, is seeking a Research Associate / Post-Doc to support future development of the GBDI Global Building Data Initiative (www.gbdi.io) in its subsequent phases (2025-2028).

 

GBDI’s mission is to empower industry leaders and policy makers with data-driven insights on how to enhance life cycle performance of buildings through design and engineering, to help define robust benchmarks, identify effective strategies, and set meaningful targets to drive concrete decarbonization action. The initiative aims for a global assessment of resource use and embodied carbon, with special attention to Global South partnerships and implementation.

 

Main duties and responsibilities


As a Research Associate / Post-Doc, you work closely with the Lead Scientists to strategically develop GBDI’s research agenda and with our Tech Team to implement new methods and models. Particularly this role aims to:

 

  • Building material and energy use data collection and generation for different world regions to improve understanding of resource use and environmental life cycle impacts of buildings globally.
  • Development of methods and models for prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) and regionalized impact assessment, building on the Ecoinvent database and the brightway framework.
  • Assessment of strategies for optimizing resource use, carbon emissions and removals following the “avoid-shift-improve” framework for understanding, e.g., global concrete decarbonization potentials.
  • Application of novel methods to advance the environmental modelling of global real estate portfolios and building stock dynamics, including the testing of strategies for carbon reduction and removal.
  • Support GBDI’s strategic development and engage with selected stakeholders, industry leaders and policy makers, to gather requirements and deliver appropriate solutions.

Profile

The candidate must have:

 

  • Proven expertise in methods for life cycle assessment (LCA) of buildings and construction.
  • Experience in scientific programming (e.g., Python, R), data analysis and visualization.
  • Experience in dynamic assessment of environmental impacts via Python brightway framework.
  • Interest in supply and value chain assessment of water use, land use, and biodiversity impacts.
  • Excellent command of English (oral and written), fluency in German and/or French is beneficial.
  • A PhD degree (or otherwise substantial research and/or industry experience) in Environmental Sciences, Industrial Ecology, Civil Engineering, Architecture, or a closely related discipline.

 

We offer

A dynamic, multidisciplinary, international and collaborative working environment. The candidate will work in a world-wide recognized laboratory in sustainable construction research and will have the possibility to participate in the international arena of leading initiatives driving decarbonization of the built environment.

Competitive salary and excellent working conditions – more information can be found on our website (https://www.epfl.ch/campus/services/human-resources/en/basic-starting-salary-of-doctoral-assistants-and-postdocs/)

 

Informations

Only applications submitted through the online platform are considered. You are asked to supply:

  • A brief cover letter (pdf, up to 2 pages).

 

And in one PDF:

  • A CV with a publication list.
  • A research statement (pdf, up to 3 pages).
  • Contact details for 3 referees.

 

For any further information, please contact: Martin Röck (martin.roeck@riselabs.at) or Karen Scrivener (karen.scrivener@epfl.ch).

 

Contract Start Date : 01/04/2025

Activity Rate Min : 80,00

Activity Rate Max : 100,00

Contract Type: CDD

Duration: 1 year - renewable

Reference: 1443

 

 










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