MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship 2023 – Smart buildings and built environment - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Call for Expression of Interest for a joint application under the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme – Call: MSCA-PF-2023

Hereby OsloMet invites interested experienced researchers of any nationality, who have a PhD degree and maximum eight (8) years of research experience after having obtained the PhD degree, to apply for the EU-funded Marie Skłodowska Curie Action Postdoctoral Fellowship (call HORIZON-MSCA-PF-2023) to conduct research at OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University for a period of two years.

Sustainable Built Environment (SustainaBUILT)

The Research group SustainaBUILT at the Department of Built Environment - Energy Technology, Faculty of Technology, Art and Design at OsloMet has a strong experience on a broad range of topics within HVAC systems in buildings, renewable energy systems, and embodied energy and GHG emissions from building materials and fittings. This research group has a strong collaboration with national and international academic and research institutions, as well as with local and national private and public sector organizations.

Area of research

To address the rapid urbanization and increasing population of the world, intelligent urban planning is required to build conducive living conditions. Making sustainable cities and communities is one of the sustainable development goals of united nations by 2030 (SDG-11). According to International Energy Agency (IEA) report, all new buildings should be zero-carbon ready by 2030, and 50% of the existing buildings should be retrofitted to zero carbon level by 2040 to reach the net-zero emission (NZE) strategy by 2050. The primary goals for building sectors are to achieve high energy efficiency for the new constructions, to reduce the energy usage of existing old buildings and to ensure more renewable energy usage. This essentially leads to “smart, sustainable and inclusive” growth for energy efficient and low-carbon economy. The strategic goal of achieving smart buildings relies on smart design.  This is based on smart shape, smart envelope, smart systems, and smart materials, including smart management and smart user behaviors. Digital solutions via high-fidelity numerical tools are the key components for the design and optimization towards adaptive, efficient, and affordable novel solutions. The project should aim to involve innovative technological solutions related to the following but not limited to: 

• Comfort, health, and safety in indoor environment 
• Indoor air quality management
• Aerosol based disease transmission and control in indoor environments
• Energy efficient retrofit solutions for buildings 
• Occupant centric design and operation in buildings
• Digitalization and smart controls in buildings, Personalized Environment Control Systems (PECS)
• Advanced building materials 
• Smart building components like Façades/Windows 
• Green infrastructures
• Urban morphology and urban planning 

The candidates may approach developing novel digital solutions via modelling and simulations involving data analytics and/or high-performance computing (HPC). High-fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques or combinations of relevant tools with CFD (e.g., Building Energy Simulation, Building Information Modeling, Molecular Dynamics, Machine Learning, Geographic Information System etc.) can be adopted for this approach. We invite applicants to propose more detailed and focused topics within the scope of the area of research to be included with their application. Successful candidates will be supervised by Associate Prof. Arnab Chaudhuri. See his profile at Research Gate, CRISTIN,  and OsloMet. With this call for Expression of Interest, we invite researchers to submit their application accompanied by CV (including publication list) and a one-page project description, that will be the basis for selecting a maximum of two candidates with whom we will collaborate for developing competitive MSCA-PF proposals. The cooperation for the proposal development will be carried out remotely, with regular online communication via email and virtual meeting platforms. Applicants who are successful in getting their proposals funded by the EU, must relocate to work in the Department of Built Environment – Energy Technology, at OsloMet main campus, in the center of Oslo. 

Starting Date of the fellowship

The EU shall inform the results on the MSCA-PF-2023 applications in February 2024. Successful applicants are expected to be available to start the fellowship project from within the two months following the announcement of results and no later than summer 2024. 

Main duties of the position

Successful candidates will primarily work on the MSCA fellowship funded project, but will be integrated in the Department of Built Environment – Energy Technology in general, taking part in regular meetings and discussion groups. The candidate will specifically be introduced with Associate Prof. Arnab Chaudhuri’s national and international network of researchers. In agreement with the candidate, he/she would be included in other ongoing projects and/or in the development of grant applications processes. 

Expected qualification of applicants 

Candidates must have a PhD in Engineering/Science as the minimum requirement. We are primarily looking for experienced researchers who wish to use this period as an opportunity to further develop their research, and to develop longer term research collaborations with OsloMet and other organisations conducting research in the field. The candidates must be eligible for a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship: have a PhD successfully defended by the submission deadline (mid-September 2023), a maximum of eight (8) years research experience after PhD, and not having worked/studied in Norway more than 12 months in the last three years.

We are looking for applicants who have

• Knowledge and skills in modelling and simulation for the building applications mentioned in the “area of research” with computational methods and relevant tools.
• A good track record in research and publications
• Commitment to develop a competitive MSCA-PF grant application
• An open, creative and cooperation-oriented nature, with strong abilities for independent academic work
• Excellent command / highly proficient spoken and written English

Assessment and selection of candidates

Evaluation will be based on the qualification and project idea. Interested candidates must submit with their application the following documents:

• CV (including research track record and list of publications)
• A one-page description of the project idea for which a MSCA-PF grant will be applied (no predefined structure, excluding references)

Short-listed candidates will be invited for a virtual interview to select candidates that will be invited to develop the full MSCA-PF application with deadline by mid-September 2023 under the supervision of Associate Professor Arnab Chaudhuri and with the support of the professional research administration staff at OsloMet. 

Under this call announcement a maximum of five candidates will be interviewed and two candidates will be invited to write applications with the endorsement of OsloMet. Candidates will be informed of the results of the internal pre-selection and invitation to apply within the two weeks following the interview. 

Original documents about your qualification must be presented if you are invited for an interview. OsloMet performs document inspections in order to give you as a candidate a proper evaluation and to ensure a fair competition. Proposals will be pre-selected based on internal evaluation and the availability of suitable supervision. All documents that you hand in to OsloMet, including your proposal idea, will be handled in full confidentiality and in strict compliance with GDPR regulations.

Selected candidates must participate in the virtual masterclass on MSCA-PF, a two-day workshop organised by OsloMet on 19-20 April 2023 to provide applicants with detailed information and explanation of the application template to complete their proposal in compliance with the EU Commission requirements.

The postdoctoral position

Successful applicants who obtain a MSCA-PF grant will be offered a position at OsloMet to be hired as postdoctoral researchers to implement their proposed research projects, in conditions as explained below.

We offer

OsloMet assists in developing competitive MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship proposals. Then, to successful applicants who are awarded the MSC-PF grant, we offer:

• Flexible working conditions
• An inclusive and friendly work environment
• Unique academic network with the possibility for the right candidate(s) to pursue his/her academic goals under the auspices of Associate Prof. Arnab Chaudhuri
• Norwegian language classes
• Onboarding assistance for relocation and other services

It is important for OsloMet to reflect the population diversity, all qualified candidates from any nationality are welcomed to apply. OsloMet is an IA (Inclusive Workplace) organisation and operates in compliance with the Norwegian IA agreement. We make our active endeavour to further develop OsloMet as an inclusive workplace and to adapt the workplace if required. If there are periods in your career when you have not been working, under education or training, you are also eligible to apply. Questions may be directed to the contact persons (per below).

Remuneration

The competitive fellowship opportunities are 100% funded and include living and mobility allowances. 

• Type of employment: Temporary position
• Contract type: Full time
• Annual Salary: Approx. EUR 60,000
• Starting day of employment: (expected): TBD between 1 April – 1 Sept 2024
• Number of positions: 1 – 2 
• Working hours: 37.5 hours/week 

OsloMet has implemented the Charter & Code for researchers and been granted the HR Excellence in Research (HRS4) by the EU Commission and is part of the EU network for mobility of Researchers EURAXESS. Practical information about relocation to OsloMet can be found in the link here and EURAXESS Norway

Contact

Arnab Chaudhuri, Associate Professor, arnab.chaudhuri@oslomet.no

If you have administrative questions to your application, please contact hrtkd@oslomet.no. 

Last day of application

Call closes on 31st January 2023

Reference number: 22/09006