PhD Researcher in Urban Design and Climate Adaptation

Challenge: Mitigate urban heat risks

Change: Co-design green interventions from the Netherlands to Brazil

Impact: Empowered school communities and healthier, climate-adaptive neighborhoods

Job Description

Are you passionate about using urban design to address the pressing health challenges posed by climate change? In this PhD project, you will be a key researcher in the international project GreenCare4Health, working at the intersection of urbanism, microclimate, and public health.Your primary focus will be on co-designing and evaluating green interventions to reduce heat-related health risks in dense, socially vulnerable urban areas. You will develop and test a Health-Heat (HH) toolkit, an instrument combining spatial design guidelines, participatory methods, and evaluation metrics to support school communities in re-naturalizing their yards and maintaining these spaces as "green commons". The toolkit will be tested and refined through Urban Living Labs in close collaboration with a multidisciplinary team.

A central part of your role involves conducting multidimensional evaluations of these interventions. This includes assessing microclimate performance (e.g., temperature reduction, shading), health and wellbeing outcomes, and patterns of use and stewardship. You will work closely with researchers collecting health and climate data in pilot schools, ensuring that design solutions are evidence-based, context-sensitive, and impactful.

Your role in the team

We welcome candidates who are enthusiastic about the goals and approach of GreenCare4Health. You will be part of a vibrant, transdisciplinary consortium including partners from the Netherlands and Brazil. You will be hired by the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at TU Delft and supervised by a dedicated team: Dr. Deepti Adlakha, Dr. Víctor Muñoz Sanz, and Dr. Daniela Maiullari.

This position is inherently collaborative. Rather than working in isolation, you will contribute to a larger interdisciplinary research programme, engaging with researchers, professional staff, and societal partners across contexts. At the same time, you will develop your own PhD trajectory within this framework, shaping research questions and contributing to academic outputs.

A unique aspect of this position is the opportunity to spend at least three months in São Paulo, Brazil, supporting the implementation of a pilot intervention in the Heliópolis neighborhood.

Collaboration is integral to this role. While your core tasks focus on design and evaluation, you will interact daily with experts in environmental health and urbanism. We are therefore looking for candidates who value teamwork, are open to interdisciplinary collaboration, and are motivated to contribute to meaningful societal impact.

Need-to-have

Job requirements

• A Master’s degree in Urbanism, Landscape Architecture, Architecture, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience or strong interest in collaborative projects, co-design, participatory methods, or Urban Living Labs.
• Proficiency in spatial modeling and/or microclimate analysis tools (e.g., ENVI-met, GIS).
• Excellent command of written and spoken English.

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• Willingness to conduct extended research visits to Brazil.
• Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary, international team.
  
  

Nice-to-have

• Previous academic experience (e.g., collaboration in research projects, and/or publications) .
• Affinity with Global South contexts.
• Working knowledge of Portuguese (for the Brazil stay) and of Dutch.
• Experience with health-related urban research or environmental psychology.
  
  

Important

• The anticipated start date is November 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter. Candidates should be available to start around this date.
• We do not expect any individual candidate to possess all the listed skills. Such a profile does not exist. However, we do expect candidates to provide evidence for the expertise they claim — for example through publications, research projects, presentations, or other activities. Here again we do not expect long lists of proof of your expertise.
  
  

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Architecture & the Built Environment

The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment has a leading role in education and research worldwide. The driving force behind the faculty’s success is its robust research profile combined with the energy and creativity of its student body and academic community. It is buzzing with energy, with four thousand people enthusiastically studying, working, designing, conducting research and acquiring and disseminating knowledge. Our faculty has a strong focus on 'design-oriented research’, which has given it a top position in world rankings.

Staff and students are working to improve the built environment with the help of a broad set of disciplines, including architectural design, urban planning, building technology, social sciences, process management, and geo-information science. The faculty works closely with other faculties, universities, private parties, and the public sector, and has an extensive network in the Netherlands as well as internationally.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.

Conditions of employment

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from €3059 - €3881 gross per month, from the first year to the fourth year based on a fulltime contract (38 hours), plus 8% holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.

As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

Will you need to relocate to the Netherlands for this job? TU Delft is committed to make your move as smooth as possible! The HR unit, Coming to Delft Service, offers information on their website to help you prepare your relocation. In addition, Coming to Delft Service organises events to help you settle in the Netherlands, and expand your (social) network in Delft. A Dual Career Programme is available, to support your accompanying partner with their job search in the Netherlands.

Additional Information

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Dr. Víctor Muñoz Sanz, Assistant Professor of Urban Design, email: v.munozsanz@tudelft.nl.

For more information about the application procedure, please contact Stephanie Ip, HR Advisor,

e-mail: recruitment-bk@tudelft.nl.  

Application procedure

Please Apply No Later Than May 29, 2026 (local Dutch Time + 2 Hrs) Via The Application Button And Upload The Following Documents

• A detailed CV including any relevant publications or projects.
• A 1-page motivation letter describing how your background fits this position.
• A digital copy of your MSc thesis.
• Graduate transcripts.
• The names of two references, with contact information (letters not required at this stage).
  
  

Interviews will be conducted on June 22, 2026. Shortlisted candidates may be invited for a follow-up technical interview or assignment.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Please Note

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.
• As part of knowledge security, TU Delft conducts a risk assessment during the recruitment of personnel. We do this, among other things, to prevent the unwanted transfer of sensitive knowledge and technology. The assessment is based on information provided by the candidates themselves, such as their motivation letter and CV, and takes place at the final stages of the selection process. When the outcome of the assessment is negative, the candidate will be informed. The processing of personal data in the context of the risk assessment is carried out on the legal basis of the GDPR: performing a public task in the public interest. You can find more information about this assessment on our website about knowledge security.
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