"Assistant Professor in Environmental Psychology and Simulation"

Job Description

Climate change won’t wait—join TU Delft as Assistant Professor to advance cutting-edge research in environmental psychology and simulation.

TU Delft launched an extensive Climate Action Programme, focusing not only on additional investments in research and education but also improving the sustainability of the TU Delft campus. For the next ten years TU Delft will allocate 22 million euro to set up and further shape this extensive programme. The TU Delft vision on Climate Action is deeply founded in preceding decades of university wide climate action research. The goal of the Climate Action research programme is to build on current strengths and identify the areas where there is a need to strengthen our capacities to keep up our (inter)national reputation as climate action university.

Environmental Psychology and Simulation: Climate action demands drastic behavioural and social changes for a variety of actors. Success of technological interventions climate change mitigation and adaptation policies critically depends on our understanding of drivers of citizens’ behavior, including psychological biases, individual preferences, and social influence. We welcome an Assistant Professor with a passion to integrate and advance behavioural insights for effective climate policy design, communication and compliance concerning climate change mitigation and adaptation through (computational) modelling and empirical analysis.

Challenges in this domain require a rigorous approach and a development of novel methods, including but not limited to:

• Improvement of our understanding of psychological, cultural and social factors driving the behavior of involved actors. This involves a selection, integration and advancement of appropriate theories from environmental psychology and decision-making about climate-relevant behavior and behavioral change;
• Quantification of behavioral change implications for large systems (communities, cities, regions, countries), emerging from many interacting actions of individuals, organizations and governments. To capture behavioral patterns in logical models may require formalization and (computational) modelling of decision-making processes regarding climate change mitigation and adaptation;
• Use of behavioral insights for effective (mass) policies and technologies, taking the individual as well as the community level into consideration.

As an academic career tracker, you will inspire colleagues and students through research and education, both in courses (existing and to be developed) and project-oriented education. You are expected to acquire funding for new research projects from different national and international funding schemes and contribute to organizational tasks and valorization of your work.

Job Requirements

A PhD degree in Environmental Psychology, Computational Social Science, Decision Science, Complex Systems Engineering & Management or Industrial Ecology.

Ability and motivation to establish own research direction and develop novel approaches for the integration of psychological theories, perspectives, and methods to modelling and simulation of climate actions.

A track record demonstrating experience with qualitative and quantitative research methods in the context of climate action, evidenced by a strong publication list.

Domain knowledge in the fields related to climate action, e.g. climate policy, energy transition, and/or climate adaptation is an asset.

Proven ability to work well within a multidisciplinary team.

Excellent networking, collaboration and communication skills.

Conditions of Employment

This position is offered as an Academic Career Track position. During the Academic Career Track, we expect you to grow towards an Associate Professor position within a maximum of eight years, for which a position will be available. With other Academic Career Track colleagues, you will participate in the Academic Career Track Development program, where you are offered ample opportunities to develop yourself in the areas of Education, Research, Societal Impact & Innovation, and Leadership & Organisation. You will regularly discuss your development and results with senior staff based on a personalized development plan and performance criteria agreed upon at the start of your Academic Career Track.

Inspiring, excellent education is our central aim. We expect you to obtain a University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) within three years if you have less than five years of teaching experience. This is provided by the TU Delft UTQ programme.

TU Delft sets high standards for the English competency of the teaching staff. The TU Delft offers training to improve English competency. If you do not speak Dutch, we offer courses to learn the Dutch language within three years.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (salary indication for assistant professor: €4728 - €6433). The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, a discount on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.