"PhD Position SPINES: Modelling Tipping Dynamics in Infrastructure Use"

There is an increasing demand for infrastructure services while, at the same time, infrastructure networks reach capacity thresholds. Extending and upgrading infrastructure is challenging and limited not only because of long infrastructure lifetimes coupled with high investment costs but also because of space and resource scarcity. The prevailing logic behind infrastructure investment decisions, which assumes infrastructure should serve and afford an ever-increasing demand, loses validity. Infrastructure policies can impact decision-making and infrastructure use by prioritising, shifting and reducing demand. However, demand drivers are manifold, including technology advancements, population and economic trends, and their future developments come with deep uncertainties. Infrastructure policies must account for these uncertain drivers and their dynamic interaction with changes in intended use. As part of the NWO-funded SPINES project, you will address this challenge by identifying those interplays that lead to lower infrastructure demand in the long run and reveal pathways to turning points in infrastructure use through a systemic modelling approach.

Essential activities within your project will be to:

• identify policy mechanisms that can change infrastructure affordance and lower infrastructure use
• develop an agent-based model that regards infrastructure as a socio-technical system
• reveal under which patterns of user behaviour, infrastructure performance and demand drivers the use of infrastructure will change
• develop an assessment approach to determine the benefits a lower demand can provide to infrastructure managers

You will be part of a multidisciplinary project with leaders in the domain of infrastructure governance and modelling. You will learn to conduct research independently and grow scientifically through collaboration with researchers from Radboud University, University of Groningen, and Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, supervisors from the Construction Management and Engineering cluster at the University of Twente, and a strong network of leading infrastructure providers in the Netherlands (Rijkswaterstaat, ProRail, Vitens, Alliander, Port of Rotterdam and Schiphol Amsterdam Airport).

Requirements:

• Highly motivated students with a MSc in construction engineering and management, complex system engineering and management, public policy and engineering, technology management, or related fields
• Experienced, or willing to become an expert in the sustainable transformation of infrastructure and simulation models for socio-technical systems
• Proactive, showing initiative and able to propose and critically evaluate your learning process
• Great teammate with good communication skills, able to work with peers and exchange knowledge in practice
• Proficient in English, preferably Dutch speaking

Conditions of employment:

As a PhD candidate at UT, you will be appointed to a full-time position for four years, with a qualifier in the first year, within a very stimulating and exciting scientific environment. Your salary and associated conditions are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-NU). You will receive a gross monthly salary ranging from €3059 in the first year, increasing to €3881 in the fourth year. There are excellent benefits, including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, and a solid pension scheme. A minimum of 232 leave hours in case of full-time employment based on a formal workweek of 38 hours. Full-time employment in practice means 40 hours a week, resulting in 96 extra leave hours on an annual basis. Free access to sports facilities on campus. A family-friendly institution that offers parental leave (both paid and unpaid). You will have a training programme as part of the Twente Graduate School, where you and your supervisors will determine a plan for a suitable education and supervision. We encourage a high degree of responsibility and independence while collaborating with close colleagues, researchers and industry practitioners.

Additional information: Are you interested in this position? Please send your application via the 'Apply now' button below before September 30th 2025, and include: A cover letter (maximum 2 pages A4), emphasising your specific interest, qualifications, and motivations to apply for this specific position. A Curriculum Vitae, including a list of all courses attended and grades obtained, and, if applicable, a list of publications and references. Contact information of two scientific staff members (one of whom could be the supervisor of your thesis/final project), who we may contact for references. Date of first round interviews: Mid-October 2025. Date of second round interviews: Start of November 2025. Screening is part of the selection procedure. For more information regarding the topic of position, you are welcome to contact Andreas Hartmann (a.hartmann@utwente.nl).