PRR Project

Summary

Context and rationale for the hiring need | Fostering sustainable construction is fundamental to the future of Mankind, given that construction is directly/indirectly responsible for a very fraction of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and energy consumption. The strategies to make construction sustainable include quantifying/increasing the durability/maintainability of materials/components/buildings and using/recycling eco-efficient materials. In the last 25 years, the researchers of CERIS in this area, integrated in the research group Studies in Construction (RG5), became an international reference, establishing an extensive collaborative network with top researchers worldwide. They have provided relevant research contributions in different domains such as service life prediction (leading CIB W080 and authoring reference books), building management systems (leading CIB W086 and writing seminal peer-reviewed papers and books) and eco-efficient cementitious materials (again with multiple books publication in such areas as recycled aggregates, alkali-activated composites, carbonation-enhanced materials, and life cycle assessment). In bibliometric terms, the Sustainable Construction group in CERIS is world leader in the areas mentioned. This status is possible mostly because of the work of recent PhD researchers that are full members of CERIS and the potential hiring targets of other institutions. The proposed hiring position intends to limit the predictable important loss of CERIS actual competencies in the area and, consequently, the risk of steep decay on CERIS activities, achievements and productivity in the area. Position importance for CERIS | Hiring a researcher for the position in Sustainable Construction is essential for continuing to develop ground-breaking research and providing excellent training conditions at the post-graduation level within the Studies in Construction group of CERIS. The aim of this hiring is three-fold: (i) reinforcing CERIS competencies, namely in what concerns the experimental testing and simulation activities in Sustainable Construction , which otherwise would be lost or significantly reduced; (ii) improving and extending the Sustainable Construction group’s multi-task experience to other CERIS researchers through the assistance of a trained researcher; (iii) exploring/starting pioneer research in emerging research topics. Accomplishing these goals will contribute to CERIS continuing to develop leading-edge research and to maintain its international leadership in the area. Researcher functions | The hired researcher will have several assigned tasks: (i) helping in the coordination and management of the experimental activities (e.g. development of test setups and instrumentation, establishment of priorities, definition of daily tasks of laboratory technicians, decision on the needed consumables or on equipment maintenance); (ii) maintaining and developing new competencies in using advanced equipment/instrumentation and/or simulation tools; (iii) extending the use of this equipment/instrumentation and/or simulation tools by actively collaborating with other researchers in their projects; (iv) conducting his/her own research on new areas through the development of research and consultancy projects and the supervision of postgraduate students or grant holders; (v) promoting and participating in the preparation of project applications in Sustainable Construction and related areas; (vi) participating in teaching activities. Scientific profile | The candidate for this position should have: (i) a strong background in Civil Engineering; (ii) a large experience in the development of fundamental and applied research in Sustainable Construction , demonstrated through the development of his/her PhD thesis, the participation in R&D projects, the supervision of students and the publication of relevant articles; (iii) a demonstrated experience on the experimental testing of sustainable materials and/or on the development of simulation tools to estimate the durability of construction elements and assemblies; (iv) and a scientific project that promotes research activities in CERIS, through experiments and/or simulation. Hiring process | CERIS will launch an international competition for hiring the most talented researcher for this position, that will be largely advertised through national and European EU platforms and web portals (e.g. Euraxess). Specific requirements will be established in the announcement, such as the development of a scientific project focused on experimental research and/or simulation, the demonstration of previous experience on developing experimental activities with advanced equipment/instrumentation and/or simulation tools using advanced statistical methods (R&D projects and publications), the demonstration of experience in leading teams (coordination of R&D projects and MSc/PhD supervision) and wide recognition of the scientific community through a minimum h-index=20.