Postdoc Position Designing Everyday Energy Resilience

Chalmers University of Technology, department of Industrial and Materials Science now has an open post doc position tied to a project funded by the Swedish Energy Agency. The aim of the project is to explore how people, energy-consuming products in the home, and people’s everyday lives can become less energy-reliant and more “energy-resilient”. The insights gained about everyday life will then be turned into suggestions for future energy-resilient products, services and systems.

Project description

If we are to reach climate goals, our society needs to transition to primarily renewable energy sources. However, this will require changes in how and when we consume energy, which in turn is going to challenge our current and yet still increasing reliance on a steady supply of electrical power and internet, for example in the home.

As part of the project, you are to develop further knowledge on what it means to live an energy-resilient everyday life and how products could support this through alternative designs. In particular, you will be exploring people’s needs in relation to energy-resilience and which activites that are critical for an energy-resilient everyday.

You will work in close collaboration with the project leader at Design & Human Factors, and with the other partners of the project, mainly with the research institute RISE and design studio Boid, as well as the network of industrial and public partners tied to the project. As a part of the project, user studies and multi-stakeholder co-design events will be performed, notably in the HSB Living Lab at Chalmers campus.

Responsibilities and tasks

Your main responsibility is to perform exploratory, design-oriented research and communicate research results, in meritous journals in the field as well as to industry and public. The research requires you to closely collaborate with the project partners, to take in insights from stakeholders, to plan, conduct and analyse empirical studies, to propose, design and evalute designs of energy resilient products, and to communicate the findings. In parallell to this empirical work, you are expected to develop design theories and design processes with relevance for the work. You will also be involved in teaching and other departmental tasks.

Contract terms

Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of two years (1+1).

Your qualifications

To qualify for the postdoc position, you must have a doctoral degree in a relevant field (such as industrial design engineering, user-centred design, HCI/interaction design, or similar). Meritorious is a doctoral degree at the intersection of design and sustainability and/or energy issues. The degree should generally not be older than three years.

Further qualifications that we would like you to have include experience of working with design research methodology and user studies, and knowledge of and experience with various design-related theories, processes, methods, and tools.

Very good communication skills (orally and in writing), in both English and Swedish, are needed. An ability to conduct research in close interaction with industry and/or public organisations is further required. Experience of development and/or research in the field of co-design, participatory design, or energy are meritorious as is work experience from the domain. Other meritorious experiences and skills include: excellent ability to create, sketch and prototype design ideas and excellent ability to visualise research results.

Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the dynamic city ofGothenburg.

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Application procedure

The application should be marked with Ref 20190724 and written in English.

CV: (Please name the document as: CV, Surname, Ref.

CV, include complete list of publications

Previous teaching and pedagogical experiences

Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter:(Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)

- Introduce yourself

- Describe your previous research fields and main research results

- Describe your future goals and future research focus

Attested copies of completed education, grades and other certificates.

Application deadline: 30 January, 2020

Professor MariAnne Karlsson, mak@chalmers.se, +46 31-7721108

Senior lecturer Helena Strmberg, helena.stromberg@chalmers.se, +46 31-7721047