Research Professor of Circular Use of Road Construction Materials

As part of its dynamic research policy and making use of the additional scope offered by the Flemish Government through the resources of the Special Research Fund (BOF), the Faculty of Applied Engineering is seeking to fill a vacancy in the Construction Engineering Department for a full-time

Research professor (TTZAPBOF) in the domain of Circular Use of Road Construction Materials

Job description
Your assignment consists of lecturing duties, scientific research and academic service to society. During a period of five years (duration of the temporary appointment in the tenure track system), scientific research will be your main activity.

The Road Engineering Research Section (RERS), part of EMIB (Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings), is a growing research group focused on research into sustainable asphalt pavements and smart technologies in road construction.

For decades, RERS has built up expertise in research concerning bituminous materials recycling technology and sustainable asphalt pavements, based on both qualitative and quantitative mechanical properties, in combination with the LCA methodology. Currently, in the Flemish road construction sector, technical and ecological parameters are included in a limited number of projects in a simplified form of Sustainability Assessment (SA) in so-called Green Public Procurement (GPP) tenders. In this context, RERS has developed the future-oriented SSMARAGD concept: a first step towards a 'Sustainable Selection Model for the Application of Reclaimed Asphalt Granulate in Road Design'. Your research assignment is situated in this context.

• The main objective of your assignment is to research the optimisation of the use of recycled materials in road construction on the basis of a multi-criteria decision management model. In this research, the complex recycling challenges in (asphalt) road construction are investigated and elaborated by means of an interdisciplinary SA-approach of material technology, process engineering, logistics and environmental impact.
• You will acquire and manage (inter)national research funding. To this end, you will build up a research network at the University of Antwerp and beyond, both nationally and internationally.
• You supervise PhD students.
• You play an active role in the EMIB research group: you use your expertise, which is in line with the research of the Road Engineering Research Section and complementary to the research of the Sustainability Assessment Research Section, to set up and promote interdisciplinary research. You can do this by relating ongoing research and PhD projects, your own research results and the research infrastructure available within RERS.
• You will play a leading role in the development of the research strategy within RERS and will establish relationships with educational programme of the Construction Engineering Department.
• You have lecturing duties in the Construction Engineering programme. In the first five years, these are limited to 30 hours per semester and will mainly concern subjects in the domain of construction engineering.
• You are also expected to provide academic service within the university and to society, in a spirit of solidarity.

Profile and requirements

• You are an enthusiastic scientist with at least 2 years of postgraduate experience. Your postdoc experience is in the field of road construction, in particular asphalt technology and/or recycling, and you should preferably already be familiar with LCA-LCC.
• You have a doctoral degree in (Applied) Engineering Sciences, Materials Science, Chemistry or similar.
• You have experience in supervising students (master, PhD).
• You have an excellent track record in terms of publications.
• You have leadership qualities that allow you to develop a strong research line within RERS and to coach PhD students.
• Your academic qualities comply with the requirements stipulated in the university’s policy.
• The focus in your teaching corresponds to the educational vision of the university.
• You are quality-oriented, honest, creative and cooperative.
• If you do not master Dutch, the administrative language of the university, you should be willing to obtain a CEFR B2 level of proficiency in Dutch within five years after your appointment. As soon as you take on teaching duties as a course unit coordinator, you should be able to demonstrate a CEFR C1 level of proficiency in the language of instruction. The University of Antwerp supports international staff members on an integration trajectory and offers tailor-made language coaching in compliance with Flanders’ statutory language regulations. 

We offer

• a full-time position as a lecturer in a temporary appointment in tenure track for a term of five years. After this term, this position will lead to an immediate permanent appointment as a senior lecturer if the performance is assessed favourably on the basis of previously fixed and publicly announced evaluation criteria. After the permanent appointment another period of five years is given with limited lecturing duties in order to strengthen the research curriculum;
• in case of equal qualifications, priority will be given to candidates of the underrepresented gender within the domain of science. This priority is not automatically and unconditionally, as the evaluation will always take into account the personal situation of every candidate;
• the date of appointment will be 1 January 2021 or soon thereafter;
• a full time gross monthly salary ranging from € 4.255,06 - € 6.272,13;
• an attractive starter package consisting of a four-year PhD project and €50 000 of consumables;
• a dynamic and stimulating work environment.

How to apply?

• Applications may only be submitted online, until the closing date 22 March 2020. The application form must be completed, including a detailed research proposal (mandatory) for the next five years (approx. 5.000 words; including a concise description (1 page) of the intended PhD research (see starter package)) and a report of your previous scientific research activities (max. 5 000 words). In addition, you add two abstracts of the scientific content of the research plan – a scientific abstract and an abstract in layman's terms – maximum 500 words (or max. 4000 characters). All documents must be submitted in English.
• A pre-selection will be made from amongst the submitted applications. The remainder of the selection procedure is specific to the position and will be determined by the selection panel.
• More information about the application form can be obtained from vacatures@uantwerpen.be.
• For questions about the profile and the description of duties, please contact Prof. Wim Van den bergh, tel. +32 (0)3 265 19 32.
• Further information regarding the special research status can be obtained from Dr. Tim Engels, Head of the Department of Research Affairs & Innovation Tel. +32 (0)3 265 30 12).

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