The Faculty of Applied Sciences is the largest faculty of TU Delft, with around 550 scientists, a support staff of 250 and 1,800 students. The faculty conducts fundamental, application-oriented research and offers scientific education at the bachelor, master and doctoral levels. The faculty is active in the fields of Life and Health Science & Technology, Nanoscience, Chemical Engineering, Radiation Science & Technology, and Applied Physics.

The Department of Biotechnology concentrates on the multidisciplinary fields of biocatalysis, metabolic engineering, fermentation technology, environmental biotechnology, bioprocess technology, and the role of biotechnology in society. The department is closely related to the BE-Basic Foundation, an international programme on biobased sustainability for industrial production of chemicals.

The Biotechnology and Society (BTS) section performs leading research on understanding societal and sustainability aspects and translating this into responsible innovation and communication of biotechnology for sustainable development. The group is uniquely positioned in the Department of Biotechnology and is a leader in (inter)national programmes with academic partners, industry and government. The team consists of one full Professor (Patricia Osseweijer), two Assistant Professors (John Posada and Lotte Asveld), and a growing number of PhD candidates and MSc students.

Job description

The Biotechnology and Society group of Delft University of Technology is looking for a post-doc for a project on Inclusive Biobased Innovation. This project focuses on the major issues in the transition to sustainable and socially just biobased value chains and seeks to develop new business models to overcome these issues. Reconciling the targets of sustainable supply security and value creation for farmers as well as viable business models requires alignment of actors and inclusion of farmers and foresters in the value chain. Such alignment is guided by the explication of values on just distribution, sustainability and trust.

The project involves four case studies for different feedstocks in the US, Brazil, South Africa and Jamaica for local production and/or export. Relevant actors and their particular interests and perspectives will be investigated through interviews and surveys. The research will be conducted in close collaboration with a variety of biobased industry partners. The project is part of a Responsible Innovation project which also involves a second post-doc situated at Wageningen University.

Requirements

Applicants should have the following qualifications:
• PhD degree or near completion of a PhD in a socio-economic or socio-technical discipline
• Affinity with biobased economics
• Affinity with ethics
• Qualitative research skills
• Willingness to spend time abroad
• Willingness to work with industry

For more info see here