PhD Positions in Systems Engineering (Up to 2 positions)

This is NTNU NTNU is a broad-based university with a technical-scientific profile and a focus in professional education. The university is located in three cities with headquarters in Trondheim. At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world. You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KHQjc4ndas&t=41s About the position The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MTP) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has two vacancies for PhD candidates within different disciplines of Systems Engineering/New Product Development, funded through the Centre for Research-based Innovation, SFI-CELECT (Research Centre for Effective Engineering and Learning in Complex Systems) . The positions are 3-year doctoral research fellowships starting in 2026/2027. Each PhD candidate will be embedded in the research activities of SFI-CELECT and will work closely with NTNU, University of Sout-Eastern Norway (USN), University of Agder (UiA), Technical University of Denmark (DTU), and leading industrial partners in the product manufacturing, defence and aerospace, and maritime sectors. You will be supervised by Professor Torgeir Welo. About the project SFI-CELECT (Research Centre for Effective Engineering and Learning in Complex Systems) started in 2026 and is funded by the Research Council of Norway and industrial partners. The centre is led by the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN) in close collaboration with NTNU and UiA, and involves a broad consortium of leading companies across multiple industrial sectors. Through research on new methodologies for effective engineering and learning in complex systems, we aim to accelerate innovation and value creation in industry by developing better methods and smarter tools to ‘do more with less— and faster’. SFI-CELECT runs from 2026 to 2033 and is Norway’s most ambitious research initiative within innovation in complex systems. The primary objective of SFI-CELECT is to leap the innovation and product realization capabilities in some of Norway’s leading industries by enhancing how new products are developed and managed. Operating within an integrated academic-industry ecosystem, SFI-CELECT will generate research-based methodologies, methods and tools for effective and efficient product innovation and realization, embracing the complexity and dynamics in today’s business environments where digitalization and AI tools play an increasingly important role. A key aim of CELECT is to establish an integrated academic-industry learning and educational ecosystem, where PhDs and researchers work together across disciplines to solve complex problems of high industrial importance using industry-as-a-laboratory as the research context. Education and competence building are central pillars of CELECT. The centre will educate more than 30 PhD and postdoctoral researchers and over 120 MSc students, strengthening Norway’s international position in new-product innovation. Work location for the two positions posted here is NTNU - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Trondheim, Norway. PhD position 1: Strategies for leveraging cross-functional knowledge flows in digitally supported NPD processes Since the outcome of NPD processes is not only the physical artifact but also the creation, acquisition and transfer of knowledge, cross-functional knowledge flows are central to NPD effectiveness in (quality of decisions and solutions) and efficiency (speed and ‘first-time-right’). This PhD will research how such cross-functional knowledge flows can be enabled, managed and leveraged in contemporary NPD settings where collaborations are increasingly mediated by shared