PhD Candidate in Societal readiness for AI-supported Life Cycle Assessment of buildings

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 Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career opportunities? As a PhD Candidate with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia. A PhD position in Societal readiness for AI-supported life cycle assessment in the architecture, engineering, and construction sectors is now open at the Energy and Environment Group at the Department of Architecture and Technology, NTNU. The Energy and Environment Group lead centres/projects like the Research centre on zero emission neighbourhoods in smart cities (ZEN) , syn.ikia – Sustainable plus energy neighbourhoods , and the Green Deal ARV project on Climate positive circular communities. We use real demonstration projects and our laboratory facilities (like the ZEB laboratory ) extensively in our research. The group currently comprises 10 senior staff members (professors and associate professors), and around 20 research fellows (research assistants, PhD candidates, and post-doctoral researchers). The duration of the position is 3 years. Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department. About the project Life Cycle Assessment is a key instrument for environmental governance in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. At the same time, new artificial intelligence (AI) based tools are beginning to automate central parts of the LCA-based design practice. This includes data gathering, model construction, scenario generation, results interpretation, and decision support. This development may increase speed and usability, especially in early-stage design, but it also raises important questions about transparency, methodological integrity, accountability, professional judgement, and institutional preparedness. This PhD project will examine the societal readiness of the architecture, engineering, and construction sectors for AI-supported environmental assessments. The use of AI-supported LCA tools will be studied through case applications, including usage of machine-learning approaches, large language models, and automated workflows. The project will analyze how such tools reshape trust, responsibility, accountability, and professional judgement in environmental decision-making, by adopting a mixed-method approach. The project will be carried out at the Department of Architecture and Technology at NTNU, in cooperation with SINTEF Industry, department of Manufacturing and NTNU Social Research. The immediate leader is head of department. The place of duty is Trondheim. Duties of the position • Carry out research of high quality on AI-assisted LCA in-light of applied use, environmental governance challenges, and societal readiness. • Publishing in high-quality peer reviewed journals and popular science dissemination. • Participate in the Energy and Environment research group at the Department of Architecture and Technology. • Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions. • Complete academic training consisting of coursework corresponding to a minimum of 30 ECTS • Career-enhancing work, which is in addition to the research project and doctoral education, may be offered to a candidate who demonst