Professor of Urban Design
32-40 hours per week

Job description
The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment is pleased to invite applications for a full professorship in Urban Design. The professor will be appointed in the Department of Urbanism, in the section Urban Design. This is a full-time appointment with a management component. The successful candidate will be expected to spend a comparable amount of time on education and research activities.

The professor will actively lead the teaching and research programme of the Urban Design section, one of 6 sections at the department and consisting of around 20 staff. The section aims to develop and share progressive academic and practical knowledge on the scope, implementation, and performance of urban design via research, education, and strong connections to practice. Three thematic areas are central to this: Cities in Transition, Urban Territories and Theory & Methods. In the present highly dynamic and complex societal context, the body of knowledge in theory and methods for urban design needs to be critically assessed and expanded and requires us to rethink assumptions about urban form in relation to its hinterland, water management, transport, social activity and the professional role of the urban designer in the production of urban space. A main task for the Urban Design section is to develop the concepts, design approaches and strategies to strengthen and operationalize the design process in response to these developments.

The new professor will actively contribute to the further development of the successful Urbanism Research Programme requiring active and constructive cooperation with the various research leaders within it. Advancing from the existing initiatives, perspectives and networks, the professor builds and leads teams that will make large-scale multidisciplinary and collaborative research funding proposals. This involves extensive collaboration with disciplines across the university, governmental agencies and national and international partners from design practice. It includes the sharing of expertise and ideas within the team, as well as the coaching and mentoring of junior and/or inexperienced staff members. The candidate will work on the embeddedness, valorisation and dissemination of the legacy of the section and its current research while critically opening new and relevant lines of inquiry to position the research agenda of the section at the frontier of the discipline. The professor will take an active role in the recruitment and supervision of PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers.

The professor stimulates and supports the development of innovative design didactics in urbanism education and the further development of the Bachelor and Master curricula as a whole. To benchmark our education, the candidate will promote partnerships with our peers in urban design education. The new professor is expected to strengthen and expand the ties between urban design education, research & innovative design practice. The section has therefore been actively involved in the development of transdisciplinary research-by-design and research-on-design education. An aspect of vital importance for the future of education in urbanism is the integration of new media and digital tools such as GIS, Space Syntax and AR/VR. These approaches, technologies and skills equip the urban designer to operate in increasingly complex urban environments. The new professor will guide the further embedding of these approaches, technologies and skills in design education.

The integrative ‘Delft approach,’ in which teaching, and research draw on knowledge and research from design, the social and physical sciences, and engineering disciplines, is a fundamental characteristic of the Department of Urbanism. The new Professor of Urban Design should therefore continue to build on and further strengthen this interdisciplinary environment.

Requirements
The Professor of Urban Design will demonstrate:

• A distinguished, or promising academic career in urban design, built on an academic education in planning, urbanism or another relevant subject.
• A doctoral degree and a strong academic track record (in relation to years since obtaining a PhD), including a sound publication and teaching record.
• Close familiarity with one or more of the core themes of the Urban Design Section.
• Affinity with collaboration across professions such as urban planning, landscape architecture, environmental sciences, spatial modelling, political sciences, urban sociology or others.
• In-depth experience of the research process (including acquisition) through major projects.
• Experience in PhD candidate supervision.
• Experience in teaching at bachelor and master level.
• A willingness to develop an active national and international network of academic and professional contacts.
• Affinity with design practice, either directly or through research or education.
• A willingness to develop visibility in professional and public debates on urban design.
• Leadership through managing change, team-building and collaborative working.
• Tactful interpersonal skills: experience and willingness to work in an international environment with a variety of perspectives present, and with sensibility to respectful intercultural communication and co-operation.
• Strong spoken and written communication skills in English (and preferably also in Dutch), particularly the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly to students and external partners.
• A willingness to learn Dutch (if applicable) within a reasonable timespan.

Conditions of employment
We offer a permanent position for 0.8-1,0 fte. The salary for a professor position is min. €6.099, – to max. €8881, -, including an annual holiday payment of 8% and an end of year bonus payment of 8,3% on a full-time basis in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU).

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, a discount on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants we offer the Coming to Delft Service and Partner Career Advice to assist you with your relocation. An International Children’s Centre offers childcare and there is an international primary school.
Inspiring, excellent education is our central aim. We expect you to obtain a University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) within three years if you have less than five years of teaching experience. This is provided by the TU Delft UTQ programme.

TU Delft sets high standards for the English competency of the teaching staff. The TU Delft offers training to improve English competency. If you do not speak Dutch, we offer courses to learn the Dutch language.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Architecture & the Built Environment
The Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment has a leading role in education and research worldwide. The driving force behind the faculty’s success is its robust research profile combined with the energy and creativity of its student body and academic community. It is buzzing with energy from early in the morning until late at night, with four thousand people studying, working, designing, conducting research and acquiring and disseminating knowledge. Our faculty has a strong focus on ‘design-oriented research,’ which has given it a top position in world rankings.

Staff and students are working to improve the built environment with the help of a broad set of disciplines, including architectural design, urban planning, building technology, social sciences, process management, and geo-information science. The faculty works closely with other faculties, universities, private parties, and the public sector, and has an extensive network in the Netherlands as well as internationally.

Go to the website of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment: www.tudelft.nl/en/architecture-and-the-built-environment/.

Department of Urbanism
The Department of Urbanism is one of the four departments at the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. The Department of Urbanism considers urbanism as a planning and design-oriented activity focused on the (re)making of better urban environments. The Department of Urbanism is a world leading knowledge hub for innovative urban and landscape design and research which is strongly rooted in the Delft Approach to design. This approach is research based and explicitly inter- and transdisciplinary. The mission of the department is to advance, share and apply knowledge on how to adapt the built environment to societal and environmental changes and how to apply design, planning and engineering interventions to better satisfy human needs, and to achieve fairer, healthier, and more resilient urban landscapes.

Additional information
An extensive brochure with more information about the position is available. You can request it from Joost Niermeijer, Department Manager Urbanism, via e-mail: r.j.niermeijer@tudelft.nl.

For more information on the content of the position, please contact Leo van den Burg, section Head Urban Design, via e-mail: L.P.J.vandenBurg@tudelft.nl or Professor Maarten van Ham, Head of Department Urbanism, via e-mail: m.vanham@tudelft.nl.

For more information about the application procedure, please contact Paulien Stastra, HR-Advisor, via e-mail: hr-bk@tudelft.nl.

Application procedure
Candidates are expected to submit:

• An original application letter stating your motivation for and vision on the position.
• A detailed CV, highlighting teaching and research experience (lectures, publications, interviews, opinion pieces, teaching, etc.).
• Names and contact detail of three referees.

Please note:

• You must apply via the application form. Applications via e-mail will not be processed.
• A pre-Employment screening can be part of the selection procedure.
• Acquisition in response to this vacancy is not appreciated.
• The position will remain open until November 16, 2022 (local Dutch time: UTC time + 2 hrs.).

Agency calls are not appreciated.