PhD Position in Circular Infrastructure Hubs & Digital Matchmaking; Match.D Project

PhD Position in Circular Infrastructure Hubs & Digital Matchmaking (RE:

Match.

D Project)

Looking for a job that matters? Join the university of technology that puts people first – and shape new opportunities both for yourself and for our partners.

This PhD position is part of RE:

Match.

D, which aims to develop a digital matchmaking approach that combines semantic material data, design-for-circularity, and hub logistics to scale high-quality reuse in regional infrastructure ecosystems (primary focus: Twente; validation: Brabant).

Reuse of infrastructure components (e.g., pavement stones, concrete kerbs, sewage pipes) is gaining momentum, but scaling remains difficult: supply and demand rarely align in time, place, and specification, and documentation is often incomplete. Hubs can bridge these gaps by acting as regional nodes for sorting, storing, refurbishing, and redistributing reclaimed materials, while digital systems create transparency and coordination across many stakeholders.

You will work in a strong multi-actor consortium with University of Twente (UT), Tilburg University, Saxion, regional networks (e.g., Pioneering, Midpoint Brabant), multiple municipalities in Twente and Brabant, and industry partners including platform provider DuSpot and contractors in demolition and infrastructure works. The academic supervision team includes dr. ir. Marc van den Berg, dr.ir. Rob Bemthuis, and dr. Hans Voordijk
.

Your research sits at the intersection of circular economy, reverse logistics, information systems, and decision support, delivering both scientific outputs and practical tools that partners can use in living lab projects.

In this PhD project, you will help design, evaluate, and digitally enable regional hubs for reclaimed infrastructure materials. Your research includes four connected research and development tracks:

• Understand what makes hubs: review existing and emerging construction/circular hubs and translate lessons into a framework for hubs in regions such as Twente and Brabant.
• Make the hub viable through business models and value propositions: analyze how hubs can operate sustainably in practice, including governance, services, revenue/cost structures, and implications for layout and capacity.
• Go from “a hub” to “a hub network”: model and compare regional hub configurations (centralized, decentralized, hybrid) to understand trade-offs in coordination, transport, and reuse performance under different scenarios.
• Develop a digital warehouse management system for reuse hubs
  : design and prototype a hub inventory system that supports real-time visibility and interoperable data exchange with external matchmaking tools and project partners.

Across these activities, you will work closely with municipalities and companies in living labs, contribute to workshops and consortium meetings, and help ensure that your results are usable in practice (not only published).

We are looking for an ambitious, highly motivated and enthusiastic researcher with:

• A Master’s degree in (Civil) Engineering, Construction Management, Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain / Logistics, Operations Research, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Strong skills or clear interest (demonstrated through projects, thesis work, or experience) in one or more of the following:

• reverse logistics and circular supply chains in the built environment,
• business model analysis and multi-stakeholder governance,
• simulation and modelling (agent-based modelling, discrete-event simulation, network models),
• data modelling / interoperability (e.g., ontologies/semantics, data standards, API-based exchange),
• decision-support systems and prototyping (dashboards, information systems, user-centred design),
• empirical research in real-world settings (case studies, interviews, co-creation, living labs).

• Motivation and ability to work both academically and in a large multi-partner consortium environment
  .
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate with engineers, planners, and industrial stakeholders.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English. Command of written and spoken Dutch is an advantage for…