Post-Doctoral Position in collaborative design and production for the circular economy at Koç University
Koç University – Arçelik Research Center for Creative Industries (KUAR) and Design Lab at Koç University in Istanbul invite applicants to work on a European Commission H2020-funded project on collaborative design and production for the circular economy (Pop-Machina) for a 2-year position (renewable upon evaluation after the first year) with a start date of September 2019. The Pop-Machina project is based on an international collaboration between 7 European universities (KU Leuven, TU Delft, University of Cambridge, Koç University, University of Macedonia, Universidad de Cantabria, and ISM University of Management and Economics) and 7 municipalities (City of Leuven, Municipality of Venlo, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and ISTAC, Municipality of Thessaloniki, Municipality of Piraeus, Santander City Council, Kaunas City Municipal Administration). The project will start in September 2019 and runs for 4 years.
The Pop-machina project aims to demonstrate the power and potential of the maker movement and collaborative production for the EU circular economy. The project draws from a number of cutting-edge technologies (factory-of-the-future, blockchain) and disciplines (urban planning, architecture, design) to provide the necessary support to overcome scaling issues; a typical drawback of collaborative production; to find the areas more in need of intervention and to reconfigure unused spaces. The project builds upon the current informal curriculum for maker skills development by nurturing the social side and puts educators and makers together to exchange ideas on the training modalities. A particular focus on the skill development of women and vulnerable groups will aim to empower these (underrepresented) segments to partake actively in collaborative production. In every pilot city, business oriented collaborative production of feasible and sustainable concepts from secondary raw material or other sustainable inputs will be demonstrated based on the needs and preferences of the local stakeholders. A thorough impact assessment framework with increased scope (e.g. social) will be co-designed with stakeholders after short basic assessment trainings and will be used in the assessment of the pilot work.
In the scope of this project, we will hire a post-doc to map existing maker communities in our pilot city (Istanbul) and identify key local challenges for circular production, to deploy co-creation sessions with these communities with the intention of enabling them to develop their own collaborative production ideas, and to analyze and document the setup process of new circular makerspaces.
Applicants are expected to have a PhD in one of the following areas; architecture, urban design, industrial design, design innovation, or a related discipline. The position involves task development, data collection, data analysis and write-up; the post-doc will be expected to be an active part of the lab, collaborating with graduate and undergraduate students. Previous experience with participating in and facilitating co-creation activities, working with undermined communities and native-like knowledge of spoken Turkish is desirable. Writing experience and publication record are required. The salary is competitive within the standards of ERC funding. Interested applicants should send a CV, research statement, publications, and name of 2 recommenders to Dr. Aykut Coşkun and Dr. Asım Evren Yantaç (aykutcoskun@ku.edu.tr and eyantac@ku.edu.tr) before the application deadline of June 30. The review process will start immediately and applications will be considered until the position is filled. Informal inquiries can also be sent to these emails.
To learn more about the research in this lab, visit the website:
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/hosting/post-doctoral-position-collaborative-design-and-production-circular-economy-koç