PhD position on Ecodesign and Mitigation of Rebound Effects

Are you driven by the ambition to make sustainable design truly effective? We seek a motivated PhD candidate to investigate one of eco-design's most overlooked challenges: rebound effects.

TU Delft’s faculty of Industrial Design Engineering has an opening for a PhD candidate in the Design for Sustainability section, who will contribute to the research on mitigation of rebound effects through design.

Your challenge: Eco-design interventions do not always deliver their promised environmental benefits. Rebound effects – systemic responses that partially or fully offset environmental gains – can undermine even the best-intentioned designs. Beyond known economic rebounds, such as increased consumption following energy savings, rebound effects can emerge through the interaction of behavioural, social, technological, infrastructural and systemic dynamics. These effects often propagate across multiple scales, from individual user practices to broader societal transitions. Yet such interactions remain poorly understood. As a result, designers currently lack the conceptual frameworks and practical tools needed to recognise recurring rebound patterns, anticipate unintended consequences and intervene more strategically at multiple levels of the system.

Your research: You will build a deeper understanding of rebound effects in eco‑design and develop practical methods to help designers recognise, predict and mitigate them. First, you will conduct a systematic review of documented rebound cases and map the mechanisms behind rebounds, categorising their patterns. Then, through in‑depth studies of current eco‑design cases, you will uncover contextual factors and the interrelation of different rebound effects. Building on these insights, you will develop and refine a predictive method together with designers and stakeholders in real‑world case studies, in collaboration with European companies. As part of the PhD, you will undertake two international secondments (2–3 months), providing direct exposure to industrial design practice and real‑world constraints.

This PhD position is part of the academic network working on Ecodesign, an international research and training initiative. The network aims to advance digital and Ecodesign methodologies that enable circular economy practices at an industrial scale, in line with European sustainability and design objectives.

The research will be carried out in the Design for Sustainability section of TU Delft’s Department of Sustainable Design Engineering. The section focuses on sustainable and circular product design throughout the entire product life cycle, working in a multidisciplinary environment toward a circular economy transition.

• Master degree in Industrial Design, Industrial Ecology or a closely related field. If you lack a design engineering background, a clear affinity with design engineering is required.
• Demonstrated strong interest in design for sustainability and/or circular economy.
• Scientific writing skills and effective communication in English, both orally and in writing.
• Motivated to collaborate in a multidisciplinary environment and participate in mandatory international secondments.
• International mobility rule: at the time of recruitment you must not have resided or carried out your main activity in the Netherlands for more than 12 months during the 36 months immediately preceding 01 October 2026.

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4‑year period of employment, in the form of two employment contracts. The first contract lasts 1.5 years with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. If successful, a second contract covers the remaining 2.5 years.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from promovendus gross per month from the first year to the fourth year, based on a full‑time contract (38 hours), plus an 8 % holiday allowance and an end‑of‑year bonus of 8.3 %. Additional benefits include a monthly work‑costs contribution, discounts on health insurance, and an individualised compensation package. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School, which provides an inspiring research environment with a dedicated supervisory staff and a Doctoral Education Programme aimed at developing transferable, discipline‑related and research skills.

Will you need to relocate to the Netherlands for this job? TU Delft commits to making the move as smooth as possible. The HR unit offers information on relocation and supports partners through a dual‑career programme.

Please contact Professor Conny Bakker at C.A.Bakker@tudelft.nl or Professor Ruud Balkenende at A.R.Balkenende@tudelft.nl for further information.