PhD Developing green façades for building insolation & enhancing urban diversity

Are you a highly motivated and curious, and can you translate ecological expertise into successful designs of biodiverse, climate-resilient, aesthetically attractive and multifunctional green facades? Do you enjoy bridging fundamental ecological knowledge with practical applications? Then Wageningen University & Research offers an exciting opportunity for you.

BIO-SKIN (Bio-Inspired Outer Surfaces to Kool, Insulate and Nurture) is developing bio-based, waste-derived, and circular façade systems that integrate plant growth. The project goal is to help bio-based facade panels that keep buildings cool, insulate, support biodiversity, and contribute to more sustainable urban environments. We work in a team of people with backgrounds in design, materials, biomaterial chemistry, architecture, biology, engineering, sustainability, and the built environment.

In this position, you will investigate how plant-soil-insect interactions develop in ecosystems with shallow soils and translate these ecological insights into design principles for next-generation green façades. Your research will contribute to a better understanding of how ecological communities establish and function in constrained urban environments, while helping to develop façade systems that support biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

As a PhD candidate, you will combine fundamental and applied research to develop innovative green façade concepts that enhance ecosystem complexity and deliver key ecosystem services, including thermal insulation, carbon sequestration, microclimate regulation, and habitat provision for insects and other arthropods. This involves designing and setting up mini-ecosystems in minimal soil/vertical environments at various Living/Field Lab locations, and monitoring their performance, biodiversity and impact for energy efficiency. You will design the façade-panel experiments in close collaboration with a postdoctoral researcher, analyse ecological and physiological data, and contribute to scientific publications.

The project offers a unique opportunity to connect ecology, ecophysiology, urban greening, and green façade design.

We are looking for a candidate who enjoys working in interdisciplinary teams. You will bring strong botanical expertise to a collaborative group of researchers, designers, and material developers, and partners from companies that produce green façades, jointly creating innovative green façade solutions that contribute to sustainable construction and healthier urban environments.

Your activities include:

• Investigating plant species performance, community assembly and plant-insect-soil interactions in shallow-substrate systems (drawing on insights from literature as well as field studies);
• Year-round monitoring at various Living/Field Lab locations on the impact of plant species for enhancing energy efficiency and biodiversity by green façade panels;
• Analysing ecological and ecophysiological datasets;
• Publishing results in peer-reviewed journals and presenting findings at scientific conferences;
• Collaborating with academic and non-academic partners to translate scientific insights into practical applications;
• Teaching in courses and supervise BSc and MSc students in biodiversity-themed research.

You will work here
The research is embedded within the Biosystematics Group and the Laboratory of Entomology You will be supervised by dr. ir. Casper Quist and Prof. Bregje Wertheim. As a member in the BIO-SKIN team you will work one day a week together with the other BIO-SKIN PhDs and Post-docs at the AMS institute in Amsterdam. In addition, you will be embedded in the PE&RC graduate school (Home | PE&RC), which will allow you to follow a wide variety of training courses and provide support during your academic journey.