Assistant professorship in Predictive Mapping, Design and Fabrication of Waste-sourced and Fast-growing materials.

The Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation invites applications for a full-time position as assistant professor in the context of the EU EIC Project “RAW: Computation For A New Age Of Resource Aware Architecture: Waste-Sourced And Fast-Growing Bio-Based Materials”, funded by the European Union as part of Horizon Europe’s EIC Pathfinder program. A particular focus in the position will be on the Predictive mapping and prediction of material properties of waste-sourced and fast-growing materials. The vacant assistant professorship is affiliated with the CITA (Center for Information Technology and Architecture) research group at the Institute of Architecture and Technology at Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation. The position is a fixed-term appointment that will cease without further notice after 2 years and 10 months. We hope to fill the position by 1 January 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Project summary
RAW proposes a breakthrough resource model for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) fostering a steep change in the way we design and fabricate our built environment, overcoming the fundamental limits that the natural variability sets within bio-based material streams for the green transformation of the industry. With a central focus on the alternative materials of waste-sourced and fast-growing materials, RAW assembles world-leading researchers and entrepreneurs in material sourcing, non-destructive material characterisation, non-prescriptive computational design, and adaptive fabrication in a unique consortium to establish the foundation of a novel new resource model for AEC linking design, analysis and fabrication through a novel computational infrastructure and embracing the variability of resources, with the ambition to minimise waste, enable circularity, increase carbon storage in building and allow uptake of currently disregarded classes of bio-based materials and pave the way for novel aesthetic expressions and tectonics in architecture.
The research takes place in an interdisciplinary and international consortium consisting of several collaboration partners.

Center for Information Technology and Architecture (CITA)
CITA is an innovative research environment that explores the intersections emerging between architecture and digital technologies. By exploring central research questions of how space and technology affect one another, CITA aims to identify how the current emergence of a digital practice impacts architectural thinking and design. CITA places special focus on the use of IT as a tool for the design, production, and communication of architecture with particular attention placed on material performance. CITA employs a practice-based research method focusing on design-led physical experimentation and full-scale prototyping. The physical experiments act as material research inquiries by which the concepts and technologies of the investigations are tested and evaluated. The centre has an international profile, extensive experience of running funded research projects and has initiated numerous international collaborations, exhibitions, conference presentations and workshop exchanges. CITA consists of 20 researchers working across a broad spectre of research projects in advanced computational modelling, robotic fabrication, responsive systems, sensing and bio-design. Read more about CITA and Institute of Architecture and Technology here: https://royaldanishacademy.com/en/CITA / https://royaldanishacademy.com/en/group/4.

The position
The position of assistant professor will consist of research, teaching and administrative duties. Your duties will include:

• Teaching, curriculum planning, and the associated administration related to the Royal Danish Academy’s programmes and interdisciplinary teaching.
• Supervision, examinations and external examiner duties
• Research in the focus area of the position, in collaboration with relevant external institutions, enterprises and networks nationally and internationally, as well as with the other R&D areas at the Institute and the Royal Danish Academy as a whole.
• Visionary and productive teamwork when planning future R&D projects, including actively participating in applying for external funding and fund-raising for the Centre’s activities.
• Participation in various Royal Danish Academy committees and, potentially, in collegiate bodies

In addition, you will be expected to participate in interdisciplinary teaching and research collaborations with the Royal Danish Academy’s other institutes and staff, including contributing to the content and development of interdisciplinary joint teaching at the Royal Danish Academy, as well as other tasks as required.

Your research focus is linked to the aim of the RAW project to overcome current limitations in design and fabrication and especially characterisation of bio-based and reclaimed materials by developing a novel hybrid approach using Machine Learning and simulation, supported by empirical material testing and data collection. You will lead the efforts of the project regarding several data collection campaigns and the development of machine learning approaches. These practices are intertwined, and it is foreseen, that ML is used to direct sample creation in order to achieve generalizable predictive models for mechanical properties in the three material streams of the project (reclaimed Timber, BioPolymers and Hemp fibres). The research is specific to materials, yet provides an opportunity to come to findings, that can be generalised. The key to successful research will be developing a deep understanding of the dimensions of the material design-space and isolating the statistically influencing parameters. By reducing the complexity of the problem at hand and focusing on these pertinent dimensions, the research will extract meaningful information and patterns from the data. Examples of relevant parameters are fibre geometry derived from inline scanning and CT scan data from reclaimed timber, as well as samples from product tests, including fibre roving and 3D printed material specimens. This correlation analysis is pivotal in establishing connections between different dimensions of the project's materials.Your research follows the holistic approach of the RAW project, which aims to bridge material characterisation, design and fabrication. Data generation and analysis is therefore understood in synergy with architectural design and fabrication processes. These provide the context as well as means of validation for the developed methods, through the design and manufacturing of prototypes and demonstrators. As such the positions research will support the aim of RAW to develop design and fabrication methods, that are able to consider the variability of bio-based resources, especially in regard to data models, computational design methods and resource flow.

The positions teaching will focus on courses, workshops and individual counselling of students in the two-year Masters level programme Computation in Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy , which you can read more about here: https://royaldanishacademy.com/en/master-computation-in-architecture. Further teaching will take place within the RAW collaboration. Herein material and digital solutions emerging from research will be tested and further developed towards future industrial and societal perspectives in science fiction prototyping workshops. The resulting science fiction prototypes will be translated into futures-scenarios and tested and further developed in Master level Design Studios.

Qualifications
As a minimum, you hold a relevant master’s level degree and a PhD or PhD-level scientific qualifications.
Furthermore, we expect that you demonstrate:

• Competence in machine learning methods and data collection strategies.
• Competence in tools such as dimensionality reduction, clustering and mapping (e.g. self-organizing maps, K-means clustering, T-SNE, latent space representation)
• Competence in relevant programming and scripting languages.
• Evidence of competence with bio-based materials, especially regarding design development and robotic fabrication.

Emphasis will also be placed on the candidate’s ability to work in teams and collaborate with external partners from disciplines conventionally distant from architectural concerns.As the Royal Danish Academy focuses on research and teaching collaborations both internally and externally with industry, public institutions and other institutions of higher education, it will be an advantage to have proven experience in developing, funding and implementing externally funded research projects as well as projects involving industry collaborations. Documented experience in teaching at bachelor’s and master’s level will also count in an applicant’s favour, as will experience in curriculum planning and development. In particular you should be able to demonstrate an interest in actively contributing to research-based teaching at the Institute in collaboration with the other teaching staff. In the overall assessment of the candidates for this position, particular importance will therefore be attached to a proven track record in innovative teaching.

What we offer
We offer a creative, dedicated, stimulating and visionary educational and research environment. The successful candidate will enjoy contributory influence, responsibility and an opportunity to shape the Royal Danish Academy’s research and teaching. We value good collegial relationships conducive to mutual inspiration and discourse. As an assistant professor, you will be offered supervision and opportunities to upgrade your teaching skills, with the aim being to give you a written assessment of your teaching qualifications.

Salary and terms of employment
The terms of pay and employment will be in accordance with the agreement in force between the Danish Ministry of Finance and a number of organisations under the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC) for academic staff in public service. A qualification allowance will be negotiable, depending on your skills and experience. The position will also be filled in accordance with the applicable job structure for artistic and scientific staff at the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation; Aarhus School of Architecture and Design School Kolding – Executive Order No. 1190 of 21 August 2023.

This is a full-time position with an average of 37 working hours per week and includes research and teaching duties, as well as a limited amount of administrative work. The distribution between research and teaching will generally be 50:50. The distribution of your duties may differ as deemed necessary by the Royal Danish Academy, and you may be required to undertake other job-related duties. The position is a fixed-term appointment that will cease without further notice after 2 years and 10 months. Any secondary occupation is acceptable provided it is compatible with the duties of an assistant professor.

Application
Please submit a letter of motivation, an up-to-date CV, academic diplomas and certificates, documentation of your qualifications as listed above, a description of your research plans and a list of your published works, preferably including copies of works you wish to highlight (maximum five works). Finally, you should attach material that attests to your teaching skills in a teaching portfolio. Any assessments of previous assistant professorships should also be enclosed.

You should submit your application with attachments online via the “Apply for position” button, to reach the Royal Danish Academy no later than 11 August 2024.

Attachments that cannot be submitted online with the application should be sent by post in triplicate to Philip de Langes Allé 10, 1435 Copenhagen K Att. Ellen Kruse Jacobsen and must be received by the Royal Danish Academy before the application deadline. Applications and application documents received after the application deadline will not be considered.

Please note that the position is being advertised and will be filled in accordance with the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science’s “Executive Order of 12 April 2019 on the employment of artistic and scientific staff at the higher artistic educational institutions within the remit of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science”.

After the application deadline, in consultation with the appointments committee, the head of the institute will select applicants for assessment. Applicants will be selected according to an overall assessment of which applicants best meet the criteria set out in this call for applications based on the application documents submitted. In your application, including attachments, please therefore provide evidence that you meet the qualification requirements described in the call for applications. All applicants will then be informed as to whether or not their application will proceed to the next stage of the selection procedure, and those selected will be informed of the composition of the committee. An expert assessment committee will then assess the selected applicants for the given position. Each applicant will be sent their assessment, with an option to submit comments.

Further information
Information regarding qualification requirements, the application process and the e-recruitment system can be obtained on request from HR Employee Ellen Kruse Jacobsen, e-mail [email protected], tel. +45 4170 1539.
Details about the academic content of the position can be obtained on request from Associate Professor Martin Tamke, e-mail address [email protected], tel. +45 41701731.
General information about the Royal Danish Academy and the Institute of Architecture and Technology can be found at www.royaldanishacademy.com.

The Royal Danish Academy is an inclusive workplace that considers diversity a strength. We therefore encourage all qualified and interested applicants to apply for the position.

About the Royal Danish Academy
The Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design and Conservation is an internationally recognised academy that educates professionally creative graduates to the highest level and develops new knowledge that creates value for society and the labour market. The Royal Danish Academy is a public institution under the Ministry of Higher Education and Science and has approximately 1,700 students and 350 full-time staff equivalents. Read more about the Royal Danish Academy on our website https://royaldanishacademy.com/en.