PhD Researcher cycle- sustainability assessment and circularity mapping

The International Society for Industrial Ecology is seeking a PhD Researcher for a remote position focused on life cycle-based sustainability assessment and circularity mapping in the healthcare sector. The role involves developing Life Cycle Assessment models and methodologies for sustainable healthcare products and packaging materials as part of the ENKORE project. Candidates should have a master's degree in relevant fields and possess skills in environmental assessments and collaboration.
Position: PhD Researcher on life cycle-based sustainability assessment and circularity mapping
PhD Researcher on life cycle-based sustainability assessment and circularity mapping

The Faculty of Science, Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) and the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, Leiden University College, are looking for a:

PhD Researcher on life cycle-based sustainability assessment and circularity mapping for the healthcare sector
Vacancy number: 24-660

Join an exciting Horizon Europe project called ENKORE, which will deliver a methodology to enable pharmaceutical companies to make safe and more sustainable healthcare products and packaging materials.

Key Responsibilities
A future-proof healthcare sector requires the inclusion of safety and sustainability in the design of new medical devices. The same reasoning applies to the packaging materials that will be used in the healthcare sector, without obviously compromising their required technical performance. As a PhD candidate in this project, you will have the opportunity to develop Life Cycle Assessment models to assess the environmental and social impacts, as well as the circularity potentials of a sample of medical devices and packing materials used in the healthcare sector.

These will be integrated into a comprehensive methodology to shape safe and more sustainable healthcare products and packaging materials.

More specifically, you will be working on:
• Developing life cycle inventories for the ENKORE project packaging materials and devices.
• Developing models to enable the assessment of the environmental and social impacts associated with the target packaging materials and devices of the ENKORE project.
• Identifying the main environmental and social concerns (hotspots) for the ENKORE packaging materials and devices that can be tackled to shape their re-design.
• Attending and actively participating in project meetings, providing updates on research progress and collaborating with partners.

What you bring
This position is a good fit for you if you recognise yourself in the following:
• You hold a master's degree in one of these fields:
Industrial ecology, environmental sciences, sustainability assessment, or another related field.
• You have expertise in one or more of these areas: (Prospective) Environmental Life Cycle Assessment, (Prospective) Social Life Cycle Assessment, Circularity Assessment, Data management and programming (e.g., Python).
• In case you do not have all the desired expertise, you demonstrate strong motivation to develop yourself in those areas.
• You have recorded experience in planning and executing research tasks.
• You have excellent social and communication skills and the ability to collaborate with other researchers, industry and policy actors.
• You have excellent English language skills in writing and speaking.

What we offer
Our goal is to work together to create a transparent and inclusive work environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated. We also offer:
• At Leiden University, a PhD candidate is seen as an employee rather than a student. As such, we offer a 1-year position with the possibility of extension to 4 years based on performance and following the pay scale P in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• Salary ranges from € 2.901.

- gross per month in the first year to € 3707 gross per month in the fourth year based on a full-time position. (38 hours)
• A holiday allowance (8%), an end-of-year bonus (8.3%), and an attractive pension scheme at ABP.
• Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break (“30% rule”).
• Flexible working hours: as a standard, you are entitled to a minimum of 29 leave days based on a full-time working week of 38 hours; you can also save for extra leave, for example by working 40 hours a week, and this way accrue an extra 96 leave hours, or exchange 96 leave hours for a 36-hour week.
• Lots of options are available when it comes to secondary employment conditions; we can, for example, discuss options for a sabbatical or paid parental leave.
• If your work allows it, hybrid working is possible within the Netherlands.
• A home-working allowance (day and internet allowance) and attention to good workplaces. The University will also…