PhD position "Reducing carbon and water footprints in the cultural heritage buildings (Italy)"-[...]
Descrizione dell'offerta
Organisation/Company Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia Department Dipartimento di Scienze e Metodi dell'Ingegneria Research Field Chemistry » Inorganic chemistry Environmental science » Other Engineering » Materials engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 30 Apr 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Rome) Country Italy Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Reference Number Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
Offer Description
The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia is recruiting a PhD researcher for a three-year period in the framework of Project — CHARM ( Conservation Heritage Architecture, buildings and sites by Resilient Methods: hydro-climate factors), financed byEuropean Research Executive Agency under action HORIZON MSCA Doctoral Networks.
This project aims to develop innovative tools, strategies, and guidelines that mitigate the detrimental effects of water related weathering, ensuring the long-term preservation of our valuable cultural heritage. Research on water control in buildings, their effects and how to fight against the damage: salt crystallisation, indoor moisture development, wall humidity, consolidation products, microbiological development.
The main objective of the scientific activities of DC 11 will be the implementation of selected climate-related equations to LCA modelling frameworks. After an opportune selection of the equations, they will be implemented in LCA calculation software and tested in case work scenarios. Despite the implementation/integration of the selected equations, the developed models will be tested for the newly proposed materials and bioinspired solutions for cultural heritage buildings, developed within the CHARM Project.
Supervisory Committee
- Supervisor: prof. Roberto Rosa, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy (academics)
Planned secondment(s)
Secondment 1 : Universidad del Rosario (Bogota, Colombia), 4 Months (starting approximately at Month #24), implementing selected climate modelling equations in LCA calculation tools to overcome LCA limits in modeling of cultural heritage systems/processes.
Enrolment in Doctoral degree(s)
Doctoral Programme in Industrial Innovation Engineering (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy)
We offer a 3-year full-time PhD contract.
The full-time gross salary is 3821,53 of living allowance and 710 € of Mobility Allowance. A Family Allowance will be paid if applicable. This amount is gross, and all compulsory deductions under national law will apply, including: Social security contributions (both employee and employer shares), and any applicable direct taxes. The salary and terms of employment for this position will comply with the provisions set out in the Statute of Workers’ Rights, the Science Law (Law 14/2011 of 1 June, as amended by Law 17/2022 of 5 September), and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions regulations.
Eligibility criteria
- Applicants should hold a relevant Master’s degree in chemistry, materials sciences, engineering, natural sciences
- Applicants should not have been awarded a PhDdegree
- Applicants must have obtained their master’s degree within the six years preceding the application deadline.
- Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting institution for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitmentdate
- Proficiency in written and spokenEnglish
- Be highly motivated;
- Creativity and high level ofindependency
Selection process
The selection of the candidates will be carried out in a two-step procedure:
- Candidates will be pre-selected according to their CVs and motivationletter.
- Pre-selected candidates will go through online selection interviews in which they will giveashorttalkontheirbackgroundandthetopicofthePhDandanswerthequestions from thecommittee.
The recruiting committee will be formed by the PhD supervisors, researchers from the secondment centers and a member of the MetaExplore coordination team.
When?
Deadline for submission applications: April 30th 2026
Candidates pre-selected for interviews will be informed: May 15th 2026
Successful candidates will be informed: from June 16th 2026
Acceptance by successful candidates: 30th June 2026
Start of employment: 1st November 2026
Selection criteria
Criteria. Rate
- Relevant academic background. 0-30
- Interview and presentation. 0-40
- Motivation statement. 0-10
Additional comments
Hosting Organisation
The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) was established in 1998 through the merger of the University of Modena—one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1598—and the University of Reggio Emilia. It adopts a multi-campus network model with unified governance and equal status among academic sites.
UNIMORE hosts departments in economics, humanities, sciences, engineering, medicine, and education across its campuses in Modena and Reggio Emilia. It has approximately 27,000 students and offers 118 degree and master’s programs, as well as 17 doctoral schools.
Located in one of Europe’s most dynamic industrial regions, UNIMORE has strong links with local economic clusters, particularly in mechanics, automotive, ceramics, agri-food, and manufacturing sectors, collaborating with over 300 companies.
In the last three years, UNIMORE has approved 312 nationally funded research projects and currently manages over 1,000 active projects. Over the past decade, it has participated in 249 international research projects, including 119 funded under Horizon 2020 and 4 under Horizon Europe.
The university is supported by around 640 administrative staff and 900 academic staff. Research activities are coordinated by the Directorate for Research, Technology Transfer and Third Mission, which supports proposal development and project management at both national and European levels. The Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering (DISMI) is a research center of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, bringing together academic staff and researchers in Industrial and Information Engineering. The department has a strong multidisciplinary approach supporting applied research in mechatronics, logistics, and organizational engineering for enterprises and public bodies. DISMI comprises around 70 staff members, including professors, researchers, technical and administrative personnel, as well as fixed-term researchers and PhD candidates. In the internal research quality assessment of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia—ranked among the top Italian universities for overall research quality—DISMI achieved an excellent score of 71.2, significantly above the university average (60.0), with strengths in scientific output quality and volume, scientific leadership (rated as outstanding), and overall departmental organization. DISMI’s research activities are characterized by strong multidisciplinarity and transversal expertise, with excellent competencies in mechatronics, logistics, organizational engineering, energy systems, and sustainability. With specific reference to this area, the LCA Working Group ( ) operates within DISMI.
Secondment Organisation
The University of El Rosario (Universidad del Rosario, UR) is a Colombian private higher education institution with university status and legal recognition granted by the Ministry of Government of Colombia in 1895. With nearly four centuries of academic tradition, UR is one of the most prestigious and historically influential universities in Colombia, playing a central role in the country’s political, intellectual and social development. UR holds High Quality Institutional Accreditation from the Colombian Ministry of Education since 2005 and has been recognized by QS Stars since 2016. It is currently ranked as the #1 university in Sustainability in Colombia according to the UI GreenMetric ranking, reflecting its institutional commitment to environmental responsibility, sustainable development and societal impact. As a research-intensive, multicampus university, UR hosts 47 research groups recognized by the Colombian Ministry of Science (Minciencias), spanning health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, law, economics, and engineering. Its research agenda addresses major global and regional challenges, including peacebuilding and post-conflict transitions, gender and democracy, political representation, climate change and environmental sustainability, ageing societies, digital governance, and technology at the service of human rights.
Laboratories
LCA Working Group ( ) carries out both methodological and applied research in the field of environmental, economic, and social sustainability assessment of products, processes, and services. The group adopts an integrated approach based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), providing scientific support for the comparative evaluation of technological and process solutions. In addition, these methodologies are increasingly applied to the quantification of sustainability performance in the field of green cultural heritage, supporting the assessment of conservation, management, and valorisation strategies from a life-cycle perspective.
The group’s expertise enables the identification of alternatives capable of delivering measurable sustainability benefits across the entire life cycle, while excluding solutions that do not represent an improvement over the state of the art or that show economic or environmental drawbacks. Research activities are supported by internationally recognized LCA software tools, such as SimaPro, integrated with a wide range of impact assessment methods and international reference databases. These tools are further strengthened by proprietary databases developed by the UNIMORE LCA Working Group over more than twenty years of research activity, ensuring scientific robustness, reliability of results, and full compliance with international standards. The group’s research activity has resulted in the publication of over 200 scientific papers in national and international journals and is complemented by solid experience in European and national research projects, as well as applied research activities carried out in collaboration with Italian companies.
The Undergraduate Program in Earth System Sciences at Universidad del Rosario ( ) offers a unique, transdisciplinary academic formation designed to understand the Earth as an integrated and dynamic system. It is the only program of its kind in Colombia and throughout Latin America, training professionals to analyze and address complex interactions among the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and human systems through scientific inquiry and research-oriented learning. The curriculum combines geology, climatology, hydrology, sustainability, ecology, and systems thinking to equip students with competencies in environmental analysis, global change processes, and sustainable solutions. Students engage in fieldwork, quantitative methods, and collaborative projects that prepare them to investigate urgent societal and environmental challenges — including climate change, resource management, and risk assessment — within both local and global contexts. Graduates are prepared for careers in research, policy, environmental consulting, and interdisciplinary problem-solving, contributing to scientific knowledge and sustainable development in an era of rapid planetary change
Number of offers available 1
Company/Institute University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering Country Italy City Reggio Emilia Postal Code 42122 Street via Amendola 2 Geofield