Phd from vision to practice: implementation science for a safe and responsible chemical industry

The section Safety and Security Science (3S) is looking for an enthusiastic PhD student to join us in the transition towards a safer, more sustainable and responsible chemical industry!

The chemical industry plays a crucial role in shaping modern life, but is also a significant contributor to environmental pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and hazardous waste. Transitioning to a safer and more sustainable industry is essential to protect human health, preserve ecosystems, and ensure long-term resource availability for future generations. The European Commission has taken significant steps toward a safer and more sustainable chemical industry by implementing stricter regulations under the EU Green Deal (2019) and, more recently, the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. Within this strategy, Europe aims to ensure the safety of people and the environment by phasing out the most harmful chemicals (for non-essential use) and boosting innovation for safe and sustainable chemicals and chemical products.

Over the last decades, multiple approaches have been developed to ensure safety, innovation and ethical conduct within several industries. Examples of such approaches are Responsible Research and Innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Safety Culture, and more recently, Safe and Sustainable by Design. Particularly the latter two are emphasized for responsible practices in many fields including chemistry. However, while attempts have been made to implement such approaches in industry, they face significant challenges. These include, for instance, lack of clarity on implementation guidelines and tools, the inherent complexity of approaches, difficulties in 'measuring' the extent of application and thus the success of such, creating necessary culture changes, and differing perceptions of associated stakeholders on the extent of needed measures -as all approaches focus on going beyond compliance.

In this PhD research, you will study similarities between approaches, depict differences, and identify and analyse the barriers that hinder the successful implementation of such approaches in practice within the chemical industry. These barriers exist on multiple levels, such as perceptions of employees, management, or other relevant stakeholders in the value chain (e.g., policymakers, shareholders), cultural aspects within companies and the sector, and the (perceived) division of responsibilities. This study will have a qualitative approach (e.g., interviews, focus groups, workshops), and involve close collaboration with industry. Based on these insights, you will develop a roadmap consisting of a set of tools/guidelines by means of implementation science frameworks.

This PhD position is embedded within the Safety and Security Science (3S) section, part of the Department of Values, Technology and Innovation, at Delft University. The 3S section specializes in research on socio-technical systems - and the decision-making processes on technical, human, and organisational issues that take place in such systems - with an eye on challenges that may arise for the values of safety and security. By means of quantitative and qualitative approaches and frameworks, we conduct research on (1) probabilistic safety analyses, (2) human and organisational factors, (3) conflicting values, (4) new threats and technologies, and (5) risk- and crisis communication.

• A Master's degree in a relevant field, such as Management of Technology, Complex Systems Engineering and Management, Engineering and Policy Analysis, Safety Science, Industrial Ecology, Innovation Sciences, or another social science or humanities discipline focused on the interaction of technology, policy and society. A demonstrated affinity with the fields of chemistry or chemical engineering is a plus.
• A master's degree in Chemical Engineering (or related discipline) combined with a demonstrable affinity with social sciences or humanities (and preferably safety).
• Willingness to work closely with stakeholders from the chemical industry.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Open-minded, independent, eager to learn and a team player.
• English proficiency - verbal and written.
• Dutch proficiency is a plus, but not a requirement.

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context. At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

The Faculty of TPM provides an important contribution to solving complex technical-social issues, such as energy transition, mobility, digitalisation, water management and (cyber) security. TPM does this with its excellent education and research at the intersection of technology, society and policy. We combine insights from both engineering and social sciences as well as the humanities. TPM develops robust models and designs, is internationally oriented and has an extensive network of knowledge institutions, companies, social organisations and governments.

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