R&D modeling and data specialist Circular Economy

Within the MatCh (Materials & Chemistry) unit at VITO, we focus on the use of non-fossil, mineral and circular raw materials to make industry more sustainable and to enable new value chains. In addition, existing industrial processes are re-examined with a view to improving energy and material efficiency. To this end, material forming, separation technologies (including sorbents and membranes), chemistry, electrochemistry and bioprocess technology are applied.

We firmly believe that, alongside technological innovation, broader societal innovation among policymakers and companies is essential for this transition. Within the ADVANCE team, we develop methodologies, models and tools for governments and industry. We provide targeted advice to support sound decision-making and unlock the potential of the circular economy. To strengthen this team, we are currently looking for additional expertise.

Your tasks include:

• You work as a researcher on assignments for governments and companies, as well as in Flemish, European and international research projects (e.g. Horizon Europe).

• You collaborate in project teams to analyse and describe the underlying mechanisms of the circular economy. You translate acquired knowledge and insights into models, which you program and document for further development and use within the team.

• You critically assess existing methods and tools and stay up to date with scientific developments in the field. Based on this, you propose improvements to existing methods or the development of new ones to assess the impact of the circular economy. You contribute to innovation in areas such as the further development of life cycle assessment and circularity methodologies, scenario analysis, digitalisation and/or data processing, in close collaboration with domain experts.

• You apply a user-driven approach in the (further) development and deployment of models and tools, ensuring that both internal users (experts) and external users (clients) can work with them efficiently and effectively.

• You further expand your international network with a view to identifying new opportunities for VITO within the circular economy landscape. You also contribute to the preparation of proposals for public authorities and industrial clients.

• You translate project results into actionable advice for governments and industrial clients. You present and publish results at (inter)national forums and contribute to knowledge building within your team.

• You hold a Master’s or PhD degree in engineering sciences or computer science, or equivalent experience. Knowledge of scientific programming languages (Python, R, …) and data visualisation tools (Tableau, …) is required.

• Experience with software development methodologies (Agile, Scrum, …) and tools (Git, Docker, …) is an asset.

• You are motivated to work in a sustainability and circular economy context.

• You are able to synthesise results and insights into practical, usable advice for governments and industrial clients.

• You have a customer-oriented mindset and an eye for opportunities. Enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit are among your key strengths.

• You are a creative, flexible thinker and doer with a strong scientific and critical mindset.

• You communicate clearly and effectively in English, both orally and in writing. Knowledge of Dutch is an advantage.

Examples of projects

• In projects for the European Space Agency (ESA), we assess the environmental impact of space missions, identify hotspots and formulate ecodesign measures to reduce impact. This is done both at mission level and with a more detailed focus on specific components (e.g. electronics).

• As part of our work for the European Environment Agency (EEA), we support the automation of circular economy indicator calculations and explore the use of generative language models to extract insights on circular economy policy from unstructured textual data (policy documents) from EU Member States.

• We recently developed a computer model and web tool to calculate the societal cost of clothing across its entire life cycle (www.truecostcalculator.eu). Both the expert model and the designer-oriented web tool are being further developed.

• The TERRAVISION project (https://terravision-project.eu/) is an EU initiative aimed at enhancing the life cycle of critical raw materials through the use of Earth Observation (EO) technologies. The project focuses on several innovation pillars, including the creation of a comprehensive data ecosystem, standardisation of EO data for integration with in-situ data, development of essential services for the mining industry, and the promotion of sustainability and resilience in the supply chain.

Offer

• You will have a real impact by working on innovative solutions to today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

• You will be supported by excellent, helpful and engaging colleagues who are eager to share their expertise.

• You will join an organisation that values integrity and strives for mutual benefit through close cooperation with all stakeholders.

• VITO is an international organisation, with colleagues from over 40 different nationalities.

• On average, we meet two days per week at our office in Mol. We work in an activity-based way: our activities determine our workplace. On other days, you can work remotely from home or from one of our satellite offices (e.g. Leuven or Antwerp-Berchem), depending on the needs of the activity.

• You will continuously learn and further develop your skills by working with the latest technologies, which you will have the opportunity to test and apply in practice.