Urban Data Scientist (d, f, m) – Fulltime position (TV-L E13, 3 years) as research associate at Urban Climate Future Lab @ SpACE Lab at ISU

Urban Data Scientist – Urban Climate Future Lab (d/f/m)
Start: 01.04.2025; Research assistant position
Full-time; TV-L E13, 3 years; fixed-term, with the potential option to start a PhD

SpACE Lab at ISU – Institute for Sustainable Urbanism is advertising the position of Urban Data Scientist at the “Urban Climate Future Lab (UCFL)”. The UCFL is a pioneering, joint, inter- and trans-disciplinary research initiative of the Technische Universität Braunschweig in cooperation with the Leibniz University Hannover, Leuphana University Lüneburg, the Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL) and the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS). UCFL is funded by zukunft.niedersachsen, a funding programme of the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (MWK) and the VolkswagenStiftung.

We are seeking an Urban Data Scientist to play a central role in advancing SpACE Lab at ISU’s mission, which is to do research with real impact in the field of sustainable urban development, climate change mitigation and adaptation. The ideal candidate is highly organized and collaborative, self-motivated, and eager to gather, manage and process heterogenous data from various sources for harnessing insights and approaches for human-centric and knowledge-based sustainable urban design and planning. This position offers the opportunity to work at the forefront of highly inter- and transdisciplinary research in urban sustainability, leveraging advanced data systems and facilitating knowledge exchange among academic, municipal, NGOs, industry stakeholders and citizens.

As an Urban Data Scientist, you will lead the development and maintenance of the UCFL’s data infrastructure, ensuring robust systems for collecting, analyzing, and visualizing complex urban datasets. You will work closely with interdisciplinary teams from various fields including, architecture and planning, landscape architecture, climate science, transportation and factory planning, as well as governance to use data for generating actionable insights and evidence-based decision-making processes in cities and municipalities. By fostering knowledge-sharing networks, you will help drive innovative approaches to urban sustainability, bridging the gap between cutting-edge research, citizen participation and practical applications. You will also have the opportunity to work closely with the UCFL management, benefit from our international networks, and participate in the drafting of publications and future project proposals.

ABOUT ISU
ISU with its research unit SpACE Lab at ISU is a research-based think tank, design and planning lab headed by Prof. Dr. Vanessa Miriam Carlow. We are a staff of around 30 researchers, lecturers, and Phd students from different backgrounds, disciplines and at career stages complemented by our dedicated student assistants. The diversity of our ISU team enables us to take a multi-perspective, unconventional approach to research questions, teaching and knowledge transfer. We are intensively involved in the international discourse on sustainable urbanism. As part of the TU Braunschweig's core research area FUTURE CITY, we work with scientists from a wide range of disciplines and cooperate with more than fifty cities and NGOs worldwide. As part of our international network, we are also involved in running the research presence of TU Braunschweig in Singapore: TU BS Singapore.

ABOUT UCFL
The aim of UCFL is to gain a deep understanding of the complex interplay between urbanization, climate impact and mitigation, with a particular focus on Lower Saxony and its extrapolation to wider contexts. UCFL promotes a close interdisciplinary collaboration between architects, urban planners, landscape architects, engineers, climate scientists, and governance experts who work on achieving the transformation towards more resilient as well as low-carbon urban spaces: The planned research aims to first understand how different settlement types contribute to climate change, and how they are affected by it. Second, partnering with real-world actors, cities, municipalities, NGOs and industry, the research will focus on transformation knowledge: How can the Lower Saxony urban system and its constituting elements be transformed to reduce climate effects and increase its overall resilience and sustainability with application to wider contexts? » urbanclimatefuturelab.de

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Develop and maintain UCFL’s data and knowledge management systems to support interdisciplinary research in sustainable urbanism in close cooperation with the UCFL management.
2. Facilitate data integration from diverse sources, including climate models, spatial datasets, and municipal records.
3. Support research teams in generating data-driven actionable insights through data visualization, analytics, and reporting tools.
4. Coordinate knowledge-sharing efforts, including the creation of digital repositories and collaboration platforms. Publish or co-author research articles and reports related to UCFL’s knowledge systems and methodologies.
5. Contribute to securing additional third-party funding by collaborating on future project proposals.

REQUIREMENTS

• A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field, such as urban studies, data science, geoinformatics, or environmental planning.
• Strong expertise in data management systems, spatial analytics, and urban modeling tools (e.g., GIS, Python, R).
• Experience in urban data analysis using Deep Learning models and willingness to learn new techniques.
• Proven ability to work with interdisciplinary teams.
• Excellent organizational, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills.
• Proficiency in English (written and verbal), knowledge of German is an asset.
• Experience with database management, particularly PostgreSQL, and knowledge of SQL.
• Understanding of front-end languages such as JavaScript and TypeScript.
• Familiarity with scientific software such as SPSS, Stata, or R.

OUR OFFER

• An inspiring professional, international and multidisciplinary setting at UCFL, SpACE Lab at ISU and at the core research area FUTURE CITY of TU Braunschweig » www.tu-braunschweig.de/stadtderzukunft.
• A vibrant campus life in an international atmosphere with lots of intercultural offers and international cooperations;
• Opportunity for gaining ample experience in inter-and transdisciplinary research contributing to a more resilient future.
• Be part of an international, experience- and gender-balanced, interdisciplinary team; focusing on the interrelated global challenges of urbanization and climate change.
• An inspiring working environment and excellent research infrastructures as part of the Lower Saxony university community of researchers, teachers, students and staff within UCFL and at TU Braunschweig.
• An extensive internal and external continuing education programme.
• An international, interdisciplinary scientific network.
• Flexible and family-friendly opportunities to alternate between presence work and mobile work.

With ISU, we offer a motivating setting for intellectual and professional development at one of Germany's leading Institutes of Technology. The TU Braunschweig is the academic center in the middle of one of the most active research regions in Europe and has a renowned Faculty of Architecture. We work successfully with over 20 research institutions in our neighborhood as well as with our international partner universities. Our university's core research areas are Mobility, Engineering for Health, Future City and Metrology. TU Braunschweig is part of TU9 - the association of Germany's leading Institutes of Technology. The cooperating universities and research institutions of the UCFL stand for relevant research, strategic and results-driven thinking and action, committed teaching and the successful transfer of knowledge and technologies to society and industry.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and nationalities. At the same time, we welcome the interest of severely disabled people and give preference to their applications if they are equally qualified. Please indicate this in your application and enclose proof. Based on the Lower Saxony Equal Opportunities Act (NGG), we are working to fulfil the equal opportunities mandate and are endeavoring to reduce under-representation as defined by the NGG in all areas and positions. We are therefore particularly pleased to receive applications from women.

APPLICATION
We look forward to receiving your application. Please include a cover letter, letter of motivation, letter of recommendation or reference (at least one academic reference and possibly one previous employer), resume and comprehensive documents. Please do also share a text example, such as your thesis. Please send your application in a single PDF file by January 19, 2025 to isu@tu-braunschweig.de. The interviews are scheduled for beginning of February 2025.

The personal data will be stored for the purpose of processing the application. By submitting your application, you agree that your data may be stored and processed electronically for application purposes in compliance with the provisions of data protection law. Further information on data protection can be found in our data protection regulations at www.tu-braunschweig.de/datenschutzerklaerung-bewerbungen. Application costs cannot be reimbursed.

Further information and contact at:  
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Prof. Dr. Vanessa Miriam Carlow
Urban Climate Future Lab (UCFL)
SpACE Lab at ISU – Institute for Sustainable Urbanism

Mühlenpfordtstraße 23, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
isu@tu-braunschweig.de
+49 531 391-3537

urbanclimatefuturelab.de
spacelab-isu.org

vom: 11.12.2024
gültig bis: 19.01.2025