We are seeking a highly qualified candidate who will work together with interdisciplinary teams from civil engineering, architecture, regional science, geography, geoecology, and climate sciences to advance the design and adaptation of the built environment to the challenges of climate change. The focus will be on strategies for sustainable climate mitigation at different scales – from individual buildings to neighborhoods and entire cities. The tenure-track professorship will serve as an interface between the participating disciplines.

The research focus is on developing practical solutions to make cities climate-resilient and future-ready. Of particular importance is a holistic perspective that considers interrelationships across all scales. Central aspects include sustainable and resilient infrastructure (land, energy, blue, green, etc.), the protection of critical infrastructure, adjustments in buildings and urban design, and the responsible use of built and natural resources. This tenure-track professorship will make a significant contribution to sustainable (ecological, economic, and socially just) neighborhood and urban development, working closely with municipalities as well as regional and state authorities to develop viable concepts for practical application.

In teaching, you will work with colleagues from the abovementioned disciplines to offer courses for various Bachelor’s and Master’s programs. Interdisciplinary student projects in cooperation with cities and municipalities are intended to strengthen practical relevance. You will contribute to existing and new study programs in both English and German. Your teaching load will be 6 semester hours per week following a positive evaluation, otherwise 4 semester hours per week.

You will represent the field of this tenure-track professorship in research and teaching and will develop it conceptually, content-wise, and methodologically. You will actively contribute your research to interdisciplinary urban and climate research projects at KIT. Your methodological skills include a variety of research approaches in the respective fields of action for sustainable climate adaptation. You have experience with diverse perspectives in critical and participatory research as well as with digital research methods.

We expect relevant scholarly achievements, demonstrated by appropriate publications as well as expertise in sustainable climate adaptation in urban environments—ranging from the scale of buildings to neighborhoods and entire cities. We require willingness to collaborate closely with the faculty of Civil, Geo, and Environmental Sciences at KIT, Division IV, the Urban Research group at KIT, and the KIT Centers "Humans and Technology” and "Climate and Environment”, with the aim of developing innovative research and teaching formats.

Active participation in KIT’s academic institutions is expected, as is the acquisition of third-party funding to strengthen research and innovation. The successful candidate will be expected to secure a competitively funded junior research group (e.g., DFG Emmy Noether Junior Research Group, Helmholtz Young Investigator Groups, ERC Starting Grants, junior research groups funded by ministries—especially the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)—or from the Sofia Kovalevskaja Program of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation), of which the funding period is less than halfway completed at the time of application.

This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.