CEBE International Partner Fellowship Programme - Call for Postdoc projects

Call closes 30th September 2026

Background

CEBE (Civil Engineering and the green transition in the Built Environment) is a Danish cross-university research programme focusing on the sustainable development of the built environment. CEBE’s vision is to promote science-based circular, low-carbon and resilient built environment within planetary boundaries. CEBE brings together leading researchers, industry partners, and international collaborators and stakeholders to advance excellent research, education, and innovation across the full value chain of the built environment. CEBE is supported by the Villum Foundation for a period of 10 years (2026 – 2035).

International collaboration in research facilitates the combination of diverse expertise, resources, and perspectives to produce more innovative and globally impactful scientific outcomes. Through the International Partner Fellowship programme, CEBE aims to strengthen long-term, strategic collaboration with leading international universities and research environments.

CEBE is structured with 7 research fields, see below.

The 7 Research Fields

1. Assessing and measuring sustainability

How can we accurately measure the climate and environmental impact of the entire built environment – both what we build new and what already exists?

This research field develops new methods for assessing emissions, environmental effects and resource use across buildings and infrastructure throughout their full life cycle. The goal is to create precise, dynamic models that support decision making for all types of interventions in the built environment and help the sector meet absolute sustainability targets. Whether through building new, renovating and transforming what already stands.

2. Design for regeneration, circularity and longevity

How do we design buildings that has a regenerative environmental impact?

This research area co-creates new methods for design and construction of building with a regenerative environmental impact while ensuring safe, healthy and comfortable indoor environments in changing climates. The aim is to explore how to design and construct robust and long-lasting buildings with components and systems that can be recirculated repeatedly.

3. Low carbon and robust construction materials

How can we reduce the construction sector’s massive use of materials?

Researchers in this field work to develop and test new low-carbon building materials. From reused products and products made with recycled resources to regenerative materials with a far smaller CO₂ footprint, while still meeting the required strength and durability standards.

4. Digitalisation and automation

How can digitalisation and automation reduce the environmental impact of construction while increasing performance?

This research field advances construction robotics, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and computational modelling as tools to intelligently acquire and manage data, build with lower embodied carbon, and reduce resource extraction throughout the construction lifecycle. The goal is to accelerate low-carbon and circular construction by turning data, carbon metrics, and material intelligence into actionable design and construction decisions.

5. Climate resilient and adaptive infrastructure

How do we prepare our infrastructure for more storms, cloudbursts and flooding?

This research area develops methods and technologies that make roads, bridges, ports and coastal protection more resilient, including nature-based solutions, upgrades to existing structures, advanced monitoring and improved emergency response strategies.

6. Sufficiency, well-being and energy efficiency

How can we create buildings that support health and well-being while using fewer resources?

Sustainable construction is not only about reducing CO₂ emissions, but it also concerns how buildings influence people’s comfort, health and everyday lives. This field brings together principles of “sufficiency” with research on energy use, indoor climate and comfort to ensure that we can live, thrive and work safely with a smaller resource footprint.

7. Extending the life of the built environment

How can we make better use of the buildings we already have?

New construction carries a high climate cost, so extending the life of existing structures is essential. This field develops methods to assess building condition, predict lifespan, identify suitable changes of use and support more sustainable renovation practices.

Scope of the Call

CEBE is now inviting proposals for CEBE Postdoc Projects (two-year) under the International Partner Fellowship programme. It is expected that 10-15 projects will be awarded.

The projects are expected to:

Focus on spearhead groundbreaking research that advances CEBE’s vision
Address important research questions within CEBE’s research fields that cannot be answered by the research groups separately
Be based on a collaboration between a Danish CEBE partner University and an international partner university

The call funds one year of a two-year Postdoc project, whereas the remaining one year should be covered by the international partner university. The researcher will be employed one year at the Danish CEBE partner university and one year at the international partner university.

Who can apply

The call is based on a collaboration between two research groups of which at least one belongs to a CEBE Partner University (main applicant) and the other an international university. It is open to applicants from all departments and research groups at CEBEs four Danish partner universities, respectively AAU (Aalborg University), AU (Aarhus University), SDU (University of Southern Denmark) and DTU (Technical University of Denmark).

The proposals are for single postdoc projects and can be submitted by the principal investigator (PI, i.e. mentor). Each PI can submit one proposal. The proposals are evaluated individually.

CEBE encourages PIs at different stages of academic seniority to apply. CEBE is committed to diversity and welcomes applicants with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

“We are working towards an absolute target, one that is relatively far from current practice. Our primary focus is therefore on developing methods and solutions that radically transform construction, its resource use and impact on the planet”

Per Heiselberg, CEBE Programme Director

Evaluation process

Project proposals will be evaluated by an international review panel of qualified scientists generating a short-list of highly qualified proposals. The final decision will be taken by the CEBE Steering Committee taking into consideration that a reasonable total balance of projects across the CEBE programme research fields is achieved.

The evaluation criteria that will be used for evaluating the project proposals are:

Scientific excellence and novelty of the proposed research
Relevance to CEBE’s overarching programme objectives as well as specific research field objectives
Potential benefits and synergies to be achieved by collaboration between the CEBE and international partner universities including potential of future collaboration
Scientific merits of PI and international partner, taking into account academic age
Feasibility within the time and resource limits of the fellowship

Collaboration projects with partner universities in developing and emerging economies are preferred, as most new construction is expected to take place in these regions.

If more than 100 proposals are received, they will be pre-screened by the Managing Director of the CEBE program as a maximum of 100 proposals will be evaluated by the international review board.

Rejected proposals will not be given individual feedback.

Application guideline

The application should include:

Frontpage (including title of projects, name and affiliation of applicants, table of content)
Project proposal (see below)
CV of PI (mentor) from the CEBE partner university (see below)
CV of co-PI (mentor) from the international partner university (see below)
CV of potential Postdoc candidate (if named) (max 2 pages)
Letter of support from international partner university, including statement of financial contribution (see below)

Project proposal must include the following four sections, and the project description must include the headings and the information stated below.

Project Summary (max ½ page)
Project Description (max 4 pages excluding references)
- Motivation, Significance and Scientific Challenges
  - Include a clear description of the visions and goals, the distinguishing features, and foci
- State of the Art
- Scientific Approach, Methodology, and Novelty
  - Describe the research contribution and potential impact
- Research Environment and Supervision
  - Description of research environment and infrastructure (demonstrating feasibility of the proposed project)
  - Description of potential benefits and synergies expected through the collaboration between the CEBE and international partner universities.
  - Description of other key collaborators, if applicable

Project relevance to CEBE research fields (½ page)
- Identification of the relevant research field(s) for the project
- Description of the expected contribution to the research field(s)
Sustainability goals of the project and relation to the CEBE program vision (½ page)
- Specific sustainability objectives taking into account possible sustainability-related trade-offs,
- Sustainability-related conceptual and methodological choices

The proposal must be composed in Times New Roman font, 12 pt, single-spaced text, margin 2,5 cm.

CV of PI and Co-PIs, max 2 pages each, should at minimum include:

Name, title and affiliation
PhD year
Short statement on previous research achievements and relevant impacts, including, e.g., in the policy, industrial, or public arenas
Number (not name list) of current and number of former PhD students, postdocs, and masters students
List of 10 publications including:
- 5 most important publications (from the last 15 years)
- 5 recent for the project relevant publications (from the last 5 years)
Link to Scopus profile or Orcid account

Letter of support from international partner university. It should state their support for the project including their financial obligation to finance one year of the two-year PostDoc project and employment of the candidate in this period.

Responsibilities

Recipients of awarded proposals (i.e., applicants) will become CEBE Affilliated and are expected to be engaged in the CEBE programme, including, e.g., attendance at CEBE , seminars, workshops and events, ensuring that CEBE-financed postdocs are members of CEBE Research School, use CEBE affiliation and acknowledgement in publications, conference presentations and in relevant communication channels, as well as to submit requested input to CEBE coordination unit, e.g. for administrative, reporting and budgeting purposes. In addition, CEBE expects that recipients of project funding from CEBE are committed to maintaining an updated ORCID account.

Funding

The call funds one year of the Postdoc project in which the candidate will be employed at the Danish CEBE Partner University. It includes postdoctoral salary (according to applicable rates at the university), project supplement (DKK 250.000), consumables (equipment, running expenses, travel) (covered up to max. DKK 50.000).