Development of a TAPASS (Tiered Approach for Prospective Assessment of Benefits and Challenges) and first applications

Doctoral position in the Area of Sustainability Assessments of Technologies

The candidate will be involved in the creation of a development-accompanying sustainability assessment system for technologies. The goal is the design of a graduated interdisciplinary development-accompanying sustainability assessment method, called TAPASS (Tiered Approach for Prospective Assessment of Benefits and Challenges). It can be characterized as a heuristic-systematic approach that aims to pose the “right” questions and to give recommendations in order to challenge, substantiate and further develop the livMatS claims. Existing assessments systems will be reviewed to understand which assessment criteria explicitly and implicitly are applied today and to predict how they will develop in the next years. In the field of society and consumers narratives, philosophical and psychological influences play an important role. A first outline of the TAPASS framework should be created. As one of the core elements of this framework a SWOT matrix (analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) should be developed. This matrix should be applied to living materials systems and process options, which emerge during the development processes of livMatS (first three years). Due to the assumed low Technology Readiness Levels of the new concepts, an iterative approach to sustainability assessment should be proposed looking for example to toxicology and availability of ressources. It should begin with a qualitative investigation that is gradually refined with semi-quantitative and quantitative data in iteration steps closely linked to the ongoing progresses of research in other areas of livMatS.

Candidates should have completed a degree in Engineering, and have further education in the social sciences or have carried out work on these topics. Candidates should be in charge of life cycle assessment software and have carried out LCA or environmental assessments according to ISO 14040 or sustainability assessments in their final theses or follow-up work. 

The position will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Rainer Grießhammer.

Applications are closed as of January 9th 2019.