Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Midwest Regional Energy Symbiosis

The University of Notre Dame invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join a collaborative, interdisciplinary team of researchers from Notre Dame, Indiana University, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin. This position will develop and pilot an AI-enabled material flow and industrial symbiosis framework connecting energy, water, and resource loops, using the Midwest as a living regional laboratory.

About the role

The postdoctoral fellow will serve as the central analytical and coordination lead for the project, working under the technical guidance of the PI and co-investigators. The role involves developing an innovative industrial symbiosis framework, creating a transparent AI-enabled methodology, coordinating with faculty teams, and leading the co-authorship of interdisciplinary publications and grant proposals.

Responsibilities

• Compile, manage, and integrate geospatial and infrastructure datasets related to industrial facilities, manufacturing processes, water and wastewater systems, solid waste streams, agricultural production, energy systems, construction-related material demand, and secondary resource flows.
• Develop regional material flow inventories identifying major sources, sinks, transformation points, and potential exchange pathways.
• Conduct industrial symbiosis screening to identify feasible cross-sector resource exchanges.
• Support the development of transparent AI-enabled assessment methods.
• Conduct simplified material flow analysis, life-cycle assessment, and techno-economic screening to evaluate selected symbiosis pathways.
• Prepare technical briefs, maps, diagrams, scenario portfolios, and visualizations to support team coordination and communication with public and private sector partners.
• Produce first drafts of scholarly manuscripts and contribute technical content, preliminary results, figures, and supporting analyses for follow-on grant proposals.

Requirements

• Ph.D. (in hand by the starting date) in industrial ecology, environmental engineering, civil and environmental engineering, systems engineering, sustainable manufacturing, urban systems, architecture/engineering, environmental science, geography, data science, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated research experience in one or more of the following areas: material flow analysis, life-cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis, industrial symbiosis, circular economy, resource recovery, waste management, water-energy-food systems, sustainable manufacturing, or low-carbon construction/material systems.
• Strong quantitative and data-integration skills, including experience working with geospatial data, infrastructure datasets, environmental inventories, or regional-scale resource-flow data.
• Expertise with LCA/MFA tools, databases, or methods; experience with software such as SimaPro, openLCA, Brightway, Python, R, GIS platforms, or related analytical tools is desirable.
• Experience with AI, machine learning, optimization, spatial analysis, scenario modeling, or decision-support methods is strongly preferred, especially when applied in transparent, interpretable, or policy-relevant contexts.
• Ability to synthesize complex multi-sector information into clear analytical outputs, including maps, figures, diagrams, tables, technical memos, and scholarly manuscripts.
• Strong writing, communication, and coordination skills, with the ability to work across a multi-institutional and interdisciplinary research team.
• Interest in regional sustainability, circular resource engineering, industrial ecology, and applied research that supports energy-water-resource loop closure.

Schedule

This is a full-time position with an initial appointment of one year, renewable for an additional year based on satisfactory performance and availability of funding.