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PhD-Student “Towards Climate-Resilient Comfort: The Dual Role of Personalized Environmental Control Systems (PECS) and Heat Acclimation”

  • //applyindex.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/belgium.png Belgium
  • University/Institute Name KU Leuven
  • Attendance Type On Campus (Full Time)
  • Position Funding Type Research Assistantship (RA)
  • Application deadlineSeptember 29, 2025
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Position Details (PhD Research Project)

The Measure, Model & Manage Bioresponses (M3-BIORES) laboratory of the Animal and Human Health Engineering (A2H) division of the Department of Biosystems at KU Leuven has 3 research lines:
1. Precision livestock farming
2. Human Health Engineering
3. Micro-environmental control for human health and wellbeing

This job vacancy is situated within the 3rd research line.

This PhD will be supervised together with Douaa Al Assaad, assistant professor at KU Leuven at the Department of Biosystems ([email protected]) who specializes in evaluating the performance of personalized environmental control systems (PECS) on human wellbeing and Hannah Pallubinsky ([email protected]), assistant professor at the Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, Maastricht University, the Netherlands, who is an expert in human thermophysiology, and focuses on how heat and cold exposure affect metabolism, cardiovascular health, and overall well-being (https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/h-pallubinsky)

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Project

The frequency and severity of extreme weather events like heat waves – characterized by extended bouts of extreme heat and humidity, are rising at an alarming rate, and are leading to high levels of excess morbidity and mortality on a global scale, with those who do not have access to air conditioning being particularly vulnerable. Research focusing on improving the resilience of buildings and their systems is of fundamental importance, but it often considers occupants as static elements of the built environment having fixed thresholds of heat stress over prolonged periods – a fact further away from being true. The human body is far more resilient than we often realize. 
Research has already shown that occupants are capable of passive heat acclimation (PHA) within a week of prolonged exposures to high temperatures by adapting their thermoregulatory responses. Thus, PHA represents a natural biological phenomenon that can effectively be leveraged when integrating resilience as a design parameter.   
Simultaneously, one should not ignore the potential of personalized environmental control systems (PECS) – building integrated or wearable devices providing localized cooling to users, in being resilient and energy efficient cooling interventions, delaying the onset of heat stress in individuals under extreme heat. However, expecting people to continuously rely on PECS is unrealistic and eventually might compromise the benefits of PHA. 
This leads us to the following research questions that will be investigated in this PhD research:
• What is the impact of different types of cooling PECS on PHA in humans during episodes of extreme heat?
• How much do individual variabilities account for this impact? 
• How can we leverage the design and operation of PECS in conjunction with conventional background HVAC systems to alleviate heat stress while still reaping the benefits of PHA?

Profile

• You obtained (with distinction) a master’s degree in bioscience engineering or a master’s degree in human physiology with a specialty in human-environment interaction and thermoregulation. 
• You have fundamental knowledge in thermoregulation, human heat stress responses, biostatistics and experimental methods, sensor technology and data acquisition
• You have research experience with human trials or clinical studies (especially involving thermoregulation), designing and running controlled environmental chamber experiments and monitoring human biological responses
• You have technical skills in instrumentation (chambers, sensors) and software (Matlab, Python, R) for physiological data analysis
• You are eligible to write an application for a grant for a PhD fellowship at FWO (see eligibility: 
https://www.fwo.be/en/support-programmes/all-calls/phd/phd-fellowship-fundamental-research/)
• You have an interest in human-centered designs and understanding occupational heat safety applications and are familiar with ethical and safety protocols for human testing 
• You have strong critical thinking, attention to detail, excellent communication and time-management skills for interdisciplinary collaboration and working with human subjects
• Excellent writing and presentation skills and a knowledge of English are crucial 
• You have a strong analytical ability and a sense of synthesis 
• You can work independently, but also can function in a team and show sufficient initiative

Offer

We offer 100% employment for 4 years which should be sufficient to complete a PhD in this topic. You start with a full-time position for 1 year which can be extended to four years upon positive evaluation. Other working conditions can be found at https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/en/phd/phd-information

Interested?

For more information please contact: dr. ir. Douaa Al Assaad, mail: [email protected]
Please provide: 
– A motivation letter and a CV with at least 2 reference contacts who can be contacted 
– Your Master thesis (in pdf format)
– Bachelor’s and master’s studies full transcripts 
– A certificate of an English language test (IELTS or TOEFL)

KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.

Research Areas & Fields of Study involved in the position

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