PhD position - Increased Use of Wood in Urban Areas

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label Burse autorenew 2025-09-29, 17:01 history_edu Ioana Dinescu
3-year full time position at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO), Institute of Architecture Main theme: Architectural potentials of wood-based structural systems and building envelopes applied in urban building typologies.

The research project: Increased Use of Wood in Urban Areas' WOOD/BE/BETTER
  • The PhD-position will be a part of this interdisciplinary project that will span four years starting in 2013. The project is a part of the BIONAER program established by the Research Council of Norway. The main collaborating institutions are:
  • The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO),
  • The Dept. of Mathematical Sciences And Technology (IMT) at the Norwegian University for Life Sciences (UMB)
  • The Dept. of Ecology and Natural Resource Management (INA) at the Norwegian University for Life Sciences (UMB)
  • The Norwegian Forests and Landscape Institute (NFLI).

One PhD position will be based at AHO in the centre of Oslo, two others will be based at UMB about 40 km south of Oslo.



The PhD at AHO: Themes and tasks
Wood in urban building typologies is a central theme both in the research project and in the PhD. The study should clarify architectural potential in wood-based construction systems and building envelope solutions. The WOOD/BE/BETTER project will put focus on project types that represent large building volumes in Norways urban development. Housing is expected to play an important role. Other functions and building categories are also relevant. Architectural adaptability to varying sites and programs must be sought for.

Supervision of the PhD at AHO will be provided by the AHO faculty. The AHO PhD work in architecture will be coordinated with the two others at UMB, whose research areas will be structure systems and building envelopes. This will be an important part of the interdisciplinary collaboration between the institutions. In addition, a selection of leading architectural firms is associated with the project. Their feedback and interaction will be important.

The integration of research and teaching is a primary focus of the WOOD/BE/BETTER project. Interdisciplinary coordinated master courses at AHO will interact with the research. Contact with the students and teams of teachers and researchers will be an integral part of the PhD work.