OPEN CALL: Seeking Professor or Assistant Professor of Architecture and Digital Transformation

Professor or Assistant Professor (tenure track) of Architecture and Digital Transformation
The Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich invites applications for the above-mentioned position. The professorship is located at the Institute of Technology in Architecture ITA.

Architecture is facing a digital transformation influencing all phases, from early design, planning, construction, and operation, to the disassembly of buildings. Artificial intelligence, extended reality, and digital fabrication have the potential to drastically influence the way we design and build. Theoretical and practice-oriented research is needed to instrumentalize this development for addressing societal challenges and to shape a sustainable digital building culture.

The new professor is expected to conduct ground-breaking disciplinary and transdisciplinary research in architecture with strong expertise in computational design and in one or more contemporary digital developments, and to establish a research agenda with the potential to foster the discipline’s future digital agency, critically addressing material, environmental, and/or socio-economic challenges and the emerging potential of digital technologies in architecture and the built environment.

Teaching will engage an encompassing view of digital design technologies’ impact on architecture and their future role within the building lifecycle. The new professor is mainly responsible for teaching in the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programme in Architecture. The professor will be expected to supervise doctoral students and to have strong interest in interdisciplinary collaboration with professorships among the Department of Architecture and throughout ETH. Close collaboration with the existing chairs at the Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA) is of particular importance as well as strong interest in infrastructural synergies by collaborating with the globally unique infrastructure for experimental research including the Robotic Fabrication Laboratory (RFL), the Immersive Design Lab (IDL), and the Zero Carbon Building Systems Lab.

Successful candidates are experienced in practice and/or academia whose research and scholarship explore the digital transformation of design and construction across the building lifecycle. Additional qualifications include a university degree with a doctoral degree or comparable experience in architecture practice as well as competence in leading a team and excellent didactical skills. Contribution to the development of the Department of Architecture beyond the boundaries of the discipline is expected. In general, at ETH Zurich courses are taught in German or English.

Assistant professorships have been established to promote the careers of younger scientists. ETH Zurich implements a tenure track system equivalent to that of other top international universities. ETH Zurich is an equal opportunity and family-friendly employer, values diversity, and is responsive to the needs of dual-career couples.

Please apply online here. Applications should include a curriculum vitae, a list of publications, a project list, a statement of future research and teaching interests, a description of the leadership philosophy, a description of the three most important achievements, and a certificate of the highest degree. The letter of application should be addressed to the President of ETH Zurich, Prof. Dr. Joël Mesot. The closing date for applications is October 31, 2024.