This programme is for master’s students enrolled at the Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden). Master’s students enrolled at other universities are invited to visit the section Master’s Thesis Opportunity.
This initiative provides graduate students with the opportunity to write a master’s thesis under the guidance of supervisors at both UNU-FLORES and TU Dresden. Upon completion of the master’s thesis, successful candidates are expected to have developed deeper knowledge, understanding, and capabilities in the context of the study area and will disseminate the research results in a way that is beneficial for the research area and for their career.
The master’s thesis topics are developed together with professors at TU Dresden.
The qualifications which will be considered in the application process include, but are not limited to, the following. The ideal candidate:
UNU is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities to apply and become part of the organisation.
The successful candidate shall complete and submit the master’s thesis for evaluation within an agreed timeline of not more than six months with both supervisors.
Please note that this opportunity will not be financially remunerated. The purpose of the master’s thesis opportunity is not to lead to further employment at UNU-FLORES but to complement an applicant’s studies. Therefore, there should be no expectation of employment after completion of the master’s thesis. Also, please note that the medium of instruction at UNU-FLORES is English.
Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Framework for Functions in Building Sustainability Assessments
The building sector serves several functions for a steadily increasing global population. Being a major contributor to environmental and social impacts, it needs to reevaluate how to provide these functions while becoming more sustainable. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment methods are used to determine the social, economic, and environmental impacts of buildings or building products and materials. Moreover, the spatial (e.g., resource availability) and temporal dimensions (e.g., end-of-life) are considered. As a central point of reference, they define functional units.
This thesis aims to review functional units (see Goldstein and Rasmussen 2018: 710) used in building sustainability assessment literature and map them in a framework. Taking the perspective of functionality across different building components and across different degrees of detail, the results shall allow the transition from incremental changes in singular functions to the identification of sustainability gains on a broader level.
The thesis will be prepared as part of the Joint Junior Researcher Programme in cooperation with UNU-FLORES and the TU Dresden at the Chair of Business Administration, esp. Sustainability Management and Environmental Accounting. Please find the Chair’s thesis regulations, including the need to participate in a preceding research seminar, under this link. Successful submission of a paper in the research seminar in English is sufficient to prove proficiency in the language.
For more information regarding the topic, please reach out to hatzfeld@unu.edu.
Main supervisor: Dr Christoph Scope, TU Dresden (christoph.scope@tu-dresden.de)
Co-supervisor: Tobias Hatzfeld, UNU-FLORES (hatzfeld@unu.edu)
All applications should include:
Interested applicants should send their application material in one single PDF file to the respective thesis topic supervisor where available topics are advertised.
Alternatively, students are also welcomed to propose their own thesis topic to a potential supervisor at UNU-FLORES. Please reach out directly to the experts according to the Institute’s research themes and/or analytical perspectives.