Join the HOBEL!
The HOBEL is looking to expand its team. We currently accept new applicants for MSc thesis projects (see below), as well as for PhD and Postdoc level. A strong academic background in Mechanical, Civil, Architectural, Environmental Engineering or a related discipline is required and the candidates must demonstrate deep interests in one or more of the themes listed below:
- Building ventilation
- Indoor air quality
- Human exposure to airborne pollutants including bioaerosols
- HVAC systems and control, energy efficiency
- Building environmental monitoring
- Human thermal comfort, behavior and interactions
The HOBEL provides a stimulating, collaborative and pleasant research environment. The successful candidate will have full access to all EPFL research facilities in Fribourg and on campus in Lausanne. We also offer national and international development opportunities through collaborations within academia and with industry.
If interested, please contact Prof. Dusan Licina via email to discuss upcoming projects and opportunities. Previous projects that exemplify curiosity in any of the above points are desirable.
For Bachelor and Master students
If you are interested completing your semester projects or Master thesis with HOBEL, please send your request to Prof. Dusan Licina indicating your background, grades and specific interests. Some of the potential topics are listed below (non-exhaustive list):
- Indoor air quality and thermal comfort assessment in office, residential and/or educational building
- Nexus between indoor environmental quality parameters and building energy consumption
- Surveys of the occupant satisfaction and sick building syndrome symptoms in commercial or educational buildings
- Activity-based HVAC control for enhanced indoor air quality and thermal comfort
- Maximizing the performance of natural ventilation with the knowledge of outdoor air pollution
- Emission rates of particles and gaseous chemicals by university students in gyms or classrooms
- Assessment of air quality and thermal comfort on SBB trains
- Building and testing a low-cost thermal manikin
- Developing and testing a human coughing and sneezing machine
- Human inhalation exposure to carbon dioxide and particulate matter in built environment
- Calibrating a building simulation model based on actual data
About Smart Living Lab
The smart living lab provides a stimulating, collaborative and pleasant work environment for researchers. The smart living lab is an inter-disciplinary, interinstitutional research group that combines multiple lines of a cutting-edge research related to sustainable buildings and well-being of occupants. Smart living lab concentrates its research on four core areas such as energy systems, construction techniques, interactions and design processes, well-being and behaviors.
The smart living lab manages the competencies of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL Friborg), the University of Applied Sciences Freiburg (HEIA-FR) and the University of Freiburg (UNIFR) and in the field of sustainable building technologies, but also the law, the economic and social sciences together.
About EPFL
Working for the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) means being part of a prestigious school that consistently ranks among the top 20 universities worldwide. As a public university dedicated to improving the world around us, we have three missions: training, research and technology transfer. We boast one of the most dynamic university campuses in Europe and employ more than 6,000 people. Our employees perform high-value-added work in teaching and research and in the school’s administrative and technical services. Between our main campus in Lausanne and our satellite campuses in Geneva, Neuchâtel, Fribourg and Sion, our workforce is composed of more than one hundred different professions.
At EPFL, we foster a culture of respect and inclusion in the workplace. We promote a healthy work-life balance through flexible working hours and on-campus daycare and sports facilities. Our employees also benefit from belonging to a diverse community of 16,000 people – including over 10,000 students and 3,500 researchers – from 120 different countries.