Postdoctoral Research Associate, School of Architecture

UVA Health • Charlottesville, VA

1d • $65,000 - $70,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Housing durability and climate resilience are colliding with an urgent national housing shortage, and the regulations, policies, and financing structures shaping today's construction are largely untested against these long-term risks. The University of Virginia’s (UVA) Department of Architecture, in collaboration with colleagues from UVA Law, Engineering, along with colleagues from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation and colleagues in public health, is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to support a project at the intersection of these challenges through the interdisciplinary “Building Efficient, Durable, Resilient, Optimizable Communities and Knowledge” Project. This mixed methods, practitioner and stakeholder-engaged research role will examine the characteristics defining climate-resilient affordable housing supply and what reforms are likely to increase it where it is needed most. This position will work in close collaboration with a second postdoctoral researcher who currently is leading the projects' climate/portfolio data analysis and qualitative data gathering. Postdoctoral employment is temporary and is normally limited to an individual who has been awarded a Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate within the previous five years and who will be involved in full-time research or scholarship at the University. Employment as a Postdoctoral Research Associate is viewed as training and is preparatory for a full-time academic or research career, is supervised by a senior scholar, and allows the appointee to publish the results of his/her research or scholarship during the training period. This is a 12-month appointment with the possibility of renewal contingent upon satisfactory performance and the availability of funding.

Requirements

• Applicants must have received or will receive their doctoral degree by the beginning of their appointment; we prefer candidates who have received their degree within five years prior to the start of the appointment.
• Training and expertise in one of the various policy and disciplinary domains (housing policy, architectural design experience, using either quantitative or mixed methods or environmental policy, using mixed methods to examine climate change and its effects).
• The strength of their research.
• Their ability to collaborate across disciplines.
• Commitment to equitable, evidence-based housing and climate policy.

Nice To Haves

• Comfort or experience with planning or facilitating stakeholder workshops, interviews, or community engagement preferred.
• Demonstrable skills in relevant statistical analysis (regression analysis) and familiarity with statistical software packages (e.g., Stata) and/or relevant coding language (e.g., Python or R) to analyze data, and visualize data analysis.
• Preference will be given to a candidate with experience designing spatial analysis methodologies using raster math, density mapping, interpolation, remote sensing, multi-criteria evaluation, spatial statistics, network analyses, participatory GIS, and geographically weighted regression.
• Background in housing policy or land use/regulatory policy preferred.
• Demonstrated project management experience including tracking deliverables, budgets, and timelines.

Responsibilities

• Translate mixed methods findings that are actionable for developers, planners, and state policymakers - for example, the how financing timelines, tax incentives, and code requirements like single-stair egress rules shape building durability and cost.
• Explore the context of localized demand and existing supply, supplementing existing analysis as needed to consider climate effects.
• Explore the effects of regulation on the full cycle of building - from siting to construction - in specific Virginia localities with robust data and mixed methods.

Benefits

• Benefitted position

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree