PhD in AI‑Assisted Design of Smart Energy‑Flexible Buildings

About the role

The research group Architecture and Climate at UCLouvain seeks a motivated PhD candidate to develop an AI‑assisted recommender system for participatory design of smart, energy‑flexible buildings and energy communities.

Key responsibilities

• Review state‑of‑the‑art ML surrogate models and AI recommender systems in building design.
• Develop and integrate physics‑informed ML models and a multi‑energy hub into a browser‑based simulation suite.
• Design and prototype an LLM‑based recommender that combines Retrieval‑Augmented Generation and agentic tool use.
• Organise and run participatory workshops with stakeholders and analyse results using qualitative and statistical methods.
• Publish research in international journals and present at conferences.

Required profile

• Master’s degree in energy engineering, electrical engineering, energy economics, computer science, civil/building engineering or a related field.
• Strong interest in building energy, sustainable design and the energy transition.
• Excellent command of English; French is an asset.
• Interest in interdisciplinary and participatory work with non‑expert stakeholders.

Required skills

• Programming experience (Python, Julia or similar); machine‑learning experience is a strong asset.
• Familiarity with building performance simulation, smart‑building technologies (heat pumps, PV, batteries, EV charging, home energy management).
• Knowledge of energy system modelling and optimisation (linear/mixed‑integer programming) and power‑grid concepts.
• Experience with LLM frameworks (RAG, agents, tool use) is a plus.

What we offer

• A fully funded 2‑year PhD position with a doctoral scholarship (potential extension to 4 years).
• Interdisciplinary research environment at the intersection of architecture, energy and AI.
• Network of academic and practice partners in Belgium and abroad.
• Support for conference participation, training and research stays.
• Remuneration and social benefits according to UCLouvain doctoral scholarship rules.