SDU PhD Position in Sustainable Beverage Supply Chain Design for International Students

The PhD project
Carlsberg Breweries targets a reduction of their beer-in-hand carbon footprint/emissions with 15% by 2022 and 30% by 2030 as part of Carlsberg’s ”Together towards zero” program. This requires development and implementation of new innovative packaging materials and methods. It also requires optimization of existing value chains as well as ongoing focus on re-/upcycling of beverage primary and secondary packaging within large scale and mass production facilities.

The aim of this project is therefore to contribute to further reductions of production and supply chain waste, operational and logistics expenses as well as CO2/GHG emissions within the field of Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) without compromising customer value experience.

The project will include mapping and modelling/simulation of Carlsberg’s current use of packaging materials as well as related value chain setup for selected categories of beverages. It will also include scouting and benchmarking of innovative packing materials and technologies (primary and secondary packaging) with key stakeholders of Carlsberg and selected vendors. Multiple perspectives (manufacturing facilities and processes, sales and marketing, logistics, financial, environmental, regulatory perspectives) and aspects as recycling, deposit schemes, branding value etc., will be considered as part of the analysis and studies.

The scientific objectives are the following:

• To conduct quality action/design research on the topic of sustainable logistics/supply chain management for the beverage industry.
• To identify and benchmark the international beverage industry and it’s potential implementing sustainable manufacturing facilities, sustainable logistics/supply chain solutions and reducing operational expenses as well as GHG / CO2 emissions.
• To develop and test methods/frameworks through action research for analysis, design and implementation of sustainable logistics/supply chain management.
• To experiment with quantitative and qualitative models within the domain of sustainable supply chain management.
• To capture results and learnings from pilot project in the domain of sustainable manufacturing facilities, processes, supply chain management, and evaluate short- and long-term challenges as well as the competitive benefits for the DK industry in specific to sustainable production and supply chain design.

This research is founded and connected to the Danish MADE fast Track program (www.made.dk) and the successful candidate is therefore expected to work actively within in the Danish MADE Fast program.

Job description

• You will conduct qualitative and quantitative research in the beverage industry.
• You will develop and test models to support sustainable manufacturing facilities, sustainable logistics/supply chain solutions and reducing operational expenses as well as GHG / CO2 emissions.
• You will support the industrial partner in integrating the developed models / frameworks
• You will at instances support industry partners in implementing and using the models in daily operations
• You will publish and present your work both at international conferences and in scientific journals with high impact.
• You will assist in teaching and project supervision activities at Faculty of Engineering, University of Southern Denmark.

• MSc degree in Operations Management, Industrial Engineering or similar education (equivalent to a Danish master's degree)
• Being familiar with the daily work in a manufacturing environment and preferably within the industry of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). Self-going in data gathering in a large-scale manufacturing context
• Having a dedicated interest in exploring the domain of circular economy and sustainable operations / supply chain management
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Comfortable working both independently and within a team
• Willingness to support industrial partners and overall research project progress
• Interested in longer term commitment to a growing research group
• Interested in contributing to teaching / supervision
• Fluent English (and preferable fluent in Danish), both spoken and written

Employment as a PhD fellow is a 3-year salaried position (start salary for newly graduated MSc degree amounts 384.936,70DKK per year incl. 17.1% pension).

The application must be in English and must include - the required forms must be found at the above mentioned Faculty website:

• Completed TEK PhD application form for 5+3 applicants.
• Motivation letter stating your specific interest, motivation and qualifications for the project in question (max. 2 pages). Upload in the field called “Project description”.
• Detailed Curriculum Vitae, describing research, publication and teaching experience, computational skills and including personal contact information.
• Verified copies of the official bachelor diploma and master's diploma and transcripts of exams, both original and translated into English.
• Completed TEK PhD form for calculation grade point average. Upload in one of the fields called “Publication”.
• An official document describing the grading scheme of the awarding universities (if not Danish). Upload in one of the fields called “Publication”.
• An official and verified written assessment of the thesis or dissertation project from the grade giving institution, if the thesis/examination project is evaluated by approved/passed. The statement must clearly state that the candidate has been among the top 30 pct. in the graduation class for the study programme.
• Three names and e-mails of researchers who can provide an informed reference letter at short notice.
• List of publications and examples of relevant publications, if available. Please attach one pdf-file for each publication.