PhD position in Intelligent and Sustainable Transportation System Management

Reference number REF 2024-0605

We offer a great opportunity for a highly motivated PhD student to join our team working at the forefront of intelligent transport systems. As a PhD student, you will work with a passionate and ambitious team focused on improving the efficiency and sustainability of urban transport systems. Here, we address challenging transportation problems with state-of-the-art technologies, such as autonomous driving, connected vehicles, and smart charging solutions. In addition, you will benefit from our strong ties to industry (e.g., Volvo), enabling your research to achieve greater real-world impact. Based in a beautiful Nordic city, you will benefit from a competitive salary, an outstanding training program, and a wide collaboration network. 

Project description
The team focuses primarily on two research areas:

1. Urban Transport System Electrification
To promote the sustainable development of our cities, our research focuses on the electrification of urban transport systems across all modes, from micromobility to passenger cars and heavy vehicles. In this rapidly evolving field, we are interested in developing optimization methods to support critical decision-making processes, such as infrastructure planning, fleet management, route planning, and charging scheduling.

2. Traffic System Management with Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs)
CAVs represent a breakthrough technology with the potential to address long-standing challenges in transport management. We are particularly interested in harnessing CAV connectivity and controllability to improve traffic flow and mitigate congestion. Our research focuses on bottleneck and congestion management strategies, including but not limited to intersection control, ramp metering, path planning, and vehicle routing.

The candidate’s research background and interests should align with one of the above areas. While we have several research ideas in mind, we encourage you to pursue a topic you are passionate about, and we welcome your innovative ideas. 

Information about the division and the department
The position is advertised in the Urban Mobility Systems research area within Division of Geology and Geotechnics, in Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at Chalmers. We work on topics including but not limited to multi-modal transport systems, electric vehicles, connected and automated vehicles, with a particular focus on traffic system design and optimization.

Major responsibilities
Your primary responsibility as a PhD student is to pursue your own doctoral studies. This includes conducting research in the area of intelligent transport systems, completing coursework, and participating in teaching activities. Over time, you are expected to strengthen your scientific foundation, develop your own research concepts, and ultimately grow into an independent researcher by the time of graduation. Read more about doctoral studies at Chalmers here.

Qualifications
Applicants should hold a master’s degree in transportation, operations research, applied mathematics, computer science, or a related field corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits. Experience with optimization theory or machine learning is considered advantageous.

While applicants must have completed their master’s degree by the time of enrollment, it is not required at the time of application, so students nearing graduation are also encouraged to apply. We anticipate the candidate joining us in the first half of 2025, with some flexibility.

Contract terms
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years. The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in English. 

We offer
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg. Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with reference number 20240606 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.

CV: (Please name the document: CV, Family name, reference number) 

• CV 
• Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust. 
• Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number) 1-2 pages where you:

• Introduce yourself
• Describe your strength in research and motivation for the application
• Describe your short-term and long-term career goals

Research Statement (Please name the document as: Research statement, Family name, Ref. number) 2-3 pages where you:

• Describe your previous research and results
• Describe your future research plan

Other documents:
    • Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates, e.g. TOEFL test results.

Please note: The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the application is complete. Incomplete applications and applications sent by email will not be considered.

Application deadline: 2025-01-10

For questions, please contact:
Jiaming Wu, Assistant Professor, ACE, jiaming.wu@chalmers.se
Ivan Sanchez-Diaz, Associate Professor, TME, ivan.sanchez@chalmers.se

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***  

Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international level. The university has 3100 employees and 10,000 students, and offers education in engineering, science, shipping and architecture. With scientific excellence as a basis, Chalmers promotes knowledge and technical solutions for a sustainable world. Through global commitment and entrepreneurship, we foster an innovative spirit, in close collaboration with wider society.
Chalmers was founded in 1829 and has the same motto today as it did then: Avancez – forward.