Rapid urbanization, especially in less developed countries, has generated a dramatically high demand in the cities for housing, transportation, and employment. While this phenomenon has led to huge opportunities for economic growth, it causes widespread side effects, such as high housing prices, excessive energy-dependency, congestion, unemployment and social exclusion. Unaffordability and disparities stand out for the low-income and socially disadvantaged groups, who are vulnerable to increased costs and thus involuntary to adapt their living styles. To address policy initiatives promoting sustainability, the interdisciplinary research aims to better understand the complex process of urban dynamics and develop integrated decision support tools for multi-faceted valuation and administration of access to housing and transportation (H+T).

The Ph.D. candidate will develop state-of-the-art approaches within the context of multi-state supernetwork modeling for the analyses of H+T affordability and equity. The research will focus on three topics: (1) household activity-travel demand analysis using refined supernetwork representations of choice alternatives; (2) preference analysis of the vulnerable groups to H+T policies and services; (3) micro-simulation of effects of various policy and service scenarios. The project has social relevance to making cities and human settlements inclusive and sustainable, which is defined as one of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations Foundation.

As a Ph.D. candidate, your tasks are the following:

Perform scientific research in the described domain;

Present results at international conferences;

Publish results in scientific journals;

Participate in activities of the group and the department;

Assist teaching undergraduate and graduate courses (at most 20 % of the time).

We are looking for talented, enthusiastic Ph.D. candidate who meets the following requirements

An MSc in Operations Research, Computer Science, Geography, Behavioral Science, Spatial planning, or related fields;

Experienced with Matlab, R, Python, SPSS, GIS techniques, or C/C++;

Creative, pro-active team player with good analytical skills;

Good communicative skills in English, both written and oral.

We offer:

A full-time appointment for a period of 4 years, with an intermediate evaluation after nine months;

A gross salary of Euros 2,325 per month in the first year increasing up to Euros 2,972 per month in the fourth year;

Support for your personal development and career planning including courses, summer schools, conference visits, etc.;

A research position in an internationally renowned research group;

A broad package of fringe benefits (e.g. excellent technical infrastructure, saving schemes, excellent sports facilities, and child daycare).