Project:
The CAROU institute, an initiative of the Open Universiteit of The Netherlands, invites applications for a postdoc position in smart mobility with AI and the blockchain. The main goal of CAROU is to build innovative applications that would enrich the knowledge about AI applications of SMEs and BE residing in the province of Limburg.
Specifically, this position is funded by the Veilige Stad program of the OUNL: the idea is that the person will develop simulations of urban mobility systems on top of an environment that models transactions concerning the mobility service and uses blockchain technology to deal with the transactions and associated smart contracts concerning agreements of the mobility services.

Tasks:
The candidate will be expected to spend most of their time in developing technical tools, writing research publications and grants (0.7 FTE), and spend time in regular and non-regular education developing hands-on seminars to be presented to students of the OU university and to companies (0.3 FTE). The development of courses and associated software libraries will be an important valorization activity that will be used to evaluate the candidate.
CAROU resides in the Smart Service Campus in Heerlen, most of the time the candidate will be expected to work in the campus, occasionally the candidate will have to travel to the location of potential partners.

We look to hire a candidate holding a PhD in one of the following fields; data science, computer science, computer engineering, IOT, or a closely related field. The candidate is expected to conduct research and research-based teaching in one or more of the following areas:

• Simulations (urban simulations)

• IOT

• Self-organising systems

• Reinforcement Learning

• Representational Learning

• Deep Learning

• Blockchain (Theory and practice)

• Geographical system

The ideal candidate should document:  

• Publications of research at international level in well-respected peer reviewed venues, such as top AI or Engineering conferences or journals,

• A record of contributing to the goals of the institutions in which he/she has worked, for example submitting proposals to H2020 is a plus,

• Track record of successful teaching is also a plus.

The ideal candidate should have a number of technical skills amongst which:

• Python programming or willingness to learn (further and beyond)

• Affinity with the SUDO simulation system, or similar simulation environment

• Knowloedge of Keras,  Pytorch and other Deep Learning frameworks

• Numpy, Numba, Pandas, Scipy

• Affinity with Reinforcement learning

• Affinity with Representational learning

Fixed-term contract: for the duration of 1 year.

The salary will be determined on the basis of your education, experience and qualifications but will be in accordance with the general salary scales 10/11/12 of the CLA-NU. An indication of the maximum gross salary is € 5.656,= per month based on a full-time tenure.

The Open University  provides good secondary benefits such as training, mobility, part-time employment and paid parental leave.

Open University of the Netherlands

Studying online anywhere in the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders)
The Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL) is the university in the Netherlands where students study part-time and follow online and activating education in bachelor and master degree programs in seven fields of study. Characteristics of the education are openness, flexibility and quality. Enhancing the study success of students is an important point of focus. More than 14.000 students are studying at the OUNL and it has 655 employees. The OUNL has a network of regional study centers in the Netherlands and in Belgium (Flanders) (https://www.ou.nl/studiecentra). The head office is situated in Heerlen.
The most modern technologies and educational insights are applied in bachelor and master programs and courses and also in projects and programs with partners. Nationally and internationally the OUNL plays a key role in the innovation of higher education. Education and research are closely interrelated which guarantees that the current state of science is applied. The OUNL not only invests in research in the various academic disciplines, but also in research in the field of learning, teaching and technology.

Satisfied students
For several consecutive years, the OUNL has achieved a top position among the fourteen Dutch universities in the National Students Survey, the Dutch university guide ‘Keuzegids Universiteiten’ (in which the ratings by students and experts of the bachelor studies of the fourteen universities are compared), and the Dutch university guide ‘Keuzegids Masters’. In addition all studies score high in the rankings of the universities for these studies. All ratings are available on the website (www.ou.nl).

Faculty of Management, Science & Technology

The faculty of Management, Science & Technology (MST) is one of the three faculties of the Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL). Education, research and valorization are the main tasks of the faculty. MST offers academic bachelor and master programs in the fields of management, environmental science and computer science. Additionally the faculty offers a Liberal Arts & Sciences bachelor program as well as short programs for professionals (certified professional programs), who aim at gaining more in-depth knowledge. The research program centers on Learning and Innovation in Resilient Systems and is characterized by its multidisciplinary approach. The faculty has a large number of PhD-students who conduct research on various current topics within this research program. As a result of the interdisciplinary focus on education and research, as well as the close link with practice, work at this faculty provides innovative and challenging opportunities.