We are looking for a researcher to work on the NWO (The Dutch Science Organization) funded project "Reinforcement LeArning Platform for SMEs in Logistics (ReAL)". This project aims to further develop and test a decision support platform that combines the ideas behind the hybrid intelligence paradigm and reinforcement learning with a common data model and industry standard (such as the Open Trip Model) in order to achieve data and process interoperability and support a broader range of logistics decision making processes. Thus, the ReAL project aims to

(i) Design, develop, test and implement a RL-based decision support platform based on the Open Trip Model (OTM) and accessible to logistic SMEs.

(ii) Complement the ReAL platform with teaching material and training to stimulate its dissemination of throughout the logistic SME community.

This entails that a participatory design approach will be employed with our industry partners. The future ReAL platform is extending an existing proof-of-concept prototype into an operational platform that we will deploy in an operational setting at our logistic partners.

You will be embedded in the Industrial Engineering and Business Information Systems section of High-tech Business and Entrepreneurship Department (HBE) of the Faculty of Behavioral, Management and Social Sciences at the University of Twente (UT). The project will be conducted in close collaboration with several industry partners and technology providers. The project will be supervised by prof. dr. Maria Iacob and dr. Martijn Mes. For the development of the ReAL platform you will collaborate closely with the software company involved in the project, and the platform's target group: several logistic service providers.

In this position, you will:

• be the contact person for all collaborators and partners in this project;
• be setting up and preparing project meetings;
• take care of ethics, privacy procedures and data management;
• participate in software development and testing activities;
• you will give training (in the form of demonstrations and workshops) to the intended end-users of the platform

Candidates we seek:

• Are highly motivated, positive and, independent researchers with a PhD degree in industrial engineering, business information technology, computer science or any other relevant discipline. Familiarity with machine learning approaches (in particular reinforcement learning) and operations research is a clear advantage.
• Have demonstrable interest and/or experience in research management tasks, such as those mentioned above, etc.
• Have demonstrable interest and/or experience in interdisciplinary collaboration between scientific researchers, software developers, and end-users.
• Like to think creatively and out-of-the-box.
• Have good team spirit, excellent organizational skills and an interdisciplinary attitude.
• Have excellent social and communicative skills, both within academia and in relation to industrial partners.
• Like to work in an internationally oriented environment where many cultures meet.
• Have excellent written and spoken proficiency in English. Proficiency in Dutch is not required but constitutes and advantage.
• Have interest and/or experience with problem solving and design science research.
• Experience with and positive attitude towards open and transparent science principles.

The UT provides a dynamic and international environment, combining the benefits of academic research with a topic of high industrial relevance, excellent working conditions, an exciting scientific environment and a green and lively campus. We offer:

• A post-doc position 'project management & research' (1 fte) for one year.
• Full status as an employee at the UT, including pension and health care benefits.
• Gross salary: ranging from € 3.746,- to € 5.127,- per month, plus holiday allowance (8%) and end-of-year bonus (8.3%).
• Excellent facilities for professional and personal development.
• Good secondary conditions, in accordance with the collective labor agreement CAO-NU for Dutch universities.
• A green campus with lots of sports facilities and an international scientific community.

The HBE-department is one of four departments at the faculty. It is essentially an ambitious and steadily growing high-tech business school that merges business and entrepreneurship with tech innovation and social sciences to help companies and business people impact society. Research covers a broad spectrum of topics, such as the use of advanced mathematics to optimize logistics operations, boosting the use of Artificial Intelligence in the industry, design of inter-organizational information systems, training purchasing professionals, etc. For more information on these departments, see: https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/organization/departments-institutes/#department-clusters