Increasing housing density and decreasing space for transport infrastructure and private parking are threatening the sustainable accessibility of urban regions. Potential smart mobility solutions consist of flexible combinations of walking and cycling, shared electric vehicles, transport hubs, freight delivery and traffic management – but we lack the modelling tools to test these solutions.

In the Xcarcity project we will develop realistic digital replicas of car-low areas in Amsterdam, Almere and Rotterdam. We will use these ‘digital twins’ to study how people use different smart mobility services. This will help cities, area developers and mobility providers to make informed decisions about smart mobility, ensuring that the car-low urban regions of the future remain accessible.

Xcarcity is a joint research project of University of Twente, TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), also involving a large range of companies, public authorities, knowledge institutes and other organizations. Within the project, the DACS group of the University of Twente is responsible for the research on smart infrastructure, in which we will focus on massive privacy-preserving mobility data collection and aggregation. This mobility data will be used to feed the digital twin with up-to-date information on the state of the mobility system, and to dynamically control smart mobility infrastructure. As a PhD candidate in this project, your research will focus on efficient privacy-preserving wireless mobility data collection. Your work will be on the boundary between the computer science subdisciplines of wireless networking, security and privacy, and machine learning. You will work independently, interacting closely with your supervisors, prof.dr.ir. Maarten van Steen and prof.dr.ir. Geert Heijenk, other members of the Xcarcity team, and your colleagues at the DACS group of the University of Twente.

• You have (or will shortly acquire) a master’s degree in a relevant field such as Computer Science or Electrical Engineering.
• You have knowledge of computer systems and networking, or practical algorithms for systems or network security.
• You have experience with systems programming, and preferably experimental research.
• You are interested in the domain of sustainable mobility.
• You are curious and are highly motivated to address a major science challenge in collaboration with our industry partners.
• You have a good team spirit and like to work in an internationally oriented environment.
• You are proficient in English.

• An inspiring multidisciplinary and challenging international and academic environment. The university offers a fun and dynamic environment with enthusiastic colleagues where cooperation with other researchers is stimulated.
• Opportunity for international research exchange.
• Full-time employment for 4 years with a starting salary of €2.770,- gross per month in the first year and increasing to €3.539,- gross per month in the fourth year.
• Tailor-made educational/development program of at least 6 months (30 EC), including visits to conferences.
• An annual holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, and an annual year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• A minimum of 29 holidays per year in case of full-time employment.
• A solid pension scheme.
• Excellent working conditions, an exciting scientific environment, and a lively green campus.
• A professional and personal development program within Graduate School Twente.