Postdoctoral Position (1.0 FTE, 2 years) Sustainable Logistics: Planning and Routing

Within the Department of Operations, a post-doc position is available on the topic of sustainable logistics with a focus on planning and routing decisions.

What are you going to do?

Specifically, we would like to work on the following themes:

•       Electrification of road freight transport: In the coming years, road freight transport must transition to cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels. Electrification of trucks is currently the most prominent option, but major challenges are slowing down this transition. Examples of decision problems to study include optimizing charging infrastructure and scheduling for truck operators, assessing the feasibility of battery swapping for freight transport in the Netherlands and integrating renewable energy production and storage at depots to enable reliable and cost-effective charging.
•       Dynamic Logistics Planning: Applications include real-time ride sharing, on-demand meal delivery, and other contexts where routing and scheduling decisions must continuously adapt to new requests and disruptions. The research will combine operations research approaches such as stochastic optimization and (approximate) dynamic programming with machine learning techniques such as reinforcement learning and neural networks for demand and travel time prediction, to address these dynamic logistics challenges.
•       Fairness in planning educational activities: Important aspects of personalised educational systems is to provide a fair system with the right amount of support and opportunities for all learners, flexibility in the system, a balanced workload for teachers, transparency in the organization of activities and the ability to effectively deal with external developments such as staff shortage. We study allocation policies and task division policies to flexibly allocate teachers with different profiles to learning activities.

This position was enabled by the Sectorplannen Techniek II.

The deadline is March 2, 2026 (23:59 CET). Interviews for this position will be organized at March 12.

We are looking for candidates with:

•       A PhD in Operations Research, Applied Mathematics, Mathematics or Engineering.
•       A background in logistics (preferred).
•       Strong writing and presentation skills in Dutch and English.
•       Affinity or experience with innovation projects involving partners from practice.
•       Experience in programming heuristics and algorithms.
•       Motivation to produce academically rigorous research with practical applicability.

• 232 vacation hours per year, based on a 38-hour workweek (1.0 FTE). You can also work more or fewer hours in exchange for more or fewer free hours. For example, with a 40-hour workweek, you save 96 extra free hours, and with a 36-hour workweek, you lose 96 hours.
• End-of-year bonus of 8.3% and 8% holiday allowance.
• Extensive opportunities for personal and professional development.

At the University of Groningen (UG), researchers from all fields of academia and technology are working on academic challenges and societal questions. Lecturers prepare their students for meaningful careers within or outside the academic world. Interdisciplinary research and teaching, sharing of knowledge, collaboration with businesses, government institutions, and societal organizations are aspects that are of the utmost importance to this European top university. The UG aims to be an open academic community with an inclusive and safe working climate that invites you to add your value.

Shaping a better future together – your career starts at FEB The Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) at the University of Groningen is a vibrant academic community with a clear mission: to develop knowledge that matters. With students and staff from over 100 countries, we foster an international working and learning environment where societal impact, world-class research, and innovation are at the core. At FEB, you’ll join committed colleagues who inspire and challenge one another. Whether you're a researcher, lecturer, or support professional, your skills and ambition will contribute to educating tomorrow’s leaders and thinkers. We encourage personal development and provide plenty of room for initiative and growth. Ready to take the next step in your career? Explore our vacancies and become part of one of the Netherlands’ leading faculties.

The Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) provides an inspiring environment for both students and staff. With international accreditations (AACSB and EQUIS), FEB continuously benchmarks its performance against global standards and fosters a culture of innovation and excellence in education and research.

Do you have any questions or need more information?

Questions about the content of the job?
Iris Vis (Full Professor): I.F.A.Vis@rug.nl

Questions about your application process?
Iris Vis (Full Professor): I.F.A.Vis@rug.nl