The Department of Industrial Engineering and Management (IEBIS) at the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences, University of Twente, The Netherlands has a vacancy for a Post-doctoral fellow (12 - 18 months) within a funded Dinalog project called CargoHitching

Job specification
Combining people and freight flows creates attractive business opportunities because the same transportation needs can be met with fewer vehicles and drivers. This can make socially desirable transport options economically viable in rural areas where the population is declining. In urban areas it reduces congestion and air pollution and facilitates the introduction of electric vehicles. This project will design integrated people and freight synchromodal transportation networks and the required coordination (via so-called cross chain coordination centres), as well as planning and scheduling policies to enable efficient and reliable delivery of both persons and small- to medium-sized freight volumes.

A number of universities and companies are involved in the project. The University of Twente is responsible for a work package on Real-time decision making. Dynamic or real-time decision-making plays an important role when the routing and timing is not predefined, or when the modes can be changed in real-time (synchromodality). An example is the use of street taxis for both passenger and parcel transport. Passengers often do not pre-announce themselves and the same may hold for parcel transport, initiated by small stores and offices requiring immediate service. Based on characteristics of a freight transport request, different transport options are explored dynamically, in real-time, and partly automatic. With respect to the transport options, not only modality is important, but also price and time differentiation. A possible approach is the use of intelligent software agents, facilitating the alignment of independent participants. Some initial results are already available (but should be extended) for parcel transportation using existing public transport facilities and for carpool opportunities.

Key objectives:

• Develop real-time decision making tools for combining freight with unscheduled passenger transport.
• Develop decision making tools for real-time transport mode selection.
• Develop a multi-agent system for real-time decision making when combining passenger and freight transportation.

Specific topics and techniques involved in this research (and for which we already have some results available) are integer linear programming, heuristics, simulation, ride sharing problems, shortest path problems, etc.

Your Profile
Potential candidates are requested to have:

• a solid background in Industrial Engineering & Management, Applied Mathematics, or another closely related discipline;
• strong quantitative skills and analytic thinking capabilities;
• a good command of English in speaking and writing;
• proven research skills;
• preferably, knowledge of and/or publications in one or more of the following fields: mathematical programming, local search heuristics, operations research, modelling and analysis of business processes, simulation.

Information and application For more information on this position you can contact Dr.ir. M.R.K. Mes (mailto:m.r.k.mes@utwente.nl) or Dr.ir. J.M.J. Schutten (m.schutten@utwente.nl). To apply for this position, please fill in the application form including your resume and list of publications by using the application link on www.utwente.nl/vacatures/en before May 1, 2015.

Our offer
We offer a very challenging fulltime position for 12-18 months in an inspiring multidisciplinary environment: the Industrial Engineering and Business Information Systems Department at the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences. As a post-doc fellow, you will collaborate closely with colleagues as well as researchers from two other universities participating in the CargoHitching project. Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to work directly with the industrial project partners, i.e., public transport providers, logistic service providers, shippers, and consultancy firms.

In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU) the gross monthly salary will range from € 2.977,- to € 3.908,- (scale 10) and will depend on experience and qualifications. Additionally, the University of Twente provides excellent facilities for professional and personal development, a holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus, and a number of additional benefits. Your main responsibility will be to carry out research, but you will be given the opportunity to acquire some teaching experience as well. 

The Organisation
The University of Twente. We stand for science and technology, high tech, human touch, education and research that matter. New technology which drives change, innovation and progress in society. The University of Twente is the only campus university in the Netherlands; divided over five faculties we provide more than fifty educational programs. The University of Twente has a strong focus on personal development and talented researchers are given scope for carrying out pioneering research. The Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences strives to hold a leading position in their fields in relation to the science and technology research programs of the University of Twente. In all these fields, the faculty provides bachelor, master and professional development programs.

Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences
The Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences (BMS) strives to play a pivotal role in understanding, co-engineering and evaluating innovation in society. Innovation is driven by advances in technology. Through 'social engineering' these technological advances are embedded in society befitting human needs and behaviour, within proper public and private management and business structures. For this the faculty of BMS upholds high quality disciplinary knowledge in psychology, business administration, public administration, communication science, philosophy, educational science and health sciences. All with a focus on the challenges in society. Research is strongly connected to our Institutes on Governance (IGS), ICT (CTIT), Health (MIRA) and Nanotechnology (MESA+).