Research Associate in the field of Spatial mobility and Transport systems (Postdoc, f/m) - Ref 24-17

The Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)

is recruiting a

Research Associate (Post-doc, f/m) in the field of Spatial mobility and Transport systems

• Ref: 24-17
• 18 months fixed-term contract
• Full-time, 40hours/week (possible part time arrangement)
• Expected start date : at the latest on January 1st, 2025
• Department : Urban Development and Mobility (UDM)
• Work location: Belval (Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg)
• Deadline:  October 6th, 2024

This exciting position is part of a Horizon-Europe project coordinated by LISER, and called « Healthy, inclusive and sustainable remote work futures as a Win-Win for employees and employers in urban, rural and cross-border areas (WinWin4WorkLife) » and will be under the leadership of Dr. Veronique Van Acker and Dr. Philippe Gerber. The successful candidate will play a key role in developing high quality, scientific and policy-relevant work within the Urban Development and Mobility department and in close collaboration with a consortium of 15 institutions in Europe.

About the WinWin4WorkLife (WW4WL) project

In this project, we study the social, economic and spatial impact of remote working arrangements (RWA) by combining employer and employee perspectives into a single framework and applied to five case studies in Europe (DE, FI, LU, PT, SK).  The main large objectives of WW4WL are to (1) Enhance an interdisciplinary understanding of these impacts of RWA in using mixed methods, (2) Identify essential living and working conditions of RWA that ensure a healthy work-life balance and gender equity in urban, rural and cross-border areas (the 5 case studies), (3) Develop forecasting models of spatial and environmental impacts of RWA with different scenarios, (4) Assess regional and cultural differences in RWA, with special attention to different remote work practices in 5 case studies, (5) Elaborate evidence-based policies for healthy, inclusive and sustainable RWA in close collaboration with stakeholders and citizens.

One important task to answer these objectives will involve the development of a traffic model taking into account a residential choice model. It will rely on the 4-step transport model based of the MMUST Interreg project (www.mmust.eu). The MMUST model covers Luxembourg, Northern Lorraine and the Province of Luxembourg in Belgium. It can be used, for example, to simulate the implementation of different demographic and transport infrastructure forecasting scenarios (new tram line, widening of a motorway lane, etc.).

The MMUST model uses VISUM© (https://www.ptvgroup.com/en/products/ptv-visum) for the transport assignment and forecasting scenarios, and Biogeme (https://biogeme.epfl.ch/) for travel demand (based on synthetic populations).

The main objective of the candidate in the WW4WL project will be dedicated to develop, in relation with the consortium, (i) a residential model related to the transport model MMUST, taking into account (ii) different RWA scenarios. These developments will get the support of our partner in TUM - Technical University Munich (DE). In particular their model will help us a lot, with its three agent-based models: the land use model SILO, the travel demand model MITO and the traffic flow simulation MATSim.

Quantitative data that will be collected during the WW4WL project will feed these custom-made spatial forecasting models. The ultimate WW4WL goals are to (1) forecast the impact of RWA scenarios on changes in individuals’ activity and travel behavior and household and workplace relocations, and (2) compare 5 case studies enabling a better understanding of the spatial impacts of RWA at different spatial scales.

Your role

The successful candidate will be tasked to:

• Analyze the survey employees and employers data ;
• Develop methodological and empirical frameworks for the diffusion of RWAs forecasts based on corresponding assessments from employers and employees ;
• Co-design with the consortium (especially TUM), and take part in the development of the new land-use model in relationship with the MMUST model and taking into account RWA scenarios given by different commuting and relocation patterns ;
• Help in developing a model for the forecasting environmental impacts of RWA in terms of air quality, noise exposure, and/or health ;
• Ensure the technical management of the traffic model ;
• Carrying out traffic studies and analyses (prospective scenarios) ;
• Present the results (related e.g. to the main spatial effects and the environmental impacts of RWA) in national/international conferences, and write academic papers in a co-constructive way with the consortium.

What we offer

• A dynamic and international research environment with attractive working conditions and a stimulating work environment ;
• Flexibility in the organisation of the working hours and the possibility of teleworking ;
• Competitive remuneration according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in force (half of a 13th month salary, meal vouchers, etc.) ;
• Investment in career support and development (trainings, seminars, participation to international meetings and conferences) ;
• 32.5 days of annual leave for a full-time contract.

How to apply

Please submit your complete application in English via https://jobs.liser.lu/ by including the following documents before October 6th, 2024 :

• a full CV ;
• a motivation letter, in which you present your relevant skill with respect to the project (2 pages max) ;
• a recent piece of research (PhD thesis, 1 or 2 representative research papers, or already published articles) ;
• two letters of reference (to be uploaded with the application documents or sent separately to recruitment@liser.lu).

Deadline to submit applications: September 22nd, 2024

Would you have any work-related question on the position, please contact Dr. Veronique Van Acker at veronique.vanacker@liser.lu and/or Dr. Philippe Gerber at philippe.gerber@liser.lu.

For administrative matters, please contact Mrs Vanya KIROVA at recruitment@liser.lu.

Why LISER?

LISER is a publicly funded research institute located in Luxembourg and dedicated to applied empirical research in economic, social and spatial sciences. The Institute attracts top researchers from all over the world and high-level student training is a vibrant part of the Institute’s activities. LISER staff consists of approx. 200 employees, about 60% of the staff being researchers; mainly from the fields of economics, geography and sociology. The vision of the institute is to be a socio-economic research institute internationally recognised, focused on scientific excellence and societal impact, able to contribute through multi-disciplinary and intersectoral research, in an active and inclusive way to a sustainable and inclusive society at national and international level.

The institute is located on the new Belval campus in the south of Luxembourg (Cité des Sciences, Luxembourg), which hosts the University of Luxembourg and a substantial part of the country’s publicly funded research facilities, i.e. LISER, the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) cross-national data centre, the Luxembourg institutes of Health (LIH) and of Science and Technology (LIST). Information on research in Luxembourg is accessible via the national EURAXESS platform.

LISER in an Equal Opportunity Employer