Postdoc in Resilient and Equitable Mobility Systems

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher in Complex Mobility Systems. The position is part of a Formas-funded project developing dynamic synthetic populations and mobility digital twins for resilient and equitable transport planning. The project combines agent-based modelling, large-scale mobility data, transport networks, generative modelling, resilience indicators, and equity analysis.

About us 

The candidate will be based at https://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/env/research/frt/ at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. With around 50 staff members, including faculty and Doctoral students from engineering, natural sciences, and social sciences, the division promotes challenge-driven, multidisciplinary research and offers courses linked to its research areas. Our group, STEAM – Sustainable Transport, Energy Analytics and Modelling, studies how people, vehicles, infrastructure, digital systems and energy systems interact, with applications in sustainable mobility, electrification, resilience, equity and policy analysis.

The successful candidate will be expected to contribute intellectually to the theoretical development of the project. We are particularly interested in candidates whose background can help us connect empirical mobility data and computational modelling with theories of complex systems, network dynamics, resilience, disruption response, adaptation, inequality, or urban systems.

About the research project  

The position is connected to the DYnamic populatioNs for resilient And equitable MObility systems (DYNAMO) project. The project develops next-generation synthetic populations that are dynamic, scenario-conditioned and suitable for stress-testing mobility systems under disruptions. The work combines mobile phone data, census and urban data, activity-based and agent-based modelling, generative sequence models, transport networks, digital twins, resilience indicators and equity-sensitive analysis. The project explicitly seeks to move beyond static “average-day” demand modelling towards dynamic, behaviourally rich and policy-relevant simulations of how different groups adapt under changing conditions. 

The project is carried out in collaboration withthe department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU, Denmark) and Universidad del Desarrollo / ISI Foundation (Chile/Italy), contributing expertise in human mobility modelling, resilience science, and empirical disruption analysis using large-scale mobile phone data from Chile.

Who we are looking for 

The successful candidate will be expected to contribute intellectually to the theoretical development of the project. We are particularly interested in candidates whose background can help us connect empirical mobility data and computational modelling with theories of complex systems, network dynamics, resilience, disruption response, adaptation, inequality, or urban systems.

The following requirements are mandatory: 

A doctoral degree in a relevant field, such as complex systems, network science, transport systems, urban science, computational social science, applied mathematics, physics, computer science, geography, urban planning, engineering, data science, resilience studies, or a closely related field.

The degree must normally have been awarded before the start of employment.

Meritorious educational qualifications:

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Mandatory experiences and skills

• Documented ability to conduct high-quality independent research.
• Strong computational, mathematical, or modelling skills relevant to complex mobility systems, including the ability to implement and validate models using empirical or synthetic mobility data.
• Experience with quantitative modelling, simulation, data analysis or computational methods.
• Very good ability to write and communicate scientific results in English.
• Experience with at least one of the following: agent-based modelling, activity-based travel modelling, geospatial data analysis, mobility data analysis, generative modelling, transport simulation, network modelling, or data fusion.
• Ability to work both independently and in interdisciplinary research teams.

The following experience will strengthen your application: 

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What you will do 

The postdoctoral researcher will conduct independent and collaborative research within the project. Depending on the candidate’s profile, the work may include:

• Developing computational and conceptually grounded frameworks for resilient and equitable mobility systems.
• Advancing agent-based, network-based or complex systems models of mobility under disruption.
• Contributing to the design of dynamic synthetic populations and behaviourally plausible mobility agents.
• Modelling how individuals, groups and networks adapt to disruptions, including sudden events and forewarned hazards.
• Developing or testing indicators for robustness, recovery, vulnerability, accessibility loss and equity impacts.
• Working with large-scale mobility, transport network, census, land-use or other urban data.
• Contributing to open, reproducible research workflows, model documentation and scientific publications.
• Collaborating with researchers in mobility data science, urban analytics, human mobility, resilience, digital twins and policy analysis.
• Helping connect the project’s empirical, computational, and theoretical components, and mentoring junior researchers or students where appropriate.
• Implementing and validating models related to dynamic synthetic populations, activity-based mobility patterns, disruption response, and resilience or equity indicators.

Contract terms  

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What we offer 

Read more about what we offer at www.chalmers.se

Application procedure 

Read more about this and apply at www.chalmers.se

We welcome your application no later than 2026-08-11 Shortlisting is planned for late August, with first interviews expected around 1 September. 

For questions please contact: 

• Sonia Yeh, Professor, Department of Environmental and Energy Sciences. Email: sonia.yeh@chalmers.se, 031-772-67 16

We look forward to your application! 

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***