REF 2025-0140
- Great opportunities to work with excellent researchers to advance theoretical and technical methods for future road-vehicle-traffic infrastructure.
- Academic competence development and professional training for future career.
- Close collaborations and communications with internationally renowned institutions and industrial partners.
- Reciprocal and supportive working environment.
- High social welfare (e.g. salary and social benefits) in Sweden.
Information about the research for the position:
Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) and Electric Vehicles (EVs) necessitate corresponding updates in road infrastructure to accommodate the new changes for future. The shift to connected automation and electrification will alter the traffic distribution, spatiotemporal vehicle loads and vehicle forces on road segments, and consequently impact road systems in terms of degradation patterns, maintenance needs and pavement design. Furthermore, vehicle and driving characteristics of CAVs and EVs demand specific road infrastructural adaptations in road alignment and roadside infrastructure. The changes introduced by CAVs and EVs in spatiotemporal vehicle load distribution, road degradation patterns, maintenance needs, road alignment, and roadside infrastructure requirements remain underexplored, particularly in Swedish and Nordic contexts. This position aims to conduct comprehensive research to understand how transport automation and electrification will impact road infrastructure and to develop strategies to address the challenges and opportunities.
The research within the position will be interdisciplinary work combining road engineering, traffic engineering and data analytics. Specific focus are on advancing the below research points: 1) Impacts of transport automation and electrification on traffic flow patterns, road degradation patterns, maintenance and life-cycle performances of different types of roads; 2) Changes of transport automation and electrification bring to road alignment design and roadside infrastructure.
Information about the research group
The position will be supervised by Kun Gao (Research lead at Urban Mobility Systems research area at Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering) and co-supervised by Lina Nordin (Head of Research, Operation and Maintenance at VTI, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute). Urban Mobility Systems research area has been working on infrastructure and systematic solutions for sustainable future mobility, and has received much funding from EU, Swedish Innovation Agency, Trafikverket, Swedish Energy Agency, and FORMAS in the field of sustainable transport systems.
The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) is a state-owned research institute in the transport sector in Sweden. Its main task is to conduct research and development on infrastructure, traffic and transport. The research team has close collaborations with major industry partners, such as Volvo, Scania and Swedish cities (e.g. City of Stockholm and Gothenburg). In the past few years, the research team has been actively working on these topics, and the collective effort has resulted in a number of high-quality research papers, abundant research grants, and newly developed international collaborations. The position on offer will join the team to advance sustainable transport-road systems, with scrupulous guidance and supportive helps from senior researchers.
Main responsibilities
Your major responsibility as a PhD student is to pursue your own doctoral studies under the strategic themes of the research area. The major responsibilities include:
- You are expected to take the PhD level courses in Chalmers and learn other knowledge to enhance your research ability and competence in general.
- You will develop your own scientific concepts and communicate the results of your research, both orally and in writing such as scientific articles and reports.
- Actively collecting researchers and practitioners within academia and with society at large.
- The position will normally include 5 - 20% departmental work, mostly teaching duties and supervising undergraduate students.
Read more about doctoral studies at Chalmers here.
Qualifications
You must have a master's level degree to be qualified for the PhD position in one of the following relevant fields: Transport engineering; Road and traffic engineering; Environmental engineering; Mathematical and analytical modeling relating to road infrastructure and traffic flow; automotive engineering or other subjects that fit the requirements of the position.
Required competence and skills including:
- Knowledge about road infrastructure (e.g., pavement and roadside infrastrucutre)
- Knowledge about traffic flow theories, driving behavior and modeling
- Programming and traffic simulation skills using simulation tools or numerical methods
- Excellent oral and writing and communication skills in English. Swedish is a merit but not mandatory
- Strong professional/educational background in the mentioned relevant fields.
- Commitment and self-motivation to academic work/career
Contract terms
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.
What we offer
Chalmers provides a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg.
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.
Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.
Application procedure
The application should be written in English and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.
CV: (Please name the document: CV, Family name)
• CV
• Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust.
• Two references that we can contact.
Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number) maximum 2 pages where you:
- Introduce yourself
- Briefly summarize your previous experience/background of relevance for the position
- Describe your motivation and competence for the position.
Research statement: (Please name the document as: Research statement, Family name, Ref. number), maximum 3 pages where you:
- Describe (in more details) your previous research experience and main research results relevant to the position
- Describe your planned future goals and future research focus if you get the position
Other documents (if applicable):
• Copies of bachelor and/or master’s thesis.
• Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates, e.g. TOEFL test results.
Use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form.
Please note: The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the application is complete. Incomplete applications and applications sent by email will not be considered.
Application deadline: 2025-04-20
For questions, please contact:
Kun Gao, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering,[email protected]
Lina Nordin, Head of Research, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), [email protected]
