2 PhD Positions in Operations Management with Healthcare Applications

Position PhD-student

Irène Curie Fellowship No

Department(s) Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences

FTE 1,0

Date off 17/11/2024

Reference number V39.7811

Job description

The healthcare system is veering towards unaffordability. Are you inspired to tackle this challenge and revolutionize the complete system, ensuring accessibility to affordable medicines for everyone? Join us, and by addressing industry, government, societal perspectives, and medicine production operations from a quantitative perspective, you'll shape policies and optimize operational decision-making with the ultimate goal of affordable, personalized medicines.

Unlock the potential of affordable healthcare solutions! Two fully funded PhD positions are available in the VIDI project of Tugce Martagan (see: https://www.tue.nl/en/news-and-events/news-overview/prestigieuze-vidi-beurs-voor-vier-tue-onderzoekers) in collaboration with Collin Drent and Melvin Drent. The healthcare landscape is changing drastically to find the delicate balance between affordable access to medicines, innovation, and industry concerns.

This project adopts an objective and balanced approach to (bio)pharmaceutical drug supply chains from the joint perspectives of the government, industry, payers (major health insurance companies), hospitals and pharmacies. Notably, we place particular emphasis on a quantitative modeling (e.g. using mathematical concepts from game theory, stochastic optimization) approach towards this problem. 

Potential topics you can work on during this PhD project are:

Optimizing Coverage and Pricing Decisions: Develop analytical models to optimize decisions on when to cover which medicines (commercial, personalized medicines, or a combination of both) and for what premium/price, from the perspective of major health insurance companies.

Enhancing Production Processes: Create stochastic optimization models to ensure cost-effective, safe, and consistent production of personalized medicines, reducing lead times and minimizing medicine waste. Investigate the production of medicines at hospitals or pharmacies, and facilitate the collaboration between manufacturers and hospitals in the context of personalized medicine production and delivery.  

Policy Development: Investigate and propose innovative incentive mechanisms and policies to facilitate patient access to affordable (personalized) medicines and foster innovation of novel medicines.

Personalized Medicine: Develop optimal adaptive medicine treatment plans that are personalized (that is, they incorporate patients’ heterogeneity and treatment compliance) to reduce time-to-recovery and hence the cost of the treatment.    

This list of topics is non-exhaustive. We ask you, as part of your application, to draft your own research statement, describing related topics you are eager to explore. Your proposed topics may extend beyond the listed possibilities, reflecting your unique perspective, skills, and interests in contributing to this transformative research.

In this position, you will work in the team of Tugce Martagan and be co-supervised by either Melvin Drent or Collin Drent.

Job requirements

• A master’s degree (or an equivalent university degree) with excellent grades in Operations Research, (Applied) Mathematics, Industrial Engineering, or related field. A research master’s degree (e.g., MRes, MPhil) is not required; however, graduating from a program with solid research training will be considered a plus.
• A strong mathematical background, including expertise in stochastic optimization, game theory, statistics, and/or applied probability.   
• Excellent coding skills (e.g., in Java, Python, Julia, MATLAB).
• A research-oriented attitude.
• Ability to be self-propelling and drive your own research.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team and interested in collaborating with industrial partners.
• Fluent in spoken and written English (C1 level).

Conditions of employment

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months. You will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. €2,872 max. €3,670)..
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.

Information and application

Eindhoven University of Technology is an internationally top-ranking university in the Netherlands that combines scientific curiosity with a hands-on attitude. Our spirit of collaboration translates into an open culture and a top-five position in collaborating with advanced industries. Fundamental knowledge enables us to design solutions for the highly complex problems of today and tomorrow. 

Eindhoven and its metropolitan area are the major hub of the technology sector in the Netherlands, collectively known as the Brainport region. Many global leaders in technology like ASML or Philips are based in the fastest-growing region in the Netherlands. The School of Industrial Engineering and its faculty enjoy strong links with the local high-tech industry on all levels.

Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more?
Please contact Tugce Martagan (email: t.g.martagan@tue.nl), Melvin Drent (email: m.drent@tue.nl), or Collin Drent (email: c.drent@tue.nl).

Visit our website for more information about the application process or the conditions of employment. You can also contact HRServices.IEIS@tue.nl 

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application by using the apply button. The application should include a:

• Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position.
• Brief research statement (max. 1.5 page) explaining your envisioned research direction related to the position in more detail, including a brief review of the literature you find relevant, the contributions you would like to make to this literature, and the research methods you would like to use.
• Curriculum vitae (including the contact details of three academics from a relevant field which we may contact as a reference).
• An academic paper (e.g., master thesis or article) that showcases your academic writing.
• Complete list of courses taken within your educational programs and grades obtained.

We look forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until the position is filled.