PhD position: Combinatorial search and optimization methods as decision-support systems for...

Updated: over 1 year ago
Job Type: FullTime
Deadline: 16 Oct 2022

This PhD position is for the project “AI for a green Brussels mobility and  urban environments”.


About the study

Mobility, climate and biodiversity are and will remain important problems that need to be addressed, especially in cities like Brussels. Solutions should be citizen-friendly and future-proof, requiring them to be green and sustainable. Intelligent methods based on innovative AI technologies that exploit the collective knowledge as well as the wisdom of its stake-holders can provide important keys to achieve such goals.  

While pursuing such AI developments, one also needs to consider the risks associated with the construction and deployment of these tools. Any societal issue related to inequality or bias needs to be caught before the systems are actually used in the public sphere. Current regulatory initiatives are arguing the use of regulatory sandboxes, claiming that they can  ensure compliance to both ethical and legal requirements of the novel AI-based procurements that could occur in the public sector and beyond. 


Job Description

One Phd is requested on representing knowledge about mobility in the Brussels region and combinatorial search and optimization methods as decision-support systems for Brussels’ policy makers. The candidate should have a master degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering and demonstrate proficiency in programming (e.g. python) and combinatorial search (e.g., integer programming, constraint programming). The applicant should have good organizational skills, a taste for interdisciplinary research, excellent scientific writing and presenting skills and be able to work independently. At the end of the first year, the candidate is expected to apply for PhD grants (FWO, Innoviris) to extend the funding for two additional years.


Start date

September – October 2022 (Project is for 2 years)


About the team, institute, and the project

This PhD call is launched by the VUB Artificial Intelligence (AI)  lab and the ULB Machine Learning group (MLG) aims to address both the creation of novel intelligent technology and the study of regulatory mechanisms via well-established modeling approaches. Concretely two domains are targeted: on the one hand, novel AI developments for organizing mobility in Brussels and, on the other hand, the creation of  agent-based models to study the ins and outs of regulatory sandboxes in the context of innovative public procurement. Both projects are organized in collaboration with Brussels public stake-holders (e.g. STIB/MIVB, Brussels Mobility, CIRB, Innoviris), and citizens. 

This work will be led by the VUB AI lab and the ULB MLG within the context of FARI – AI for the Common Good institute. FARI, https://fari.brussels . It is a joint initiative of Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. It gathers 10 research labs and aims at bringing together an extended community of 300 researchers from different disciplines (from AI, Law, Robotics, Social Sciences, Economics). As a researcher, you will be stimulated in this context to collaborate intensively with researchers from other disciplines in order to achieve your research goals on the objectives of FARI. It received the support of the NextGenerationEU and the Brussels Capital Region (Innoviris & CIRB_CIBG).

For questions about this position, please get in touch with [email protected] .

*Please include your LinkedIn profile in your cover letter



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