PhD position in "Operating and routing electric vehicles under energy consumption uncertainty" - MSCA Cofund SEED programme

2 Feb 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

IMT Atlantique

Department

Doctoral division

Research Field

Communication sciences

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

France

Application Deadline

14 Feb 2024 - 12:00 (Europe/Paris)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

37

Offer Starting Date

1 Sep 2024

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

HE / MSCA COFUND

Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number

101126644

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description
The PhD position is offered under an academic co-supervision/ cotutelle track (2 years at IMT Atlantique + H months at HEC Montréal, Montréal, Canada + 6 months at Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy + short industrial visits.
1.1. Domain and scientific/technical context

Decarbonizing transportation is a major challenge for our modern societies. One of the sectors that is more directly impacted by this process is city logistics. Municipalities are envisioning more and more constraining regulations such as low emission zones in city cores. Carriers need solutions for delivering to businesses and private customers in city centers that meet these new regulations while remaining economically viable. Electric vehicles, or electric power assisted vehicles such as cargo bikes, provide increasingly used solutions for low-carbon transportation. A major challenge regarding the use of these vehicles is the estimation of their energy consumption, which can be more dependent than conventional vehicles on external factors (e.g., temperature, congestion, vehicle load or driver’s driving style). Regarding the limits in range, charging infrastructure and charging time duration, the possibility of a driver running out of power without access to a charging station or a backup battery is a major deterrent to using electric vehicles. As a result, the key requirements for using this technology in last-mile delivery are, first, the ability to better predict consumption and, second, the ability to plan routes that are both robust to consumption uncertainty and economically sustainable for the company.

1.2. Scientific/technical challenges

The thesis will focus on vehicle routing problems in last mile delivery systems under energy consumption uncertainty. The related consumption models will be reviewed and further investigated. Then, several types of problems will be addressed. In each problem, we will focus on taking robust decisions, taking account of uncertainties in energy consumption:

• In the most frequent case, where vehicles are charged at the depot,
• In the case where intermediate charging stations are available,
• In the case of delivery with cargo-bikes, particular challenges appear when considering the driver effort and working conditions,
• In a city logistics context, where multiple synchronization constraints and time dependencies arise from the use of multiple trips and micro-hub usage in two-tiered systems.

1.3. Considered methods, targeted results and impacts

To solve this variety of problems, the PhD student will develop operations research models and optimization algorithms to find economical and robust solutions. Depending on the particular setting, the student will develop stochastic programming models, robust optimization models and stochastic dynamic programming models to address the resulting problems. The resulting models and algorithms will be published in international journals to facilitate transfer to industry (i.e., be integrated into vehicle routing software). Furthermore, they will be used to analyze city logistics systems and provide design recommendations. In collaboration with companies in Italy, Canada and France, relevant case studies will be defined for the validation of the algorithms. We expect that the proposed solution will facilitate and promote the use of low-emission transport modes for the last mile in cities.

1.4. Environment (partners, places, specific tools and hardware)

The PhD student will be offered access to the facilities of the institutions to perform his/her thesis, whether during his/her stay at IMT Atlantique or during the 6-month doctoral stays at Politecnico Milano and HEC Montréal. During her or his 3-year tenure, the student will also have access to the advanced research computing infrastructure provided by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (formerly known as Compute Canada).

2. Partners and study periods
2.1. Supervisors and study periods

• IMT Atlantique: Prof. Fabien Lehuédé , IMT Atlantique, Nantes, France

  The PhD student will stay 2 years at Prof. Lehuédé's lab.

• International partner: This PhD features two international partners, each providing a six-months stay:
  • Assoc. Prof. Jorge Mendoza Gimenez , HEC Montréal, Montréal, Canada
  • Assoc. Prof. Ola Jabali , Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

• Industrial partner(s): This PhD includes short-term visits to industrial partners, which have not yet been determined.

2.2. Hosting organizations
2.2.1. IMT Atlantique

IMT Atlantique , internationally recognized for the quality of its research, is a leading French technological university under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Digital Technology. IMT Atlantique maintains privileged relationships with major national and international industrial partners, as well as with a dense network of SMEs, start-ups, and innovation networks. With 290 permanent staff, 2,200 students, including 300 doctoral students, IMT Atlantique produces 1,000 publications each year and raises 18€ million in research funds.

2.2.2. HEC Montréal

Building on our excellence in teaching and research, HEC Montréal  is a French-language institution open to the world and solidly rooted in Quebec society, that trains management leaders who make a responsible contribution to the success of organizations and to sustainable social development. HEC Montréal has placed research and knowledge transfer at the heart of its mission. In particular, it prioritizes research activities with the potential to demonstrate leadership, and which respond to the issues currently facing society.

2.2.3. Politecnico di Milano

The Polytechnic University of Milan  is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students. According to the QS World University Rankings the university is ranked as 137th overall in the world, the first Italian university in this ranking.

Requirements

Research Field

Communication sciences

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

The proposed topic is in the field of Operations Research, which relates to Computer Sciences and Industrial Engineering and shows very clear connections with:

• Energy, by requiring investigations related to energy consumption models.
• Environment, both in the motivation and the need to evaluate the environmental impact of electrifying goods distribution activities, in light of city logistics policies.

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Excellent

Additional Information
Benefits
A PhD programme of high quality training : 4 reasons to apply

• SEED is a programme of excellence that is aware of its responsibilities: to provide a programme of high quality training to develop conscientious researchers, including training in responsible research and ethics. 
• SEED’s unique approach of providing interdisciplinary, international and cross-sector experience is tailored to work in a career-focused manner to enhance employability and market integration.
• SEED offers a competitive funding scheme, aiming for an average monthly salary of EUR 2,000 net per ESR, topped by additional mobility allowances as well as optional family allowances.
• SEED is a forward-looking programme that actively engages with current issues and challenges, providing research opportunities addressing industrial and academic relevant themes.

Eligibility criteria

Eligibility criteria. In accordance with MSCA rules, SEED will open to applicants without any conditions of nationality nor age criteria. SEED applies the MSCA mobility standards and necessary background. Eligible candidates must fulfil the following criteria

• Mobility rule: Candidates must show transnational mobility by having not resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France for more than 12 months in the three years immediately before the deadline of the co-funded program's call (Jan 31, 2024 for Call#1). Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not taken into account.
• Early-stage researchers (ESR): Candidates must have a master’s degree or an equivalent diploma at the time of their enrolment and must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research career. Moreover, they must not have been awarded a doctoral degree.
  Extensions may be granted (under certain conditions) for maternity leave, paternity leave, as well as long-term illness or national service.

Selection process

The selection process is described on the guide for applicants available here: https://www.imt-atlantique.fr/en/research-innovation/phd/seed/documents

Additional comments

Applications can only be provided through the application system available under the SEED website: https://www.imt-atlantique.fr/seed

Website for additional job details

https://www.imt-atlantique.fr/en/research-innovation/phd/seed

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

IMT Atlantique

Country

France

City

Nantes

Postal Code

44307

Street

4, rue Alfred Kastler - La Chantrerie

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://www.imt-atlantique.fr/en/research-innovation/phd/seed

Contact

City

Nantes

Website

https://www.imt-atlantique.fr/en/research-innovation/phd/seed

Street

4, rue Alfred Kastler - La Chantrerie

E-Mail

[email protected]

STATUS: EXPIRED