Post-doctoral position: Integer programming in gas pipeline operations

Updated: over 1 year ago
Deadline: 2022-12-01T00:00:00Z

Mixed-integer programming is a rich area of research in optimization, largely driven by applications. Recently, there has been much interest in the operations of pipelines carrying natural gas. In contrast, the scheduling of multiproduct pipeline systems carrying oil and oil products introduces several complications: multi-commodity aspects, operational constraints of the refineries, non-trivial models of the cost of pumping (driven by electricity markets, but also the sale of ancillary services therein), and railway logistics as an alternative to pumping.


In collaboration with a major operator of pipelines carrying crude oil and numerous oil products, we are seeking a post-doctoral fellow interested in the optimal scheduling of a multiproduct pipeline system using a mixed-integer programming. With the help of a team of professional software engineers at a third-party software house, the research will translate into production, improving the operator’s performance with respect to electricity efficiency.


The post-doctoral fellow will benefit from the mentorship by Jakub Marecek and Vyacheslav Kungurtsev in the Dept. of Computer Science of the Czech Technical University and the pipeline operator. The position is full time and limited to 3 years, but can be extended in case of mutual interest. The studentship comes with a monthly salary almost double the average pay in Prague, the Czech Republic (cca. EUR 40K p.a. before a notably low tax). The Czech capital regularly ranks among five European cities within the world's best cities in the world to live in (cf. Time Out Magazine index for 2021) and CTU’s offices are in a centrally-located palace with a view of Prague Castle. For more information, please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague


We seek candidates with a Ph.D. degree in Mathematics, Computer Science, Operations Research, Engineering or related disciplines, and some experience in integer programming. A preference is given to:

– candidates with experience with scheduling or multi-commodity flow models

– candidates with experience in programming in Python

We expect to start interviewing candidates in October 2022 and the position will be available until filled.


Czech Technical University (CTU) is the oldest non-military technical university in Europe. In the academic year 2020/21, CTU offered 130 degree programs in Czech and 84 in English. CTU’s control-theory research is well known, especially thanks to Vladimir Kucera. CTU’s Artificial Intelligence Center (AIC) with a staff of 150 is widely recognized as one of the best in the region. CSRankings.org currently ranks it at number 6 in Europe within AI and Computer Vision, after Technion, ETH Zurich, Imperial, Max Planck Society, and EPFL. Since March 2020, Jakub Marecek leads the Optimization research group within the AIC. For more information, please see https://www.aic.fel.cvut.cz/research-areas/optimization


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