Last application date Jul 06, 2025 00:00
Department TW18 - Department of Industrial Systems Engineering and Product Design
Contract Limited duration
Degree Master's degree in Operations Research, Computer Science, Business Engineering, Informatics, Mathematics, Physics, or equivalant
Occupancy rate 100%
Vacancy type Research staff
Job description
ABOUT THE PROJECT
“Anything else you’re interested in is not going to happen if you can’t breathe the air and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet.” Carl Sagan
Imagine a world in which production companies do not have to worry about their energy supply. Not just because they have their own renewable energy sources (e.g., solar panels, wind turbines) and energy storage (e.g., industrial batteries), but more importantly because their entire production system has been designed and is managed to optimally use the available electrical and thermal energy. In essence, focus has shifted from optimizing production goals and subsequently determining where and how to get energy from, to optimizing production and energy goals together.
In light of growing awareness of environmental concerns, production companies have furthermore drastically reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, meeting and even exceeding the 2030 and 2050 EU Green Deal objectives. As a result, production is more sustainable and cheaper in terms of energy costs, without sacrificing capacity.
Unfortunately, we are presently far removed from such an ideal world. This is why now, more than ever before, we need to focus on energy-aware production optimization, in order to take not just a small step but a giant leap towards the sustainable factory of the future.
Within the overarching research field provided by the Actemium chair on Sustainable Energy (https://www.ugent.be/schenken/en/how-to-support/chairs/actemium), we are convinced that research on energy-aware production optimization should focus on explicitly integrating production goals and energy management, e.g., which energy sources and storage solutions to use when, and for which amount of energy. Whereas preliminary results are promising, a great many questions and research avenues remain, especially given the complex nature of integrated energy supply, storage and demand.
YOUR TASKS
- You will develop mathematical models and metaheuristic algorithms for complex optimization problems in the context described above, see e.g., https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.01325 for a recent example of work by our group.
- Though our aim is to integrate energy demand, supply and storage in the optimization models, your focus can shift more towards energy demand (e.g., production scheduling) or supply and storage (e.g., optimizing energy utilities given fixed energy demand) depending on our shared interests and preferences.
- Based on your interests and initial results, the emphasis of your research can include both deterministic and stochastic optimization.
- You will write down your results in papers to be submitted to high-quality peer-reviewed academic journals, and present your work at national and international conferences.
- You may be asked to teach exercise sessions (in English) for a course taught by the department staff, or to help in the supervision of master’s theses.
- Your ultimate goal is to successfully defend your PhD thesis at the end of the 4 year period.
Job profile
TECHNICAL COMPETENCES AND EXPERIENCE
- You have or will soon obtain a degree of Master of Science in Operations Research, Computer Science, Business Engineering, Informatics, Mathematics, Physics, or equivalent. The degree requirements need to be fulfilled at the start of your appointment. For degrees awarded outside the European Union, a certificate of equivalence (NARIC) must be submitted.
- You have experience in at least one of the following:
- o Mathematical modelling of combinatorial optimization problems
- o Implementing solution methods based on exact algorithms and/or (meta)heuristics (in Python, Java, C++, …)
- You are willing to invest time and effort in improving both your academic English writing and presentation skills, i.e., through 1 or more courses offered by Ghent University.
- You have a good knowledge of English, both written and verbal. You can demonstrate that the language of instruction for your master’s degree is English, or can alternatively provide a proof of English proficiency (level B2 or equivalent).
SKILLS AND ATTITUDES
- You are interested in balancing skepticism and wonder when tackling complex scientific problems, see e.g., https://skepticalinquirer.org/1995/01/wonder-and-skepticism/.
- You are eager and willing to learn more about the technical aspects of the project described above.
- You can work independently.
- You are willing and able to take joint responsibility with your supervisors for the progress of your research.
WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU
- We offer a full-time position as a doctoral fellow, consisting of an initial period of 12 months, which - after a positive evaluation - will be extended to a total maximum of 48 months.
- You will be supervised by 2 professors (Pieter Leyman and Stijn De Vuyst) with different backgrounds (one in deterministic optimization and algorithms, the other in stochastic optimization and simulation), to ensure you have immediate access to a broad area of relevant expertise within Operations Research.
- You will have weekly meetings with both supervisors, in order to both keep our finger on the pulse and to be able to provide timely and constructive feedback. The contents of these meetings will range from the exchanging of ideas, giving detailed feedback on (partially) written papers, to in-depth discussions about e.g., methodology or computational experiments.
- You will be part of an international team of researchers with different backgrounds and areas of expertise within the broad field of Operations Research.
- Additionally, you will have the option to, if relevant for your research, collaborate with researchers from different fields, e.g., thermodynamics, electrical energy, outside of your host department.
- Our department organizes monthly lunch seminars, such that both junior and senior researchers can exchange ideas, and to stimulate interaction between PhD students within the department.
- You will be able to attend (international) summer schools and present your work at (inter)national conferences, through the international network of both supervisors and the department as a whole.
- Depending on your interests, you can also interact with Actemium and other companies, to validate your research in a more practical setting, because we have a large network of industrial partners.
- Since we care about your personal development, you will have the option to follow both in-depth courses to further improve your technical expertise, as well as soft skill courses, e.g., to enhance your leadership skills.
- Your contract will start on September 1, 2025 at the earliest.
- The fellowship amount is 100% of the net salary of an AAP member in equal family circumstances. The individual fellowship amount is determined by Team Personnel Administration based on family status and seniority. A grant that meets the conditions and criteria of the regulations for doctoral fellowships is considered free of personal income tax. For more information about our salary scales, see https://www.ugent.be/en/work/talent/welcoming-new-staff/salaryscales.
- All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. For a complete overview of all the staff benefits, see https://www.ugent.be/en/work/talent/considering.
How to apply
Send your application by email to prof. Pieter Leyman ([email protected]).
Please include (in pdf format):
- A cover letter, including your motivation both for doing a PhD and for applying for this specific position.
- Your CV.
- Your B2 (or equivalent) English certificate or proof of English language of instruction for your master’s degree.
- A copy of your master’s degree (if already obtained).
- A certificate of equivalence: only for diplomas awarded outside the European Union a certificate of equivalence (NARIC) must be submitted (if already in your possession, if not, you need to be able to provide proof that you have applied for a certificate of equivalence at the start of your appointment). The certificate can be requested via www.naricvlaanderen.be/en. For diplomas awarded in the UK before January 31st of 2020, a certificate of equivalence is not required.
- Do not include reference letters, we will contact potential referees ourselves if need be.
- Mention “PhD position application” in the subject line of your email.
- The application deadline is July 6, 2025 (AoE time zone).
- We will not accept late or incomplete applications.
- We will invite short-listed candidates for an online interview sometime mid-July; you may get a small assignment before or after the interview.
For more information about the topic of the PhD itself, please contact prof. Pieter Leyman ([email protected]).
