Position Opening: UC Irvine Post-Doctoral Scholar

There is an open post-doctoral scholar position to help lead an ongoing NSF Smart and Connected Communities project at UC Irvine working with Professor Michael Hyland. 

Among other project objectives, they are developing long-range urban dynamics models and controllers/reinforcement learning agents to support long-range transportation planning decisions under uncertainty.

Application Window

• Open date: January 17, 2025
• Most recent review date: Monday, Feb 3, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
  Applications received after this date will be reviewed by the search committee if the position has not yet been filled.
• Final date: Monday, Jun 30, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
  Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position Description

The Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Irvine invites applications for a postdoctoral scholar position beginning April 2025 or until the position is filled.

We are seeking a motivated postdoctoral scholar interested in an ongoing National Science Foundation (NSF) Smart & Connected Communities research project that aims to dramatically improve how metropolitan areas plan for and thus leverage transportation technologies to solve pressing societal problems. The project team will accomplish this goal by revamping regional transportation system modeling (RTSM) through developing a prescriptive (i.e., optimization-based) multi -level, -resolution, and -objective dynamic RTSM framework. The RTSM framework will both analyze and recommend combinations of transportation and land use policies and infrastructure investments (i.e., regional plans).

At the current phase of the project, we are developing a low-resolution “sketch planning” urban dynamics model. Given that we are partnering closely with transportation planners at the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), we plan to produce a web-based user interface for planners to easily interact with the sketch planning tool.

We are seeking a postdoctoral scholar with expertise in modeling dynamic systems, ideally with a background in stochastic optimization, control theory, or reinforcement learning. Additionally, given that the tool will be used by SANDAG planners, we are looking for a postdoctoral scholar with the ability to create web-based modeling tools with an easy-to-use interface.

The postdoctoral scholar will work with the project PI, Prof. Michael Hyland, and two or more graduate student researchers (GSRs).

The postdoctoral scholar will be directly responsible for specifying, calibrating, and validating the sketch planning model, and several other modeling tools, for the SANDAG region. The postdoctoral scholar will also be directly responsible for developing, testing, and implementing a web-based user interface for transportation planners to interact with the modeling tools. Finally, the postdoctoral scholar will be responsible for leading and managing two or more GSRs working on the project.
The postdoctoral scholar will use existing open-source software developed by SANDAG. However, the postdoctoral scholar will work in Python and C++ to develop and integrate new modeling tools. Developing and implementing scalable models for large networks with a large number of agents is critical to the success of the project.

Please contact Prof. Michael Hyland with any questions about the position at hylandm@uci.edu. 

Review the job description and apply here: https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09433