The Section of Operations Research (OR) at DTU Management is offering a scholarship for excellent PhD applicant to help us study the effects of stochastic arrival time and cargo weights on the handling operations of Roll-On Roll-Off (RORO) ships. We are one of the largest operations research groups in Europe, counting nine faculty members and several PhDs and Postdocs. The group performs research in decision support tools in the form of heuristics, mathematical models, and data science solutions. We target various industrial sectors such as maritime transport, public transport, healthcare, energy, and finance. The scholarship is expected to start at the applicant's earliest convenience, though candidates that can start in March/April 2021 will be prioritised.
The PhD position is part of a large research project (ROROGREEN) where several industrial partners and three universities are involved. The aim of the project is to reduce the emissions generated by RORO shipping through the use of digital innovation. The role of the PhD applicant will be to study decision support models that can help improve the cargo loading process. When a RORO vessel is loaded, trailers arrive at the terminal and need to be allocated a position within the vessel. The position depends on the weight and length of the trailer, but also on the trailer arrival time at the port. The arrangement of cargo on the vessel has an impact on its stability. An unstable vessel will have to load water in so-called ballast tanks to correct the instability. The more ballast water the vessel loads, the more fuel is necessary for sailing resulting in increased CO2 emissions.
The arrival time of the trailers at port and the weight of their cargo, is not known in advance, which increases the complexity of load planning. The aim of this PhD scholarship is to study solutions methods to efficiently solve the cargo loading problem when weight and arrival times are stochastic variables. The candidate will be working with methods such as, but not limited to, stochastic programming, metaheuristics and reinforcement learning.
Read the full announcement at: PhD scholarship in Operations Research
Further information may be obtained from Associate Professor Dario Pacino, darpa@dtu.dk, tel.: +45 4525 1512.
Application
Please submit your online application no later than 31 January 2021 (local time). Apply online at www.career.dtu.dk.
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Allan Larsen
Professor
Technical University of Denmark
Lyngby
alar@dtu.dk------------------------------