Postdoc in Trustworthy Multi-Model Optimization for Railway Timetabling, TU Delft
Job Description
TU Delft is hiring a postdoc on multi-model optimisation for railway timetabling in the ICAI Robust RAIL Lab. Applications close on 31 October 2026.
At a glance
- Post: Postdoc in Trustworthy Multi-Model Optimization for Railway Timetabling
- Where: ICAI Robust RAIL Lab, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
- Pay: set by the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities; the advert gives no figure
- Apply by: 31 October 2026
Read the official TU Delft advertisement before you apply.
The project
The Dutch railway network is approaching its capacity limits, and the timetable that keeps it running is one of the most consequential optimisation problems in the country. It spans many orders of magnitude in detail, from macroscopic capacity planning down to millisecond-level microscopic simulation. No single algorithm covers that whole range.
ICAI Robust RAIL Lab, a joint initiative of TU Delft, Utrecht University and NS and ProRail under the NWO LTP-ROBUST programme, is looking for a postdoc to bridge that gap in two connected directions. The first is trustworthy multi-model optimisation: combining models at different levels of abstraction, from macroscopic capacity planning through mesoscopic scheduling to microscopic simulation, into one computationally tractable pipeline without losing trust in the result.
Read the official advertisement for the second direction and the full scope.
What you need
- A PhD in operations research, mathematics, computer science or a related field
- Strength in large-scale optimisation and algorithm design
- An interest in working with a real operator: NS and ProRail are partners in the lab
- Read the official advertisement for the full requirements
Pay and conditions
Salary and benefits follow the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. The advertisement states no figure of its own, so check the scale for your grade. TU Delft adds a pension scheme, and the usual Dutch holiday and end-of-year allowances.
How to apply
Apply through the application button on the TU Delft job page and upload the documents it asks for. The advertisement says to apply no later than 31 October 2026.
Browse more research jobs on ResearchJobs.in, or search our Find a supervisor page.
Hiring institution: Delft University of Technology
Official advertisement: careers.tudelft.nl
How to prepare for this application
- Scale is the challenge. Show optimisation work where the instance size was the hard part.
- Industry partners are in the room. NS and ProRail are part of the lab, so practical deployment matters.
- Apply through the button on the job page. TU Delft only takes applications through its own system.
- Check the Dutch 30% ruling. If you move to the Netherlands for this post you may qualify for a tax advantage that changes your take-home pay noticeably.
About Delft University of Technology
TU Delft was founded in 1842 and is the largest and oldest technical university in the Netherlands. It runs eight faculties across engineering, design, applied sciences and technology policy, and hosts research institutes including QuTech for quantum technology.
