PhD in Decentralized Air Traffic Management – Remote/Hybrid

NLR; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

45 days off

End-of-year bonus

Healthcare cost support

Parental leave

WFH option

Job summary

NLR in Amsterdam invites a PhD candidate to join Project ORION, developing a decentralized ATM/CNS architecture with airborne networking and cooperative localization. You will design, model, and evaluate the system to sustain traffic management without ground or satellite services.

The role is a four-year contract with the Graduate School at TU Delft, involving time split between Amsterdam and Delft and potential home office. A pre-employment security screening is required.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in a relevant field (Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or related).
• Strong analytical and mathematical foundation with experience in complex systems modelling and distributed networks.
• Multidisciplinary mindset bridging ATM concepts with network protocols and algorithms.
• Proficiency in Python or other relevant programming languages.
• Excellent written and spoken English communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design, model and evaluate a decentralized ATM/CNS architecture.
• Develop use cases and networking concepts for direct airborne data exchange and cooperative localization.
• Formulate distributed algorithms for traffic management, separation assurance and sequencing.
• Implement models in ATM simulation platforms (e.g., BlueSky) and stress-test under disruptions.

Skills

Distributed systems

Python programming

English communication

Analytical mindset

Education

Master's degree

Tools

BlueSky simulator

Job description

NLR in Amsterdam invites a PhD candidate to join Project ORION, developing a decentralized ATM/CNS architecture with airborne networking and cooperative localization. You will design, model, and evaluate the system to sustain traffic management without ground or satellite services.

The role is a four-year contract with the Graduate School at TU Delft, involving time split between Amsterdam and Delft and potential home office. A pre-employment security screening is required.