PhD Fellow in Railway Resilience and Operational Decision Support

Rajnish Calay; Narvik; On-site; NOK 580,000 - 615,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working hours

State collective pay agreement

Pension scheme with state fund

Job summary

UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Narvik is seeking a PhD candidate to join the BEaM research group focusing on railway resilience under environmental stress. The position spans four years with a teaching component in the final year, and admission to the PhD programme is required for employment.

The project links infrastructure robustness, environmental vulnerability, and operational decision-making, and involves collaboration with railway stakeholders to deliver both scientific and

Qualifications

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in civil engineering, industrial engineering, transport/railway engineering, mechanical engineering, systems engineering, or other relevant disciplines.
• Strong academic record and demonstrated ability for independent research and analytical work.
• Solid foundation in quantitative methods (e.g. statistics, modelling, optimisation, or system analysis).
• Background in infrastructure/transport systems, risk, reliability, or resilience analysis, data analysis and computational modelling / programming (Python, MATLAB, R) and modelling of complex systems.

Responsibilities

• Submit a short proposal (max 2 pages) describing understanding of the problem and proposed solution.
• Carry out research in hazard-driven vulnerability, exposure mapping, and risk-informed decision support for railway systems.
• Collaborate with stakeholders in the railway sector and validate results in an operational setting.

Skills

Quantitative methods

Independent research

Statistics

Modelling

Python

MATLAB

R

Complex-systems analysis

Education

Master’s degree in civil/industrial/transport engineering

Tools

Python

MATLAB

R

Job description

The position

A PhD position is available at the Department of Building, Energy and Material Technology (IBEM), Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology (IVT).

The candidate will work in Building, Energy and Material Technology (BEaM) research group. The research group conducts applied research in fields such as sustainable buildings, renewable energy technologies, material technology, environmental sustainability, resilience and vulnerability and decision support systems.

The position is for a period of four years. The nominal length of the PhD programme is three years. The fourth year is distributed as 25 % each year and will consist of teaching and other duties. The objective of the position is to complete research training to the level of a doctoral degree. Admission to the PhD programme is a prerequisite for employment, and the programme period starts on commencement of the position.

The workplace is at UiT in Narvik. You must be able to start in the positionwithin a reasonable time after receiving the offer.

The project

The proposed PhD project addresses a critical challenge in modern railway systems: maintaining operational stability under increasing environmental stress, aging infrastructure, and growing traffic demand. In Norway, railway infrastructure operates under demanding climatic conditions, due to subzero temperatures. This PhD project aims to develop an integrated, risk-informed and resource-aware framework that links infrastructure robustness, environmental vulnerability, and operational decision-making. The project is grounded in the concept that railway performance is not only determined by asset condition, but by the interaction between hazard exposure, infrastructure response, and the ability to manage and recover operations under resource constraints.

The research is structured around three closely connected components: (a) hazard-driven vulnerability and exposure mapping; (b) resource-aware resilience and operational impact modelling and (c) risk-informed decision support for control-room environment. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders in the railway sector, and results will be validated in operational.

The project is expected to deliver both scientific advancements and practical contributions to the railway sector for implementation to achieve robust and resilient railway operations regardless disruptions due to extreme weather or human factors.

The applicant must submit a short proposal (max 2 pages) describing his/her understanding of the problem and proposal to solve the problem.

Qualifications

Required qualifications & educational background

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in civil engineering, industrial engineering, transport/railway engineering, mechanical engineering, systems engineering, or other relevant disciplines.
• Strong academic record and demonstrated ability for independent research and analytical work.
• Solid foundation in quantitative methods (e.g. statistics, modelling, optimisation, or system analysis).
• Background in one or more of the following areas:
  • Infrastructure or transport systems
  • Risk, reliability, or resilience analysis
  • Data analysis and computational modelling / programming (e.g. Python, MATLAB, R or similar)
  • Ability to develop and apply models of complex systems, simulation and stochastic modelling, optimisation under constraints

Desirable skills and training in one or more will be advantageous

• Knowledge of transport or railway systems.
• Familiarity with risk-informed decision-making frameworks and ability to translate analytical results into practical decision-support insights.
• Ability to apply system-level thinking, linking infrastructure performance, environmental conditions, and operations.
• Experience with data-driven modelling or machine learning.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively, including engagement with external stakeholders.
• Previous publication(s) on a relevant topic is meritorious.

The application must include documentation of all training, knowledge, skills and GPA (grade point average). If the documents are not in English, translation rules for the European Standardized Character System must be followed. Applicants must document fluency in English and be able to work in an international environment. Nordic applicants can document their English capabilities by attaching their high school diploma. Working knowledge of Norwegian or a Scandinavian language will be preferred.

We are looking for candidates who has good communication skills and contributes to a team and working environment.

As many people as possible should have the opportunity to undertake organized research training. If you already hold a PhD or have equivalent competence, we will not appoint you to this position.

Admission to the PhD programme

For employment inthePhD position,you must be qualified for admission to the PhD programmeat the Faculty of EngineeringScience and Technology and participate in organized doctoral studies within the employment period.

Admission normally requires:

• Abachelor's degree of 180 ECTS and amaster's degree of 120 ECTS, oran integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.
• Amaster's thesiswitha scope corresponding to at least 30 ECTSforamaster's degree of 120 ECTS.
• Amaster's thesiswithascope corresponding to at least20 ECTSforan integratedmaster's degree of 300 ECTS.

In order to gain admission to the programme, applicants with a background from a Norwegian institution should have a minimum grade of C on their master thesis and a weighted grade average of 3.0 for the last two years of their master programme. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found here .

If you are employed in the position, you willbeprovisionally admittedto the PhD programme. Application forfinal admissionmust be submitted no later thantwo monthsafter taking up the position.

Applicants with a foreign education will be subjected to an evaluation of whether the educational background is equal to Norwegian higher education, following national guidelines from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills . Depending on which country the education is from, one or two additional years of university education may be required to fulfil admission requirements, e.g. a 4-year bachelor's degree and a 2-year master's degree. UiT normally accepts higher education from countries that are part of the Lisbon Recognition Convention.

Inclusion and diversity

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment. We believe that inclusion and diversity are a strength, and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.

If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, we encourage you to tick the box for this in your application. If there are qualified applicants, we invite at least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics.

We offer

• Involvement in an interesting research project
• Good career opportunities
• A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues
• Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement
• Pension scheme through the state pension fund
• PhD Fellows are normally given a salary of 580 000 NOK/year with a 3% yearly increase

Norwegian health policy aims to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their personal finances and where they live, has access to good health and care services of equal standard. As an employee you will become member of the National Insurance Scheme which also include health care services.

More practical information about working and living in Norway can be found here: https://uit.no/staffmobility

Assessment

The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee's mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants' qualifications based on the written material presented by the applicants, and the detailed description draw up for the position. A copy of the assessment report will be sent to all applicants.

The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview. The interview should among other things, aim to clarify the applicant’s motivation and personal suitability for the position.

Generalinformation

The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants .

Remuneration for the position of PhDFellowis in accordance with the State salary scale code1017.A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted. You will become a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which gives you many benefits in addition to a lifelong pension: You may be entitled to financial support if you become ill or disabled, your family may be entitled to financial support when you die, you become insured against occupational injury or occupational disease, and you can get good terms on a mortgage. Read more about your employee benefits at: spk.no .

A shorter period of appointment may be decided when the PhDFellowhas already completed parts of their research training programmeor when the appointment is based on a previous qualifying position PhDFellow, research assistant, or the like in such a way that the total time used for researchtraining amounts to three years.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment.

After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

We process personal data given in an application or CV in accordance with the Personal Data Act (Offentleglova). AccordingtothePersonal Data Actinformation about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure. You will receive advance notification in the event of such publication, if you have requested non-disclosure.