Computational driver modeling for virtual assessment of automated vehicles

How can the safety of self-driving cars be assessed? The use of computational models of driver behavior as the reference in virtual simulations has recently been identified as a key component in such assessment. As the successfull candidate you will be in charge of developing a variety of such models, for immediate use by the automotive industry.

Information about the research
As automated vehicles are being developed and deployed there is an imminent need to assess the systems from a safety perspective. One way of doing this is to define concise computational reference models of driver behavior. Such a model can be described as a representation of the best human behavior one could realistically expect in any given traffic conflict, providing a reasonable safety target to aim for when developing self-driving vehicles. This PhD project will develop a set of such computational driver reference models.

The research will be conducted in the Crash Analysis and Prevention (CAP) unit within the division of Vehicle Safety at Chalmers. CAP's mission is to understand why crashes happen and how they can be prevented, where driver modeling and virtual safety benefit assessment are two core strategic research areas of the group - research in the boarder between human factors and engineering. As the chosen candidate you will be working in an environment where several other PhD students perform research on road-user modeling and safety assessment. QUADRIS, the project in which this position is a core component, includes Chalmers as the academic partner, and Volvo Cars, Zenseact and Autoliv as industry partners.
Currently a total of 18 researchers are part of CAP, of which 10 are PhD students. The team include individuals from 10 different countries. More information about the vehicle safety division can be found here, and details about the departmental research activities may be found here.

Major responsibilities
Your research will focus on developing and validating models of driver behavior to be used as reference models in virtual assessment of automated vehicles. The model development will be based on previous literature/models and analysis of different data sources, such as naturalistic driving data and test-track and driving simulator experiments. The models will be implemented and assessed in virtual simulations, using program languages such as Python and Matlab. The work will likely be integrated in the automotive industry's safety assessment tools as the models are being completed.

Other responsibilities as a PhD student at Chalmers include teaching in BSc and MSc courses and taking more than a year of own courses: both transferable skills courses, such as ethics, scientific writing, and project managment, and research topic specific courses.

Position summary
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

Qualifications
To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in a Master of Science in engineering or computer science, at the time of starting the position. 
The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in Swedish and English. If Swedish is not your native language, you should be able to teach in Swedish after two years. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Good knowledge of (and extensive experience in) programming (e.g., Python) and being very comfortable using analysis tools such as Matlab, is mandatory.
Project work and work experience in the following domains is meritorious:
a) virtual safety evaluation, b) analysis of different types of traffic data (e.g., naturalistic driving data), c) development or use of computational driver (road-user) models, and d) quantitative analysis of driver/human behaviors.

As the work will be conducted in a highly multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment cultural awareness and good collaboration skills are important. It is equally important that the successful candidate is quality conscious and a problem solver. As a PhD student you also have to be self-driven and curious.

Chalmers continuously strives to be an attractive employer. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Our offer to you
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the dynamic city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

About the application procedure here

Application deadline: 15 May 2021

For questions, please contact:
Assoc. Prof. Jonas Bärgman, Vehicle Safety Divison, jonas.bargman@chalmers.se, +46-772 5846
Prof. Marco Dozza, Vehicle Safety Divison, marco.dozza@chalmers.se, +46-772 3621

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***