Postdoc position in pre-crash virtual safety assessment

How can we know what is safe in traffic? There is a fundamental change in the human role in driving, with advanced driver assistance systems being ubiquitous, and higher levels of automation being developed and slowly deployed. Drivers will behave differently (e.g., with respect to distraction) and systems such as driver monitoring systems are becoming mandatory. At the same time, there is a major transition to virtual (computer) assessment of traffic safety - with its own challenges. The work by this postdoc is intended to substantially improve methods for virtual safety assessment for assessment of technologies and behaviors.

Project description
In the Vehicle Safety Division we apply human factors and engineering to better understand the safety problem, find solutions, and assess the impact of both problems and solutions on safety. Specifically, within the research area of Virtual safety assessment, we work on methodological aspects of prospective (predictive) traffic safety assessment of technologies and behavior.
Within the safety assessment group, research ranges from computational modeling of driver behavior and how to integrate such models into virtual simulations, via research of crash causation and the fundamental understanding of driver behavior, to methods for efficient simulation and validation of assessment results. This postdoc position will focus on one or two of these virtual safety assessment components.

The research will be conducted in the division of Vehicle Safety at Chalmers. Our 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 on the border between human factors and engineering. Both collaborations in Chalmers research groups and with different stakeholders are important for the success of this project. Therefore, the postdoctoral fellow will work close to researchers both at Chalmers and with external partners (e.g., in EU projects). There are currently 3-4 PhD students working on different aspects of pre-crash virtual safety assessment.

Major responsibilities
The successful candidate will perform research (and other research project-related tasks) in the domain of virtual safety assessment of conflict and crash avoidance systems (advanced driver assistance systems, ADAS, and higher levels of automation), and behaviors (e.g., driver glance behaviors, linked to for example assessing driver monitoring systems).
The work will be related to integration and validation of computational driver models in scenario generation. Depending on the applicant the work may also include crash causation research. You will contribute to the work of existing EU projects (HiDrive and V4SAFETY) and a national project on driver modeling and scenario generation (QUADRIS). It is also very important for the postdoc fellow to be a team player and support a healthy job environment where honesty, respect, and transparency are among our core values.

Qualifications
A successful candidate must hold a doctoral degree awarded no more than three years prior to the application deadline (according to the current agreement with the Swedish Agency for Government Employers) in engineering by the time the position starts.

Mandatory requirements: 
- Excellent knowledge of the English language (both oral and written)
- Extensive experience in programming (e.g., Python)

Meritorious requirements:
- Project work and work experience in the following domains: a) crash causation research, b) computational driver modeling, c) work with time-series behavior data, and d) virtual safety assessment (simulations).

As the work will be conducted in a highly multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment, cultural awareness and good collaboration and communication skills are fundamental. It is equally important that the successful candidate is quality-conscious and a problem solver. As a postdoctoral fellow you also have to be responsible, creative, and curious.
You are expected to be somewhat accustomed to teaching, and to demonstrate good potential within research and education.

Contract terms
This postdoc position is a full-time temporary employment for two years, with the possibility of a one-year extension.

We offer
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example, the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with 20230748 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.

CV: (Please name the document as: CV, Surname, Ref. number) including:
• CV, include complete list of publications
• Previous teaching and pedagogical experiences
• Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)
1-3 pages where you:
• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous research fields and main research results
• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Other documents:
• Attested copies of completed education, grades and other certificates.

Use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form.

Application deadline: January 31, 2024
 
For questions, please contact:
Associate Prof. Jonas Bärgman
Vehicle Safety
Email: jonas.bargman@chalmers.se
Tel: +46-31-772 58 46

Prof. Mats Svensson
Vehicle Safety Divison
Email: mats.svensson@chalmers.se
Tel: +46-31-772 3644


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