Postdoctor in statistical methods for risk analytics and safety validation of automated vehicles

Job description

This position is a collaboration between KTH and Volvo Cars.

Several safety and complexity challenges remain before larger scale deployment of Autonomous vehicles (AV’s) can take place. This postdoc project is part of the Entice project which is investigating how connectivity and collaboration with a smart digital infrastructure can improve this situation, and in particular AV and traffic safety.

Relating to this postdoc position, a key goal of the Entice project is to develop new capabilities for risk analysis for AV’s based on data from various sources including vehicles and roadside sensors, encompassing both real-time analysis as well as offline residual risk estimation.

The postdoc position represents a unique opportunity to do research in the area of risk analytics and safety validation for automated vehicles – in close collaboration with Volvo cars and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, thus getting insights both into real industrial problems and developments as well as academic state of the art and evolving methodologies.

The Entice project, with its anchoring with Volvo Cars and KTH, further offers excellent opportunities for both theoretical developments as well as data gathering and practical experiments through the testing opportunities available at Volvo Cars and through the TECoSA research center.

The position in addition offers access to an excellent network of experts offered through Volvo Cars and KTH. The Entice project beyond KTH and Volvo Cars also includes Telenor and Xense Vision. https://www.kth.se/mmk/mechatronics/current-projects/entice-enablers-for-trustworthy-infrastructure-supported-autonomous-vehicles-1.1237121

What we offer

• A position at a leading technical university that generates knowledge and skills for a sustainable future
• Engaged and ambitious colleagues along with a creative, international and dynamic working environment
• Working at VCC/Gothenburg and at KTH/Stockholm
• Work in Stockholm, in close proximity to nature
• Help to relocate and be settled in Sweden and at KTH

The position is with the division of Mechatronics (Dept. of Engineering Design, School of Industrial Engineering Management at KTH), with a long tradition of research in safety and dependability of automated driving and related cyber-physical systems. The division has a long tradition of multidisciplinary research in the area and is pursuing research in several areas of automated driving (including cars, trucks, forestry), with special emphasis on architectures and methodologies to improve safety. The division leads the TECoSA research center on Trustworthy Edge Computing Systems and Applications with 16 industrial partners, and involving 9 research groups at KTH. With complementary competences. Read more about what it is like to work at KTH

Volvo Cars is a company on a mission; to bring traditional car manufacturing into a connected, sustainable and smart future. The Safe Vehicle Automation department works to promote and help to continuously improve the safety of fully autonomous driving technology. Our experts develop safety goals, strategies, and conduct safety engineering analyses to ensure safety is being considered throughout the design and development of our vehicles. Within the Risk estimation and Monitoring team, we develop safety tools/methodologies, perform structured analysis, and disseminate results on key safety-related questions. 

Potential collaboration possibilities in the area of AD SW testing with another upcoming PhD project in "A/B experimentation and testing in automotive embedded software" topic, as a continuation of this project https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/530412.

Qualifications

Requirements

• A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree. This eligibility requirement must be met no later than the time the employment decision is made.
• PhD degree in statistics, mathematical statistic quantitative risk analysis, traffic safety data analytics or relevant topics.
• Experienced and skilled in statistics.
• Python programming skills.
• Presentation skills and interests in conductive research for challenges in traffic safety. 

Preferred qualifications

• A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, obtained within the last three years prior to the application deadline.
• Experience in risk management, traffic safety, automotive domain, finance risk analytics.
• Experience in quantitative and statistical methods in risk modeling and prediction.
• Experience in statistical tool implementation (more specifically Bayesian approaches, Monte-Carlo, Extreme Value Theory, A/B testing).
• Experience with autonomous vehicles.
• Research expertise.
• Teaching abilities.
• Awareness of diversity and equal opportunity issues, with specific focus on gender equality.
• Collaborative abilities.
• Independence Communicative and a team player.

Great emphasis will be placed on personal competency.

Trade union representatives

You will find contact information to trade union representatives at KTH's webbpage.

To apply for the position

Log into KTH's recruitment system in order to apply for this position. You are the main responsible to ensure that your application is complete according to the ad.

Your complete application must be received at KTH no later than the last day of application, midnight CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

About the employment

The position offered is for, at the most, two years.

A position as a postdoctoral fellow is a time-limited qualified appointment focusing mainly on research, intended as a first career step after a dissertation.

Others

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

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About KTH

KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has grown to become one of Europe’s leading technical and engineering universities, as well as a key centre of intellectual talent and innovation. We are Sweden’s largest technical research and learning institution and home to students, researchers and faculty from around the world. Our research and education covers a wide area including natural sciences and all branches of engineering, as well as architecture, industrial management, urban planning, history and philosophy. Read more here

1. Björn Möller, KTH, bjornm@md.kth.se
2. Sadegh Rahrovani, VCC, Sadegh.rahrovani@volvocars.com
3. Zhennan Fei, VCC, Zhennan.fei@volvocars.com