Business Analytics

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is one of the leading institutions for higher education in Europe and aims to be inspiring, innovative, and committed to societal welfare. It comprises 10 faculties and has teaching facilities for 23,000 students. 

Faculty of Sciences

Research at the Faculty of Sciences focuses on the areas of Life & Health, Networked World, Fundamentals of Science, and Energy & Sustainability. The faculty’s teaching activities are directly linked to this excellent research. Cooperation with other faculties on the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam campus generates attractive, high-quality Bachelor’s and Master’s programs. 

At international level, the faculty cooperates closely with leading scientific institutes and other partners. In the context of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam management program, the faculty is cooperating closely with the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences to optimize the support of teaching and research. During the upcoming period, the faculty, together with the Faculty of Earth and Life Science, will be facing the challenge of how to further flesh out cooperation between Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam’s science faculties and those of the University of Amsterdam. 

Department of Mathematics
The Department of Mathematics strives after excellence in research. In the department purely mathematical research is balanced with mathematical research motivated by applications. Researchers at the department are on the one hand active on a fundamental and theoretical level, and on the other hand work in an applied and practical environment with links to many sciences and societal issues. In stochastics these applications range from neuroscience, genetics and forensics to business optimization and finance. The stochastics group is also engaged in the Amsterdam Center for Business Analytics (www.acba.nl), a VU institute that aims at developing, disseminating and exploiting business analytics and data science knowledge and applications by bringing together businesses and scientific research. ACBA supports organizations to consider, design and undertake applied research studies concerning analytics. 

The PhD position: Green Analytics
The PhD position comes forth from the collaboration between industry and ACBA. The project is centered on logistics optimization. The main goal is to develop new mathematical models to improve operations in terms of revenues and efficiency. 

Tasks

• Conduct business analytics research, with a focus on stochastic modeling and optimization; 
• publish in top tier conferences and journals; 
• contribute to knowledge transfer both in a traditional educational setting and in settings with non-academic stakeholders (governmental, industrial); 
• actively engage with operations and business processes at the industrial partner; 
• complete a PhD thesis within four years; 
• provide teaching assistance. 

Further particulars

The appointment will be initially for a period of 1 year. After satisfactory evaluation of the initial appointment, it can be extended for a total duration of 4 years. The appointment should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). 
The appointment will be full-time (38 hours a week). An educational plan that includes attendance of courses and national and international meetings will be drafted. The PhD candidate is also expected to assist in teaching of undergraduates. 
You can find information about our excellent fringe benefits of employment at www.workingatvu.nllike: 
• remuneration of 8,3% end-of-year bonus and 8% holiday allowance 
• generous contribution (65%) commuting allowance based on public transport; 
• discounts on collective insurances (healthcare- and car insurance); 
• a wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge. 

 

Requirements

We are looking for candidates that hold, or will soon hold, a master degree in Business Analytics, Operations Research, Mathematics, or a related field. We expect candidates to show a proactive research orientation and to be proficient in written and spoken English. Command of the Dutch language is preferred. 

Application

Please include the following information, in separate PDF files (not zipped), using surname, initials and a self-evident word as file names, e.g., Smith J CV: 
• a curriculum vitae (including an URL allowing download of pdf of M.Sc. thesis -- if relevant); 
• a letter of motivation (at most 1 page) explaining why you are interested in this position; 
• a research statement (at most 2 pages), explaining your research interests and how you think they can be related to the topics mentioned in the job description above; 
• a list of all university courses taken, including a transcript of grades; 
• the name and contact details (including email address) of two – three referees who can provide details about your profile (one of whom should be the main supervisor of your master thesis). 

Salary

The salary is in accordance with the university regulations for academic personnel. The salary will range from € 2.174,- gross per month in the first year up to a maximum of € 2.779,- gross per month (fourth year) (salary scale 85), based on a full-time appointment.