Dear All,

I would like to share about a postdoc opportunity to be based at Purdue University.

This is a postdoc position focusing on interdisciplinary approach to urban resilience and/or compounding disasters (preferably with systems modeling). We are open to the problem context of this theme, i.e., it can center around urban water systems, power systems, or transportation systems, etc.

Full info below.

Post-Doctoral Position in Resilience of Social-Ecological-Technical Systems (SETS) Research

Overview
A post-doctoral position is available at Purdue University to work with Professor Satish Ukkusuri, Professor P. Suresh C. Rao, and Professor David J. Yu beginning as early as February 2021, to work on the resilience of social-ecological-technical systems (SETS). We are interested in the resilience SETS in the context of compounding events across two or more domains. Examples of such compounding events include (1) a natural hazard (e.g., wildfire) triggering secondary technological or social disruptions that slow down recovery from the first event, (2) a biosocial disturbance (e.g., COVID-19) initiating subsequent stresses to technological or environmental systems with unforeseen feedbacks to society, and (3) a technological disruption leading to secondary social or environmental effects. Making sense out of this complexity and adaptive management of SETS require, in addition to an understanding of physical interdependencies between two or more infrastructures, analyses of “logical interdependencies” that may exist between them because of individual and collective human responses. Examples of such behavioral responses include human mobility and migration, use of private infrastructure or strategies that lessen reliance on public infrastructures, diffusion of information, social network dynamics and collective action, and rules and norms regulating key stakeholders’ decisions. The selected candidate is expected to contribute to the network systems modeling and collection and analysis of social, infrastructural, and environmental data from various sources to tackle SETS resilience problems.

Specific Responsibilities
(1) Work in an interdisciplinary environment across engineering, social and computational sciences on developing novel ideas related to resilience
(2) Lead and contribute to research in SETS
(3) Write manuscripts jointly with potential to publish in interdisciplinary journals
(4) Write proposals with the faculty PIs based on emerging opportunities
(5) Mentor graduate students
(6) Other duties as assigned

Qualifications
This position is open to candidates from diverse disciplinary backgrounds including in civil or industrial engineering, systems/computational science, sustainability science, and related areas of the social and interdisciplinary sciences. Applicants must have completed their Ph.D. by the position start date. Prior experience with resilience research (urban resilience, social-ecological resilience, socio-technical resilience, etc.) is required with either system/network modeling or big data analysis. The successful applicant must be adept at working with multiple researchers in an interdisciplinary environment. Strong organization, communication and writing skills are also required for coordinating research with others and research dissemination.
The following skills/knowledge are highly desirable:
(1) Familiarity with collection and analysis of large sets of data from various sources in the applied context of urban/SETS resilience under disruptions such as wildfire, flooding, or pandemics
(2) Familiarity with network or systems modeling (hybrid network analysis, agent-based modeling, or system dynamics)
(3) Some level of understanding on human behavior and governance and how these can be incorporated into network/systems modeling and data analysis.
(4) Ability to work across disciplines
(5) Write manuscripts for an interdisciplinary audience

Inclusion and Equal Opportunity
Purdue University is an equal access/equal opportunity university. We strongly encourage women, minorities, and people from traditionally underrepresented groups to apply.

Administrative Details
We offer an annual salary commensurate with experience. The position is funded for up to two years with the second year contingent on satisfactory performance and the availability of funds. The preferred start date is by February 15, 2021, but this may be negotiated upon request. The postdoctoral research associate will administratively report to Dr. Satish Ukkusuri and will be advised by Drs. Satish Ukkusuri, P. Suresh C Rao, and David J. Yu, faculties in Lyles School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University.
Workplace flexibility and remote work are a possibility, but the selected candidate will need to adhere to the relevant policies and restrictions of Purdue University (especially for those who are not US citizens and permanent residents).

To Apply
Interested applicants should send their latest CV, research interests, at least two sample publications and names of 4 referees as a single PDF file to Professors Ukkusuri ([email protected]), Rao ([email protected]), and Yu ([email protected]). Review of applications will start on December, 2020 and will continue until the position is filled. Women and underrepresented minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. Purdue University is an equal opportunity affirmative action employer. For more information, contact the three professors above.

A bit about the location
West Lafayette-Lafayette, Indiana is a metro area of over 174,000 people centrally located between Indianapolis, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois. It is an easy place to live with a high quality of life, good schools, safe neighborhoods, and excellent public facilities and amenities, including over 40 parks and extensive trail systems. We are home to three Farmers Markets from May to October (http://www.lafayettefarmersmarket.com/), year-long festivals and community events (http://www.homeofpurdue.com/events/annualevents.html), and Purdue Convocation, one of the oldest year-long collegiate performing arts event that have brought excellent concerts, lectures and performances to campus since 1902 (https://www.purdue.edu/convocations/).