Research Associate

Roles and responsibilities

Essential Duties: The primary duties entail: 1) the development of analytical and computational models of coupled infrastructure systems; 2) working with other team members to integrate information from empirical cases from physical infrastructure networks and governance protocols into the modelling project; and 3) implementing a stylized model of coupled infrastructure systems to analyse resilience for various types of scenarios for a country.
Model Development and Analysis:

Design, develop, and validate policy system models to simulate and analyze policy scenarios, identify trade-offs, and assess the potential impacts of policy decisions.
Apply system dynamics models, agent-based models, or other modeling techniques to explore the effects of different policy interventions in sectors such as healthcare, environmental management, economic policy, or social policy.
Perform sensitivity analysis, scenario testing, and uncertainty quantification to understand the robustness of model predictions and identify key drivers of policy outcomes.
Data Collection and Management:

Collect, manage, and analyze relevant data to support model development and policy analysis.
Work with stakeholders, including government agencies, NGOs, and academic partners, to gather data and understand the real-world context of policy challenges.
Ensure data quality, consistency, and relevance for modeling purposes, including developing and maintaining datasets for model calibration and validation.
Research and Policy Insights:

Conduct policy-oriented research and apply model results to provide insights and recommendations for improving public policy, governance, and system outcomes.
Collaborate with senior researchers, policy advisors, and stakeholders to refine models, interpret findings, and communicate results to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Prepare research reports, policy briefs, and academic papers to communicate research outcomes, findings, and policy implications.

Desired candidate profile

Minimum Qualifications: At the time of appointment, the successful candidate must have earned doctorate in an interdisciplinary human-environment program, or in a field in the natural sciences, computer science, engineering or statistics that focuses on systems analysis at the time of appointment. He/she must demonstrate experience in analytical and computational modelling, experimental design, network analysis, text analysis and/or systems analysis.

Programming Skills In The Following Systems Are Essential

Statistical Programming: R
Scripting Languages: Python (or other languages, PHP, Javascript, Perl)
Database Management: MySQL
Geographical package: QGIS, GRASS GIS

Skills or experience in using the following systems would be an advantage:

Crowd-computing (e.g. AWS)
Big-data analysis
Natural language processing
Compiled language programming (e.g. Java, C++, C#)