PhD in Optimization of Sustainable Agri-Food Supply Chains under Climate Risk

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Testo originale dell'annuncio (in inglese)

Are you interested in optimization and data science? Are you motivated to contribute to answering one of the key challenges facing agricultural systems today: how can agricultural supply chains remain resilient in a world of increasing climate uncertainty? This PhD project offers the opportunity to work at the intersection of climate change, food systems, and advanced optimization modelling. You will develop cutting-edge operations research models and methods to redesign agricultural supply chains that can withstand extreme climate events and shifting agroecological conditions. Hosted by the chair of Operations Research and Logistics group of Wageningen University, the project focuses on quantifying how climate change impacts the resilience of agri-food supply networks. Building on state-of-the-art models for robust and responsive food supply chains, you will investigate how disruptions such as droughts, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related shocks might affect critical decisions on facility location, storage, processing capacity, procurement, and inventory management. The project combines: stochastic and robust optimization, uncertainty modelling, large-scale supply chain design, and advanced algorithms for solving complex optimization problems. You will work with real-world case studies to design future-proof supply chain networks for key agricultural products in vulnerable regions. This position is ideal for candidates interested in: operations research and optimization, climate adaptation and resilience, sustainable food systems, mathematical modelling and data-driven decision making, creating tangible societal impact through research. This PhD position is embedded within the Horizon Europe project TIPPING, a large-scale European initiative developing next-generation climate intelligence tools for agriculture. Bringing together 16 partners across 10 EU countries, TIPPING aims to support climate adaptation in the agricultural sector by combining AI-driven climate modelling, agroecological transition analysis, socio-economic assessment, and decision-support systems. The project contributes directly to the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change by helping farmers, businesses, and policymakers anticipate and respond to shifting agroecological conditions and climate-related risks across Europe. Join us in shaping the next generation of climate-resilient agri-food systems. Your duties and responsibilities include: Developing advance quantitative models Writing scientific articles Participating in international project meetings Contributing to project activities and deliverables You will work here The research is embedded within the chair of Operations Research and Logistics ( https://www.wur.nl/en/chair-groups/business-science/operations-research-and-logistics ), which is led by Prof. Sander De Leeuw ( https://www.wur.nl/en/persons/profdrir-sljm-sander-de-leeuw ) You will be co-supervised by [Dr. Peter Kirst, Dr. Meike Reusken and Dr. Argyris Kanellopoulos].