项目介绍

2026年5月2日

As a PhD employee, you can make a significant impact for future generations.  

By 2030, nearly half of the global population is expected to live in fragile or conflict-affected areas, while humanitarian funding is rapidly decreasing. Limited budgets are forcing even the largest humanitarian organizations to prioritize needs, leaving some very vulnerable families and communities without support

In this PhD project, you will develop novel data‑driven and decision‑oriented methodologies to support humanitarian organizations in environments characterized by limited resources, incomplete information, and rapidly evolving crises. The research explicitly bridges data science, operations research, and food security analysis to generate insights that are both scientifically rigorous and directly actionable in real-world humanitarian decision-making.

This project will be a collaboration between the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Zero Hunger Lab. WFP is an international organization that provides food assistance across the world. To assess food security conditions in a region, WFP and other organizations typically use household surveys. While these surveys provide rich, detailed insights into household-level food consumption, coping strategies, and livelihoods, they are inherently resource-intensive.

In parallel, a rapidly expanding ecosystem of alternative and digital trace data—including satellite imagery, climatic and environmental data, market and transaction records, mobility patterns, and other forms of digital exhaust—now offers unprecedented opportunities to observe food security dynamics at higher temporal and spatial resolution. Unlike traditional surveys, many of these data sources are continuously generated and can support near real‑time monitoring of emerging stress and vulnerability.

The project aims to advance the next generation of food security intelligence systems by moving toward continuous, real‑time monitoring, nowcasting, and anticipatory analysis of hunger and vulnerability. A central objective is to understand how unconventional and “passive” data streams can complement survey‑based indicators to provide timely, robust, and decision‑relevant estimates of food insecurity under conditions of uncertainty and data scarcity.

The research will explicitly address multiple operational use cases, including:

• Real‑time monitoring and nowcasting of food insecurity between survey rounds
• Advanced and anticipatory warning of acute deteriorations
• Dynamic targeting and prioritization under budget and capacity constraints
• Resource allocation and scenario analysis in rapidly evolving crises

Your position

Your position is at the Zero Hunger Lab of Tilburg University. In this Lab we use data science, in the broadest sense, to improve food security worldwide. Together with humanitarian partners, we work on many aspects of Sustainable Development Goal number 2: achieving zero hunger in 2030. Research at the Zero Hunger Lab should not only lead to scientific publications: the impact of your research is equally important. Therefore, this project will be in close collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme. While the scope of the PhD position is fixed, there will be sufficient room to tailor the research to the candidate’s interests and background.

Through this PhD program you will contribute methodologically by developing and integrating:

• Data fusion and machine‑learning approaches that combine sparse but high‑quality survey data with frequent, noisy, and potentially biased digital trace data
• Nowcasting and forecasting models that explicitly quantify uncertainty and are robust to missing data, model drift, and structural breaks typical of crisis contexts
• Operations research and decision‑analytic frameworks that translate predictive signals into actionable recommendations under uncertainty, including prioritization, targeting, and resource allocation
• Interpretability and validation strategies to support trust, accountability, and institutional uptake in humanitarian decision processes

You will be supervised by researchers from the Zero Hunger Lab. About 90% of the position’s time will be dedicated to the completion of your PhD research, which includes connecting research to impact, and 10% to the acquisition of academic skills through teaching courses and supervising master/bachelor theses.

As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the world-class PhD program of CentER Graduate School of Business, where you will receive extensive training in theory and methods by taking several PhD-level courses.

Your profile

Please review the formal admission requirements here. In short, we are looking for the following:

1. An academic Master’s or MPhil/Research Master’s degree in operations research, operations management, engineering or another relevant field that is deemed an equivalent to the previous education.
2. Completed the previous degree with an excellent GPA (top 10% of class)
3. Proof of English proficiency (IELTS, TOEFL, CPE, etc.).  You can get an exemption for the English language test if you have completed a 3-years Academic Bachelor’s program (of at least 180 ECTS credits) fully taught in English at an accredited research university.
4. GRE or GMAT score. You do not need to provide a GRE or GMAT test score if you have obtained a Dutch university Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a relevant field with GPA>=8. If your test date is scheduled after the application deadline, you can submit the results as soon as you have taken the test.
5. Able to work both independently and as part of a team
6. Excellent research and analytical skills e.g. demonstrated in a master thesis
7. Strong motivation for research with impact

Our offer

Tilburg University offers excellent benefits in a pleasant working environment:

• Employment of 1 FTE
• Salary between €3059 (year 1) and € 3881 (year 4) gross per month for full-time employment (UFO-profile PhD Candidate, salary scale P).
• This is a vacancy for a PhD in accordance with Article 2.3 paragraph 8 sub b CLA DU. You will initially be given a temporary contract for the duration of 18 months. The evaluation will take place after about 14 months. Upon a positive evaluation, this contract will be followed by a new fixed-term contract of 30 months. (N.B. program is 4 years, full-time).
• Vacation pay of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• Over 8 weeks of vacation leave.
• Hybrid working with home working allowance (€2 p/day) and internet allowance (€25 p/month).
• Reimbursement sustainable commuting: walking, cycling, and public transport.
• Options model for additional leave, pension, a bicycle or personal training.
• Moving allowance (subject to conditions).
• 30% rule for international employees (if applicable).
• Pension through ABP.
• Training in personal development, career development, leadership, education, and research, or a language course at our Language Center.
• A work culture in which we embrace differences, everyone is welcome and given equal opportunities.
• A green, inviting campus that’s easily accessible by public transport.

For more information, please see our website and the CLA Dutch Universities.

Want to know more?

Would you like to know more before applying? Feel free to contact Dr. Marleen Balvert at M.Balvert@tilburguniversity.edu.

Want to apply?

We kindly invite you to apply before May 25, 2026; this can only be done online via the “Apply” button. To apply for this position, please submit the following documents:

1. Letter of motivation, including research area/topics of interest
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Official copy of your university degree and grades (transcripts)
4. A pdf copy of your master thesis written in English or other research-oriented output.  This work must be single- or first-authored.  If you are currently working on your master thesis, feel free to submit your thesis draft.
5. Contact details of at least two referees (recommendation letters will be requested for shortlisted candidates)
6. Proof of English
7. GRE or GMAT score. 

Interviews are expected to take place in the second week of June. You will ideally start working for Tilburg University on 1 September 2026.

The selection committee consists of:

1. Prof. Peter Borm, Graduate Program Coordinator
2. Dr. Marleen Balvert – Zero Hunger Lab
3. Dr. Thomas Breugem – Zero Hunger Lab
4. Dr. Duccio Piovani – World Food Programme

About Tilburg University

Tilburg University is an academic, inclusive, and engaged community. Together with nearly 3,000 employees, we are committed to broad prosperity, sustainably, and inclusion. For current and future generations. We develop and share knowledge for the requirements of people and our society. This is how we contribute to solving complex social issues and help society move forward.

We educate our 19,500 students of 110 nationalities to become responsible leaders with knowledge, skills, and character. With our education and research for broad prosperity, we exceedingly focus on themes such as mental and preventive care, an inclusive labor market, the energy transition, and digitalization.

Application code

Tilburg University applies the recruitment code of the Dutch Association for Personnel Management & Organization Development (NVP).

Disclaimer

The text in this job vacancy is the copyrighted property of Tilburg University. Use, distribution and further publication of the vacancy without the express permission of Tilburg University is not permitted and this expressly applies to use by recruitment agencies that do not act directly on behalf of Tilburg University. Responses to recruitment by non-contractors of Tilburg University will not be considered.