PHD Position Simulating

Work & Live in Greater Rotterdam The Hague PhD Position Simulating the Airspace of the Future: Fleet & Network Optimization for Future Aircraft (Delft, NL, 2628 CD) Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) Posted on Jul 17, 2026 Design the simulaton models that will help airlines fly future aircraft types profitably and sustainably before they take off! Job description Research and industry are increasingly investing in new aircraft concepts (e.g., powered by batteries, hydrogen, and other alternative energy sources) that promise to significantly reduce aviation's climate impact. These aircraft, however, come with fundamentally different performance characteristics forcing airlines to rethink their operations well before such aircraft enter service. This PhD project will help make this transition possible! The primary focus of this research will be on the development of new methods and models that efficiently couple new aircraft designs with new fleet allocation and schedule decisions. Such will enable airlines to minimize fleet-wide emissions once new aircraft types are introduced. The produced methods and models will form part of a larger simulation enviroment that evaluates the airspace of the future. The research should consider: - Model development: - + Characterizing the key performance differences between current and future aircraft models - + Evaluating how these differences affect fleet assignment and network planning - + Optimizing airline operations (e.g., fleet composition, scheduling, routing) based on new aircraft capabilities - + Assessing the resulting fleet-wide economical and climate impact - Facilitate future expansion to also include other domain models for optimization (e.g. noise) in collaboration with other departments of the faculty of aerospace engineering. This PhD position is part of the Dutch Aviation Systems Analysis Lab (DASAL project, a flagship collaboration between TU Delft and Royal NLR, f...