Team members of the Behavioural Science and Policy Research Group are looking for 2 PhD students to work for 4 years on a fully funded NexSys project in the Work Package “Travel behaviour shift for short & first and last mile trips” on Travel Behaviour (1)  and Transport Policy Acceptance (2).

A summary is below and a PDF with all details can be downloaded here: JobDescription_NexSys_PhDTravelLastMile.

Aims: The Work Package will test the effectiveness and acceptability of behavioural interventions that target car users’ motivations to use low-to-zero emission modes specifically for short distance trips and/or change contextual determinants of travel mode choices to nudge sustainable travel. The potential impact of these behaviour change interventions will later be calculated using macroscopic transport models.

Selection Criteria

The selection criteria outline the qualifications, skills, knowledge and/or experience that the successful candidate would need to demonstrate. Applications will be assessed on the basis of how well candidates satisfy these criteria.

PhD (1) with a focus on  travel behaviour change

Tasks: The PhD student will be involved in several collaborative activities, including: literature reviews; the design and execution of a field experiment (RCT) trialling a low-emissions strategies (e.g., nudges) to achieve changed travel behaviour related to short distance trips (<5km); the design and analysis of travel diaries collected in the field experiment; interactions with UCD research groups and the larger NexSys team.

Essential skills & experience:

  • Candidates must satisfy the entry requirements for the PhD degree at UCD which includes the UCD Minimum Language Requirements and possibly visa requirements.
  • A background in behavioural/ transport economics, behavioural public policy, psychology, environmental policy, or cognate areas.
  • An MSc degree in a relevant area with at least an IE 2:1 honours degree (or its international equivalent).
  • Ability to work independently and goal-oriented.
  • Strong team player that will add value to an interdisciplinary team.
  • Demonstrable motivation to conduct policy-relevant research.
  • Willingness to travel and disseminate research results.

Preferred skills & experience:

  • An interdisciplinary background in multiple relevant disciplines (behavioural economics, behavioural public policy, psychology, environmental policy, or cognate areas).
  • Relevant experience of social science research on transport.
  • Training in statistics and/or econometrics.
  • Experience in using statistical programs used in the social and behavioural sciences (e.g., SPSS, Stata, or R)
  • Experience in conducting field or lab experiments.
  • Strong organisational, writing, presentation and other communication skills.

Supervision by Dr Páraic Carroll (paraic.carroll@ucd.ie) and Dr Leonhard Lades (leonhard.lades@ucd.ie). If you have questions, please get in touch with these researchers.

PhD (2) with a focus on transport policy acceptance

Tasks: The PhD student will be involved in several collaborative activities, including: literature reviews; the design and execution of survey research on public acceptability (or resistance) of  transport policy interventions; interactions within the project, the larger Nexsys team and relevant UCD research groups.

Essential skills & experience:

  • Candidates must satisfy the entry requirements for the PhD degree at UCD which includes the UCD Minimum Language Requirements and possibly visa requirements.
  • A background in a relevant area, such as psychology, marketing, behavioural economics, environmental policy.
  • An MSc degree in a relevant area with at least an IE 2:1 honours degree (or its international equivalent).
  • Ability to work independently and goal-oriented.
  • Strong team player that will add value to an interdisciplinary team.
  • Strong conceptual skills that are applicable to  policy-relevant research.
  • Willingness to travel and disseminate research results.
  • Motivation to work in a multidisciplinary research group.

Preferred skills & experience:

  • Experience in quantitative research methods.
  • Experience in using statistical software programs (e.g., SPSS, Stata, or R).
  • Experience in survey design and/ or field or lab experiments.
  • Relevant research experience.
  • Strong organisational, writing, presentation and other communication skills.

Supervision by Dr Geertje Schuitema and Dr Leonhard Lades. If you have questions, please email  geertje.schuitema@ucd.ie.

More details

Closing date: Applications should be received no later than 31 May 2022, 5pm (Standard Irish Time).

Application: Apply by sending an email to the relevant supervisors. For PhD 1 email paraic.carroll@ucd.ie and use “PhD 1 with a focus on  travel behaviour change” as the subject of the email. For PhD 2, email geertje.schuitema@ucd.ie and use “PhD 2 with a focus on transport policy acceptance” as the subject of the email. Include one PDF with the following documents (in English):

  • A cover letter explaining why you are applying for the position and what qualifies you for it;
  • A current CV;
  • Maximum three examples of work demonstrating prior achievement in research, enquiry or debate (e.g., a published paper or other work; software, standards or policy contribution; dissertation or master’s thesis);
  • Details of a maximum of 2 referees (names, contact details) who can provide information about the candidate’s qualifications;
  • Where relevant, proof of English proficiency (6.5 IELTS minimum);
  • Diploma and Transcripts of records (e.g. BSocSc/BA and MSocSc/MA).

After an initial screening, shortlisted candidates will be required to attend an online or in-person meeting.

Starting date: September 2022.

Funding: The PhD positions include PhD tuition fees and a tax-free yearly stipend (€18,500 per annum) for a period of 4 years. There is also funding for travel to an annual conference and for a PC/laptop.

Team: The project team includes Páraic Carroll (UCD), Geertje Schuitema (UCD), Muireann Lynch (ESRI), and Leonhard Lades (UCD). The project is supported by several partners such as the National Transport Authority, Smart Dublin, Smart Sandyford, Zipp Mobility, and Bolt.

Background: The decarbonisation of the Energy System will play a vital role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and help mitigate the impacts of Climate Change. The technical and societal challenges inherent in decarbonisation are set to be enduring challenges of the mid-21st century and ones that will require a whole of society approach, encompassing academia, industry, government, and citizens.

In Ireland, private cars are the biggest contributor to transport emissions as they account for 40% of all transport emissions. An area with significant potential for emissions reduction in the car sector is to target short car trips. This project aims to study how psychological strategies identified in social and cognitive psychology as well as behavioural economics can be used to encourage car users to replace their short car trips by other modes of transportation, via collecting travel diaries of daily travel activities. The underlying assumption is that when people change their perceptions and beliefs, they adapt their behaviour accordingly. This is often done by changing the choice architecture and/or using timely interventions to disrupt the decision-making process. For such measures to be effective in the long term, they need to break travel habits and facilitate the internalisation of new habits. In order to support the just transition model, public acceptance and/or resistance of such interventions will need to be considered to determine social feasibility.

Next Generation Energy Systems (NexSys) is a newly established All Island SFI Strategic Partnership Programme focussed upon the transition to a net zero carbon energy system in Ireland. It is a unique partnership bringing together a multidisciplinary research team, industry, and policy makers to tackle fundamental research questions to be addressed as part of the transition to net Zero. Hosted by UCD Energy Institute, NexSys brings together academics from nine institutions across the Island of Ireland (UCD, TCD, DCU, ESRI, Maynooth University, UCC, NUI Galway, Ulster University and Queen’s University Belfast) to work together to meet the unprecedented scale and complexity of the challenges associated with the energy transition.