Introduction

We are looking for outstanding candidates to fill two post-doctoral fellowship positions at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) in the department of Technology and Operations Management (TOM). Here is where your strong background in operations research, industrial engineering, econometrics or a related field comes into play. We are happy that you are passionate about impactful research in the domain of health, humanitarian and/or pharmaceutical supply chains, and that you’re keen to embark on an academic career.
As a postdoc fellow at RSM, you join us at one of Europe’s top business schools, and benefit from our school’s excellent research support. We invite you to join us in Q4 2024 for the postdoc 1 position and/or in Q2 2025 for the postdoc 2 position, or at your earliest convenience.
About the RESPOND project
The research project you’re working on deals with the growing problem of drug shortages. Pharmaceutical supply chains have become extremely vulnerable to disruptions. This especially applies to the Netherlands, where 5 out of 13 million medicine users were affected by medicine shortages in 2023.
In response to this, governments are implementing a wide range of policies, such as policies on minimum stock levels. However, different medicines vary in price, margin, revenue, disruption risk and supplier alternatives, making a one-size-fits-all policy ineffective. This is why policy tailoring – specifying different policies for different categories of medicines – is essential.
The RESPOND project aims to support policymakers to optimise policy tailoring.
Using econometric models (likely staggered Di D models) and a unique longitudinal dataset on medicines and medicine shortages in the Netherlands, Postdoc 1 will develop a policy impact model that estimates the effects of various government policies on shortages.
Postdoc 2 will model the problem of optimising policy tailoring as a policy tree or prescriptive tree optimisation problem, develop and test solution methods, and derive numerical results using the policy impact model.
Important to keep in mind is that we especially focus on two policies that many governments are implementing and/or revising:

• policies for minimum stock levels; and
• policies for maximum prices (price caps are seen as an important cause of shortages).

You work closely with all the key stakeholders which include the ministry of health, insurers, wholesalers and manufacturers. You also collaborate closely with Dr Harwin de Vries and Dr Stef Lemmens from Rotterdam School of Management and Dr Thomas Breugem from Tilburg University.
These faculty members have extensive research experience on the topic of drug shortages – among others, due to their participation in the MIA project – and in general on health, humanitarian and/or pharmaceutical supply chains.

Job description

Please note that these two postdoc fellowships can be potentially merged into one position when you have the proven skills and/or competencies to execute both.
Here are the core tasks for each postdoc position:
Postdoc 1:

• Create an econometric analyses of the impact of various government policies on drug shortages.
• Develop a policy impact model.
• Write a paper and two practice briefs about your model and your findings.
• Engage with stakeholders to obtain their input on your analyses, validate the assumptions and disseminate the findings.
• Communicate your findings at practitioner conferences and at operations and supply chain management (OSCM) conferences.
• Contribute to TOM’s scholarship and visibility in this research area.

Postdoc 2:

• Model the problem of how to optimise the tailoring of a policy.
• Develop and test solution methods and derive analytical results.
• Numerically analyse tailored policies.
• Write a paper and a practice brief about your model and your findings.
• Engage with stakeholders to obtain their input on your analyses, validate the assumptions and disseminate the findings.
• Develop an Excel-based tool which policymakers and stakeholders can use to evaluate different ways to tailor their policies.
• Communicate your findings at practitioner and OSCM conferences.
• Contribute to TOM’s scholarship and visibility in this research area.

Job requirements

For these fellowships, we require that you have completed or expect to soon complete your Ph D from a leading school in the field of operations research, econometrics, statistics, industrial engineering, operations & supply chain management or a related field.
Given that these are research positions and given the aim and potential to publish this research in top journals, we expect that you can demonstrate your potential for excellence in research; for example, by having papers published in or submitted to highly ranked journals.
When you apply for the Postdoc 1 fellowship, you should demonstrate your excellence in econometrics and/or statistics. As the postdoc 2 fellow, you should demonstrate your excellence in mathematical optimisation.
In addition:

• Because both of these fellowships involve close collaboration with the government and industry stakeholders, your strong communication and presentation skills will play a leading role.
• We prefer that you are proficient in Dutch, but it’s not a strict requirement.
• Given that the entire project involves predefined milestones and deliverables, it is of the utmost importance that you can immediately demonstrate your strong project management skills.

Start date, FTE, and contract duration
When you start, the FTE and contract duration are all based on mutual agreement. Ideally, the Postdoc 1 fellow starts in Q4 2024 and the Postdoc 2 fellow starts in Q1 or Q2 2025. The positions are for between 0.8 to 1.0FTE and for one to 1.5 years.
As indicated above, the two postdoc positions could potentially be merged into one if you have the skills and/or competencies to execute both. In this case, it’s important that you can start your fellowship in Q4 2024 or Q1 2025 at the latest. In that case, the contract duration is around 2.5 years.

Employment conditions and benefits

We offer you the following:

• Strong research environment in an enthusiastic and prolific research group.
• Budget that covers conference participation.
• Conditions of employment that comply with the collective labour agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU).
• Attractive employment conditions, which include a holiday allowance of 8 per cent, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3 per cent and a generous number of vacation days.

You can find more information here:

• The TOM department (https://www.rsm.nl/facultyresearch/departments/technology-and-operations-management/)
• The Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) environment at RSM: www.erim.nl
• Salary and benefits: https://www.eur.nl/en/working

The conditions of employment comply with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO NU). Favourable tax agreements may apply to applicants who are not from the Netherlands.
EUR offers all employees an annual personal career budget which can be used to advance your skills and competences. There are lots of training, development and coaching opportunities at EUR too.
Erasmus University Rotterdam aspires to be an equitable and inclusive community. We nurture an open culture, where everyone is supported to fulfil their full potential. We see inclusivity of talent as the basis of our successes, and the diversity of perspectives and people as a highly valued outcome. EUR provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, functional impairment, citizenship or any other aspect which makes them unique. We look forward to welcoming you to our community.

Employer

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, Ph D and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers.
www.rsm.nl
RSM is an equal opportunity employer and explicitly encourages applications from candidates of all genders, ethnicities and nationalities.

Faculty / Institute / Central service

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM)

Group

Supply Chain Management Section

Department

Department of Technology and Operations Management - Department 1 (TOM)

Applying

Do you have further questions about this vacancy? Please contact Dr Harwin de Vries at harwin.devries@rsm.nl, Dr Stef Lemmens at s.lemmens@rsm.nl or Dr Thomas Breugem at T.Breugem@tilburguniversity.edu.
Ready to go? Please apply for this vacancy via the RSM website. Be sure to include the following in your application:

• Letter of motivation
• Curriculum vitae
• Samples of scholarly work
• Names and contact details of three (3) referees

We'll start the application and interview process on 28 August and will continue until the position has been filled.
Please note that this vacancy closes on 30 September 2024.