Gallagher Research Fellow

The Oxford Programme for Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (OPSIS) has partnered with the Gallagher Research Centre and the Oxford Martin School to analyse global systemic risks, especially those associated with trade, maritime supply chains and food security, and their interactions with financial and political risks.

This new post will be funded from the Gallagher Research Centre and the Oxford Martin Programme on Systemic Resilience (SysRes). The Research Fellow will conduct independent research to provide new analytical insights into the scale and dynamics of systemic risks, and advance practical solutions.

This role within the SysRes programme will focus upon the resilience of global trade, examining the geolocation of supply chains and the infrastructure that enables trade in goods and services: ports, roads, railways, airports, digital communications, electricity. It will also quantify trade flows within these supply chains, in the first instance focussing upon food trade and potential food commodity shocks, but the extending to consider other trade flows. The SysRes programme is focussed upon developing effective responses to enhance the resilience of global systems, so the post-holder will explore a variety of different system interventions and will evaluate their effectiveness using newly developed system models.

The closely aligned research (as a Gallagher Research Fellow), will focus upon the propagation of systemic risks through global shipping networks, and how these networks may evolve in the future due to changing patterns in global trade, including those associated with the green energy transition. The research will examine the changing geographies of geopolitical risk, with a focus upon maritime ‘choke points’.

You will work in an interdisciplinary team which includes researchers with expertise in economics, engineering, governance and applied mathematics. The team will work interactively and dynamically, in order to quickly develop important new insights, drawing upon extensive research, data and modelling in Oxford University and amongst our international partners. There is a focus upon publication of results of the highest international importance and with engagement with stakeholders to ensure that new solutions for system resilience are taken up in practice.

You must have a PhD in a field involving geospatial analysis, network analysis, economic modelling and/ or risk analysis. You will have experience of high-level programming (e.g. Python) for systems analysis. Experience of integration of heterogeneous models and datasets in systems analysis and validation. You must track record of generating innovative modelling solutions to real world problems. The post-holder will be responsible for development and implementation of methodology for analysis of transport infrastructure, trade and supply chains. This will be based on a combination of data analysis and simulation modelling. The post-holder will be expected to publish the model in the peer-reviewed literature and interact closely with a high-profile group of project partners in disseminating the research. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and are a team worker.

The post-holder will report to Professor Jim Hall, who is Professor of Climate and Environmental Risks, leader of the Oxford Programme on Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (OPSIS) and Co-Investigator of the Oxford Martin Programme on Systemic Resilience. They will work closely with other members of OPSIS, as well as the SysRes team.

This is a full-time post offered for 24 months.

The closing date for applications is 12:00 noon on 5 April 2024 and interviews will take place week commencing 8 or 15 April.

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