POSITION AS A RESEARCH FELLOW

Post date: Jun 02, 2009 8:6:54 AM

The "Optimization and Control" research group at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia, is inviting applications for a

POSITION AS A RESEARCH FELLOW

within the research project "New Theory and Algorithms for Nonsmooth Optimization with Application to Integer Programming" funded by the Australian Research Council. To apply, you should currently hold, or be nearing completion of your PhD. The position start date is flexible and can be negotiated to suit the successful applicant. The length of the appointment is 12-18 months, depending on the level of appointment. Applications are due to be submitted by 15th June 2009.

Applicants should have research experience in some area of mathematical programming, but preferably in one of integer programming, discrete optimization, nonsmooth optimization, or global optimization.

The research will be carried out in collaboration with and under the supervision of the Prof. Andrew Eberhard (RMIT), Prof. Natashia Boland (Newcastle Uni.) and Laureate Prof. Jon Borwein (Newcastle Uni.). Despite being based at RMIT the successful candidate will be encouraged to engage in research with both the RMIT and Newcastle research groups involved in this project.

The primary aim of this project is to study mathematical optimization methods that underpin many scheduling and planning activities in business and industry, and play numerous "behind-the-scenes" roles in engineering, medicine, biology, and physics. This project aims to exploit the links between nonsmooth optimization and integer programming in order to enable the development of new theory and methodologies for the solution of discrete optimization problems. The project will also seek to improve the mathematical basis and tools for the application of nonsmooth analysis to the study of optimality and the study of convergence of algorithms.

The appointee will contribute to the development of the theory, algorithms and software needed in this project. Experience in implementation and the numerical testing of optimization algorithms is essential. Familiarity with the callable libraries of one of Cplex, Xpress-MP or similar optimization platform is desirable but not essential.

RMIT is a global university of technology based in Melbourne, with a commitment to and reputation for high quality professional and vocational education and research engaged with industry and community. Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria and is large vibrant city which is one of the cultural centres of Australia. It sustains world class music, theatre and visual arts industries as well as staging many internationally recognise sporting events each year. Melbourne consistently ranked high in the top ten of the Economist's World's Most Livable Cities, ranking 2nd in the 2008 poll.

For further information, including instructions of how to lodge your application, please refer to

http://yourcareer.rmit.edu.au/jobDetails.asp?sJobIDs=543790&lCategoryID=&lWorkTypeID=&lLocationID=6580&stp=AW&sLanguage=en

or simply go to http://yourcareer.rmit.edu.au and search on keyword 543790.

You may also contact Professor Andrew Eberhard on + 61 3 9925 2616 (andy.eb@rmit.edu.au), or Professor Natashia Boland on +61 2 4921 6717 (Natashia.Boland@newcastle.edu.au).