PhD Position in Infrastructure Intervention Effectiveness Analysis for Road Safety

The Chair of Infrastructure Management, led by Professor Dr. Bryan T. Adey within the Institute of Construction and Infrastructure Management of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geomatic Engineering, has an opening for a PhD student. This position focuses on developing intervention effectiveness analysis methodologies to support urban road safety as a part of a larger EU project.

The new EU Horizon project advances safe active mobility uptake and research by introducing a human-centred, evidence-based approach that integrates actual and perceived safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and micromobility users. Moving beyond conventional crash-focused approaches, it captures near-misses, dynamic interactions, and embodied safety experiences that shape behaviour and mode choice. The project combines multi-source traffic, infrastructure, vehicle, and health data with immersive eXtended Reality (XR) experimentation and explainable Artificial Intelligence to analyse safety-critical situations that are rare, underreported, or ethically impossible to observe in real traffic. Explainable AI ensures transparency and interpretability, supporting trust, transferability, and policy relevance. The project translates these insights into harmonised assessment methodologies, predictive models, and validated indicators, enabling robust evaluation and comparison of regulatory, infrastructural, technological, and behavioural interventions across Safe System Approach stakeholders. Special focus is placed on interactions between users with differing masses and speeds, including e-bikes, e-cargo bikes, and e-scooters, for both personal mobility and urban logistics. Large-scale pilots in four European cities validate methods in real traffic, support cross-city learning, and ensure applicability under diverse safety, infrastructure and cultural conditions. Implemented by a multidisciplinary consortium bridging engineering, behavioural science, XR, AI, urban planning, and policy, the project delivers actionable, standardised guidance that accelerates safer, more inclusive active and micromobility systems across Europe.

Planning safe urban transport systems is inherently complex: interventions last for decades, have widespread impacts, require significant investment, must fit within constrained urban spaces, and must satisfy ever-changing, diverse user needs. Modern data collection and analysis methods are well-suited to capture these complexities by utilizing high-resolution data (e.g., high-frequency measurements from on-board vehicle sensors and computer-vision imagery) to provide near real-time insights. However, it is not yet clear how to effectively operationalize this data to identify high-risk areas, propose targeted infrastructure interventions, and measure their success - largely due to the relative novelty of these data sources, rapid vehicle advancements, and evolving urban mobility patterns.

This doctorate aims to advance the state-of-the-art in transport infrastructure safety analysis. Working closely with academic, industry, and public authority partners across Europe, the candidate’s core tasks will include:

• Structure Interventions: Structure and model potential infrastructure interventions designed to improve urban safety and comfort
• Develop Indicators: Create robust methodologies and indicators (e.g., surrogate safety measures) to evaluate intervention effectiveness in improving safety and comfort
• Real-World Validation: Apply and test developed frameworks across the project’s four European pilot cities, with a strong focus on the City of Zurich
• Consortium Collaboration: Coordinate regularly with local stakeholders, specifically Zurich’s Dienstabteilung Verkehr (DAV), and international project partners

• A Master’s degree in spatial planning, urban analytics, transport planning, or a related field
• A good grasp of statistical methods and empirical study design, programming skills, and spatial analysis (use of GIS tools)
• An interest in promoting safe urban transport and collaborating with project partners
• Good knowledge of English (professional proficiency, written and spoken) and German (working proficiency, written and spoken)

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.

We look forward to receiving your online application before 31 July 2026 including the following documents:

• Letter of interest including your ideas of potential research in the project
• A curriculum vitae (with list of publications, if applicable, and contact information of at least two referees)
• Grades of all university courses taken as well as diplomas

Further information about the Institute of  Construction & Infrastructure Management can be found on our Website. Questions regarding the position should be directed to Ms. Nathalie Dietrich, [email protected] (no applications).

Please note that we exclusively accept applications submitted through our online application portal. Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.

Screening of applications starts on 1 August 2026. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

The preferred start date is 1 November 2026, although others are possible.