Assistant or Associate Professor in Complex Systems and Urban & Regional Modelling

How can cities and regions better understand, model and respond to complex societal challenges, including sustainability? And how can we train students to think across disciplines, systems and scales when working on real-world urban transitions?

At the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), we are looking for an Assistant or Associate Professor in Complex Systems and Urban & Regional Modelling. You will build a new research line in Heerlen, strengthen complex systems thinking in interdisciplinary education and contribute to the further development of the Bachelor Urban Sustainability Studies.

This is a position for an academic who enjoys building something new. You will help shape an emerging research cluster in Heerlen, develop and apply modelling approaches to urban and regional challenges, and connect complex systems perspectives with innovative interdisciplinary education.

You will initially work in both Heerlen and Maastricht and will gradually shift to Heerlen as the study programme and research line grow. Whether you are appointed as Assistant or Associate Professor depends on your experience and academic track record.

• Our goal: You build a new research line in urban and regional modelling and strengthen complex systems thinking within interdisciplinary education.
• Your colleagues: You play a key role in the development of a new branch of the Faculty of Science and Engineering in Heerlen. You will work alongside colleagues from the Urban Sustainability Studies programme, the Department of Advanced Computing Sciences and the Bright lands Institute for Smart Society (BISS). Working across academic boundaries, you connect research, teaching and regional engagement.

You balance teaching and research, contributing substantially to both. You:

• Initiate and develop research in urban and regional modelling and contribute to the emerging research cluster in Heerlen.
• Develop and apply modelling approaches to complex urban and regional challenges, including questions related to sustainability and regional development.
• Teach courses in complex systems theory, urban sustainability, complex systems modelling and related fields.
• Coordinate and contribute to course development and curriculum innovation.
• Supervise theses and mentor students in their academic development.
• Apply and further develop problem‑based learning (PBL) methodologies in your teaching.
• Build collaborations across research groups and study programmes and with relevant external and regional partners.

We are not looking for check boxes; we are interested in who you are and what you bring. Do you recognise yourself in this?

• Academic background and research potential: You hold a PhD in a relevant technical or computational field, such as complex systems, data science, urban systems, spatial modelling, engineering, geography, computational social science or a related discipline. You demonstrate the ability and ambition to develop an independent research line.
• Expertise in complex systems: You have a strong conceptual understanding of complex systems theory and can connect it to real-world challenges such as urban sustainability and regional development.
• Teaching mindset and experience: You are an enthusiastic educator with experience in, or a clear affinity for, interdisciplinary teaching and student‑centred approaches. You are also motivated to contribute to course and curriculum development.
• Pioneering and entrepreneurial attitude: You are motivated to build new initiatives, develop a research line and contribute to an emerging academic environment in Heerlen.
• Collaborative and interdisciplinary orientation: You thrive in collaborative settings and are eager to connect across disciplines, study programmes and research groups within the faculty and beyond.

You will be based in Heerlen and actively contribute to the academic community there, while collaborating with colleagues from the faculty’s other research departments and study programmes in Maastricht, Sittard‑Geleen and Venlo.

At Maastricht University, you’ll work in an…