Job offer

Organisation/Company Université Paris Dauphine Research Field Computer science » Informatics Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Leading Researcher (R4) First Stage Researcher (R1) Established Researcher (R3) Application Deadline 29 Apr 2026 - 22:00 (UTC) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 1 Sep 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Context and objectives

This project is part of the Hotspot “Habiterrae” of the large PSL research program Terrae. A case study with Grand Paris may be considered, focusing on the Metropolitan Spatial Coherence Scheme (SCoT) (1, 4, 5).

In a world marked by ecological crises, territorial inequalities and rapidly transforming ways of life, the question of the habitability of spaces has become central. Inhabiting a territory no longer merely means residing in it: it implies the ability to live there with dignity, sustainability, and equity, both today and in the future.

Public decision-makers face complex trade-offs: environmental quality, access to essential services, social and spatial justice, resilience to climate change, local economic dynamics. These dimensions are multiple, heterogeneous, sometimes conflicting and difficult to synthesize.

To assist the decision-maker in forming their convictions regarding the best alternative, a decision model based on their preferences is generally developed. This model aims at representing the decision-maker’s decision strategies.

Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) (see for instance (2, 3, 8)) is a discipline in operations research that aims to achieve this goal. Indicators play a crucial role in the decision-making process by providing quantitative and qualitative measures that facilitate the comparison and evaluation of alternatives using measurement theory (see (7)). However, the development and effective application of composite indicators, seen as aggregated criteria, remain major challenges (see for instance (6)).

The aim of this research is to develop an MCDA-based methodological framework for constructing composite indicators of interspecies habitability, explicitly integrating requirements of transparency, robustness, territorial justice, and environmental sustainability.

The expected results may be:

Theoretical: E.g.,

• A rigorous formalization of the concept of habitability, including its social, environmental and economic dimensions.
• A clear definition of transparent, explainable, robust, fair and sustainable indicators, as well as the legitimacy of a decision-maker or a decision.
• A mathematical modeling of composite indicators integrating guarantees of transparency and robustness.
• A study of the properties of a decision-maker’s preferences leading to a reliable and fair interpretation of results obtained from composite indicators.

2. Algorithmic: For example, the implementation of algorithms allowing

• The identification of relevant indicators required to construct a composite indicator;
• Robust interpretation of results to support effective decision-making.

3. Applicative:

• Methodological recommendations for decision-makers to improve multicriteria decision-making with more interpretable and reliable tools;
• An application to real-world case studies validating the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, for example with Grand Paris or with the Parc Naturel des Forêts.

Desired Skills and Prerequisites:

• Hold a Master’s degree (Master 2) in computer science, applied mathematics, or a closely related discipline.
• Master’s degrees in sustainability sciences are also accepted if the student has a background in science or economics at the L3 or M1 level.
• Be motivated and interested in environmental-related topics.
• Good programming skills (Python, R, etc.) and an initiative‑taking spirit will be an asset.

References

(1) N. Blanc, M. Ader, G. Berlantini, X. Coumoul, A. Depoux, M. Devès, J. Gaillardet, I. Hillenkamp, C. Magnan, A.-S. Milon, B. Reber, and S. Revet. Vers une habitabilité de la terre, 2025.

(2) D. Bouyssou, Th. Marchant, P. Perny, M. Pirlot, A. Tsoukiàs, and Ph. Vincke. Evaluation and Decision Models: A Critical Perspective. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 2000.

(3) D. Bouyssou, Th. Marchant, M. Pirlot, A. Tsoukiàs, and Ph. Vincke. Evaluation and Decision Models: Stepping Stones for the Analyst. Springer Verlag, Berlin, 2006.

(4) J.-M. Chevalier, C. Michelot, and S. Blangy. Habitabilité du monde et recherche en société. Nouvelle revue de psychosociologie, 39(1):7–20, 2025.

(5) M. Delabarre and S. Marry. Habitabilité et natures urbaines : vers un outil d’évaluation des projets urbains. exemple de la métropole lyonnaise. VertigO, 12(2), 2012.

(6) Salvatore Greco, Alessio Ishizaka, Maria Tasiou, and Giacomo Torris. On the methodological framework of composite indices: A review of the issues of weighting, aggregation, and robustness. Social Indicators Research, 141(1):61–91, 2019.

(7) Fred S. Roberts. Measurement Theory. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

(8) Bernard Roy. Multicriteria Methodology for Decision Aiding. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1996. 2