This fellowship program supports multidisciplinary research spanning the economics and engineering disciplines that advances understanding of the interactions between market forces and technology tradeoffs that drive the social benefits and costs of transportation decarbonization. The fellowship will be awarded to PhD students from Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell, University of Maryland, and University of Michigan. In order to apply, a research team comprising the PhD student and two faculty advisors for the research project (one in economics and one in engineering) should submit a proposal.
The fellowship will provide up to one year of the PhD student’s tuition, stipend, and insurance. PhD fellows will participate in a multidisciplinary reading group covering transportation research in economics and engineering relevant to the cohort’s proposed research projects. Fellows must also present their research at a public conference after completion of the fellowship and consult with an external advisory group (made of transportation policymakers and/or practitioners) at least twice throughout the fellowship.
Eligibility: Applicants must be a PhD student in business, economics, engineering, or policy at Cornell. Preference will be given to students who are at a stage in their PhD program where they have completed enough coursework to begin research but have at least 2 years before graduation. One of the participating faculty advisors must belong to an economics, policy, or business department with their primary discipline in economics, and the other advisor must belong to an engineering department with their primary discipline in engineering. One advisor should belong to the student’s home department and the other faculty advisor must belong to another department at Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell, University of Maryland, or University of Michigan. We encourage women and under-represented minorities to apply.
Topics of interest: The research must integrate economic and engineering analysis in a meaningful way. Priority will be given to research that simultaneously advances the literature and either directly informs future policy decisions or evaluates past decisions. The research may focus on any mode of transportation: aircraft, automotive and other road transportation, cycling, pedestrian, public transportation, rail, shipping and other watercraft. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: congestion, consumer decisions, energy and emissions, policy analysis, technology development and/or adoption, vehicle design, and vehicle use.
Applications are due on October 20, 2023 at 5 PM Eastern Time and must be submitted through https://forms.gle/W9fn38Gcjeg2kkDi6
For questions, please contact Professor Ricardo Daziano (daziano@cornell.edu).
To Apply, please consider:
Proposals are limited to a 3-page research description, followed by a list of references and curriculum vitae for the PhD applicant and the two faculty advisors. The following information must be included in the research description.
- Project title, and names and affiliations of the PhD student and faculty advisors for the project.
- Project Summary: Provide a brief summary of the proposed activity that outlines the problem to be addressed, why it is important, and the expected outcomes.
- Multidisciplinary Economic-Engineering Analysis: Describe how the research will integrate economic and engineering analysis to advance understanding of technological and market factors influencing transportation decarbonization. Preference will be given to projects that could not address the research questions through existing methods in either discipline alone.
- Impact: Explain how the research can have a significant impact on transportation decarbonization policy and/or decision making over the next 5-15 years. What is the potential for the research to improve the societal cost-benefit of transportation or transportation policies? What activities will be undertaken to achieve this impact?
- Project Team: Describe the expertise of the project team, and how the members will contribute to the outcomes. If the team members have related prior research, explain the uniqueness of the proposed work.
- External Advisors: Provide a list of experts or organizations that could serve on an external advisory board for the research project. External advisory members should include policymakers and/or industry representatives relevant to the goals of the proposed research.