PhD on Making with Sample Collections in Digital Craftsmanship

Position PhD-student

Irène Curie Fellowship No

Department(s) Industrial Design

FTE 1,0

Date off 04/08/2024

Reference number V51.7592

Job description

We invite applications for a fully-funded 4-year doctoral position on hands-on exploration of research through making and design archives.

This PhD aims to advance strategies for generating knowledge through design and sample making practices. The aim is to explore lively ways of engaging with sample collections and their documentation as collaborators, keeping them actionable and open to revisit and reinterpretation. As such, the focus of the work is on the design artifacts made along the process as a source of knowledge.

This is informed by notions from feminist technoscience, particularly processes of becoming with1 and diffraction2, and more-than-human thinking that promote relationality and multiplicity in design practice3. In practice, this work will be conducted through engagement with digital craftsmanship, taking a first person perspective to create situated and detailed understandings of relations between machines, material, people and samples. The Wearable Senses Lab will be the main site for making and researching, but the project will also seek to collaborate with other labs and design collections.

As outcomes, this PhD candidate will make both methodological and material contributions to the fields of HCI and design research through innovative and emerging techniques (by making new samples and artifacts) as well as with strategies and insights on designerly practice related to documentation and archiving systems devised to support designers in revisiting and cross sharing their work.

Job requirements

This work is situated at the intersection of digital craftsmanship, explorative making and feminist theory. Candidates should have a master’s degree in a related area and demonstrable skill and interest in research through design.
Ideally, you have the following qualifications: 

• Strong background in making/fabrication and craft and curiosity towards collaborations with/through (digital) textile machinery.
• Experience or keen interest in broadening our understanding of Research through Design, feminist methodologies, explorative making and digital craftsmanship.
• Experience in designing and making explorative design intervention as evidenced in a portfolio.
• Experience of and interest in working in diverse teams, with the ability to think across various disciplines.
• The potential to publish academically or a track record of publications in design related research areas.
• Ability to work independently.
• Strong communication and academic writing skills, including proficiency in written and spoken English (C1).
• Readiness to relocate to the Netherlands.

Conditions of employment

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months. You will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. €2,770 max. €3,539).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.

Information and application

About us

Eindhoven University of Technology is an internationally top-ranking university in the Netherlands that combines scientific curiosity with a hands-on attitude. Our spirit of collaboration translates into an open culture and a top-five position in collaborating with advanced industries. Fundamental knowledge enables us to design solutions for the highly complex problems of today and tomorrow. 

Curious to hear more about what it’s like as a PhD candidate at TU/e? Please view the video.

Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more?
Please contact Bruna Goveia da Rocha, b.goveia.da.rocha@tue.nl.

Visit our website for more information about the application process or the conditions of employment. can also contact HR Services: HRServices.ID@tue.nl.

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application by using the apply button.
The application should include a:

• Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position.
• Curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications and the contact information of three references.

We look forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until the position is filled.

1 Donna Haraway. 2016. Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Duke University Press.
2 Karen Barad. 2007. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Duke University Press.
3 Ron Wakkary. 2021. Things We Could Design: For More Than Human-Centered Worlds. MIT Press, Cambridge.