PhD position on measuring social interaction, physical activity, and sense of belonging in high schools

Job description

This project aims to model the social and physical activity of high school students, measured through sensors and a smartwatch application, in relation to the social, cultural and physical environment. This will allow you to better understand the school environment and to propose interventions to make the school more inclusive.

In recent work, we showed that a smartwatch application can be used to capture meaningful data about children’s play in primary school playgrounds. This data can be analysed to understand how the social, cultural, and physical environment influences children’s activities for better and for worse.

In this project you will bring this approach to high schools, to better understand the lived experience of high school students. You will especially focus on how vulnerable youth such as students with autism experience their school environment. By analysing the data through machine learning approaches, you will develop a system that can help schools see the weaknesses in their school environment, and predict the effect of possible interventions to improve the environment.

You will collaborate closely with another PhD student addressing the problem from psychology and education perspectives. Furthermore, you will collaborate in a large multidisciplinary team spanning several universities and other organisations. You will perform high-quality and internationally visible research that gets published at top-tier conferences and journals.

Your profile

• You have, or will shortly acquire, a master’s degree in human Computer Science; Interaction Technology; or a related degree with a focus on intelligent digital systems.
• You have experience in collecting, processing, and analyzing sensor data and machine learning techniques.
• You have experience with or interest in the psychological and pedagogical aspects of students attending high school and are enthusiastic about doing research together with users throughout the project
• You have good scientific programming skills and are capable of developing and modifying applications
• You are proficient in English for communication, both in writing and speaking.

Our offer

• As a PhD candidate at UT, you will be appointed to a full-time position for four years, with a qualifier in the first year, within a stimulating and exciting scientific environment;
• The University offers a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues;
• Your salary and associated conditions are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-NU);
• You will receive a gross monthly salary ranging from € 2.872,- (first year) to € 3.670,- (fourth year);
• There are excellent benefits including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, and a solid pension scheme;
• A minimum of 232 leave hours in case of full-time employment based on a formal workweek of 38 hours. A full-time employment in practice means 40 hours a week, therefore resulting in 96 extra leave hours on an annual basis.
• Free access to sports facilities on campus
• A family-friendly institution that offers parental leave (both paid and unpaid);
• A training programme as part of the Twente Graduate School where you and your supervisors will determine a suitable plan for education and supervision;
• We encourage a high degree of responsibility and independence, while collaborating with close colleagues, researchers and other staff.

Information and application

Are you interested in this position? Please send your application via the 'Apply now' button below before October 15, 2024, and include:

• A cover letter (maximum 2 pages A4), emphasizing your specific interest, qualifications, motivations to apply for this position.
• A Curriculum Vitae, including a list of all courses attended and grades obtained, and, if applicable, a list of publications and references.
• Your master’s thesis, or in case it is not yet completed, one other document written in English of which you are the main author. This can be a publication, a term paper, or anything else that you wrote and consider relevant.
• Contact information of two references who we may contact.

For more information regarding this position, you are welcome to contact dr.ir. Dennis Reidsma via the following emailaddress: d.reidsma@utwente.nl.

First round of interviews will be held on October 30, 2024. The second round will start on November 6, 2024 if applicable.

About the department

You will work in the Human Media Interaction group at the faculty of Electrical Engineering Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) of the University of Twente in close collaboration with the department of Architecture and the Build Environment at TU Delft and the department of Developmental and Educational Psychology at Leiden University.

The Human Media Interaction group does research into multimodal interaction: from brain computer interfaces to social robots and from sensor technologies to interactive sports and play systems. Many projects at the HMI-group delve into how such interactive technologies may be used to support or better understand sports, play, and learning. The HMI group is a multidisciplinary group of enthusiastic, kind, and passionate researchers with an open mind to science and society.

About the organisation

The faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) uses mathematics, electronics and computer technology to contribute to the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). With ICT present in almost every device and product we use nowadays, we embrace our role as contributors to a broad range of societal activities and as pioneers of tomorrow's digital society. As part of a people-first tech university that aims to shape society, individuals and connections, our faculty works together intensively with industrial partners and researchers in the Netherlands and abroad, and conducts extensive research for external commissioning parties and funders. Our research has a high profile both in the Netherlands and internationally. It has been accommodated in three multidisciplinary UT research institutes: Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Centre and Digital Society Institute.