Job description
This research focuses on the design and use of serious/simulation games to support diverse stakeholder in exploring ways to improve climate resilience. We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to develop a serious/simulation game on sand nourishment strategies in support of maintaining and shaping resilient, multifunctional coastal landscapes, particularly in the context of sea level rise. This PhD position will be embedded in the Human Centred Design (HCD) chair, within the Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET).
This research position is part of the NWO-funded **SOURCE** program: Sand nOURisment strategies for sustainable Coastal Ecosystems. The SOURCE philosophy is that carefully planned sand nourishments in the present will create the required and desired resilient and dynamic multifunctional coastal landscapes of the future. SOURCE will deliver the scientific knowledge, models and design tools to develop and evaluate nourishment strategies in a multi-stakeholder co-creation process. You will join a team of 12 PhD, Post-Doc and other researchers at 8 academic institutes in total. You will collaborate closely with 25 partners from government organizations, research institutes, nature organizations and industry.
Within the SOURCE program, your project aims to design, use and evaluate a serious/simulation game that enables stakeholders, as players, to collaboratively explore sand nourishment strategies from an integrated perspective of flood safety, socio-economic benefits and natural values. You will first engage with partners to elicit specific needs that the game should meet. From there, you will iteratively design and test the game, its mechanisms and interactions. Within designing and testing the game, a few key things you will work on include: (1) establishing a sense of safety to collaboratively explore and experiment with sand nourishment strategies; (2) including current and possible future (climatic) conditions; and (3) incorporating indicators of coastal ecosystem services, visualizations and other feedback mechanisms of in-game actions in collaboration with partners and other SOURCE researchers.
Within this project, you will focus on two distinct areas for scientific contributions. Firstly, from an interaction design perspective, you will focus on the beneficial combination of tangible components and digital information in games. The HCD chair has a lab environment around a tangible interaction-based game table, which uses a physical game board that is automatically translated into digital information and which is available to you as part of this project. Secondly, from a gaming perspective, you will advance our knowledge on using games in multi-stakeholder decision-making by researching to what extent the game enables stakeholders to co-develop and assess sand nourishment strategies and facilitates social learning.
Being part of the SOURCE team implies close interaction with your UT supervisors as well as fellow researchers within the consortium. Regular consortium meetings will accommodate knowledge exchange with our partners, increasing the relevance and impact of our research. Furthermore, you will present your work at (inter)national conferences and publish your findings in journal papers and a PhD thesis.
Your profile
- You hold, or will shortly obtain, a Master’s degree in a field relevant to the PhD topic, such as Industrial Design (Engineering), Creative Technology, Human-Computer Interaction, or any other transdisciplinary study connecting Design with Environmental/Social Sciences;
- You are an enthusiastic researcher that is highly motivated to work at the intersection of design and climate resilience;
- You are a strong conceptual thinker who brings a creative mindset and outstanding analytical skills;
- You have good social skills and enjoy working with researchers and stakeholders to achieve both scientific excellence and policy relevance;
- You have excellent command of the English language and strong (professional) communication skills;
- You are willing to contribute to the Industrial Design Engineering and/or Creative Technology teaching programs and to supervise MSc thesis projects;
- A background in or previous experience on one or more of the following topics is an advantage: (serious) game design, tangible & embodied interaction, human-centered design, physical product design, qualitative research, programming, resilience assessment;
- Proficiency in Dutch or willingness to learn is an advantage.
Our offer
- A full-time position for four years, with a qualifier in the first year, and the flexibility to work (partially) from home..
- 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 € 2.901,- (first year) to € 3.707,- (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).
- You will have a training programme as part of the Twente Graduate School where you and your supervisors will determine a plan for a suitable education and supervision.
Information and application
Are you interested in this position? Please send your application via the 'Apply now' button below before June 16, 2025, 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.
The first round of online interviews is scheduled on June 26, 2025. The second round of interviews, preferably in person at the campus of the University of Twente, is scheduled for July 9, 2025.
We aim for this project to start September 1, 2025. We also welcome students to apply who expect to have finished their MSc thesis around this time.
For more information regarding this position, you are encouraged to contact dr.ir. Robert-Jan den Haan ([email protected]) or prof.dr.ir. Mascha van der Voort.
About the organisation
The Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) engages in education and research of Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Industrial Design Engineering. We enable society and industry to innovate and create value using efficient, solid and sustainable technology. We are part of a ‘people-first' university of technology, taking our place as an internationally leading center for smart production, processes and devices in five domains: Health Technology, Maintenance, Smart Regions, Smart Industry and Sustainable Resources. Our faculty is home to about 2,900 Bachelor's and Master's students, 550 employees and 150 PhD candidates. Our educational and research programmes are closely connected with UT research institutes Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Center and Digital Society Institute.
