PHD POSITION ON BEHAVIOUR CHANGE AND PLANETARY HEALTH M/V

Publicado 01-06-2021

University of Twente

Lisboa Lisboa (Educação / Formação)


JOB DESCRIPTION

The section Health Technology and Services Research (HTSR) at the University of Twente (UT) is looking for a highly motivated, positive, and hardworking PhD student for the position on Behaviour Change and Planetary Health.

The Challenge

Today?s urgent threat to the planet and humanity is climate change! The UN, World Health Organization and specialists from all over the world are urging governments and citizens to take action.

Studies on how people view climate change and its influence on population health are sparse. It is important to get further evidence on people's perception of climate and health and understand potential predictors for climate action. This knowledge will support the development of interventions to resolve climate change at the level of the individual but also of their living environment. This study is a first step in understanding what people know, what they wish to engage in, and what type of interventions would be acceptable. The PhD candidate will:

  • Use qualitative methodology (e.g. focus groups and documental evidence analysis) to generate data on the link between climate change and health;
  • Use research outcomes to initiate the design of an intervention/tool box (blended);
  • Pilot test an intervention for acceptability, feasibility and economic impact.

Job Description

We are seeking a PhD candidate who can work full-time in a 4-year period and will be part of a team setting up a new research program.

The candidate will build scientific knowledge based on interoperable theories and agile intervention development. This can support knowledge generalisation and transfer from the area of behaviour change to climate adaptation and mitigation. The student will develop a varied set of methodological skills.

The candidate will support developing interventions that cross the health of the population and the planet and be an active member of our team.

Can you help progress work on this area? Together we can contribute to the development, deployment and evaluation of measures that help with the green agenda of The Netherlands and the European Union. Seeing value in translational research will mean that you might be the candidate we are looking for!

YOUR PROFILE

  • MSc degree in Health Sciences, Psychology, Health Technology Assessment, Data Science or a related field;
  • Excellent teammate in an enthusiastic and hardworking group of scientists;
  • Proactive, analytical, reliable, creative, and highly motivated;
  • Excellent communications skills;
  • Proficient in written and oral Dutch and English;
  • Ability to operate at the intersection of various fields;
  • Able to do independent research and willing to develop writing and publication skills;
  • Affinity with health psychology, behaviour change, planetary health, technology and experience with both qualitative and quantitative methodologies is a plus.

OUR OFFER

We encourage high responsibility and independence, while collaborating with colleagues, researchers, other university staff and partners. We follow the terms of employment by the Dutch Collective Labour Agreement for Universities (CAO). These include: fulltime 4-year PhD position; excellent mentorship in a stimulating research environment with excellent facilities; a personal development program within the Twente Graduate School; a workplace in an outstanding and state of the art research facility called the Technical Medical Centre (UT campus). It also includes:

  • Gross monthly salary of ? 2.395 in the first year, increasing each year up to ? 3.061 in the fourth year;
  • Holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, and end of year bonus (8.3%);
  • 29 holidays per year in case of full-time employment;
  • Employee status at the UT, including pension and health care benefits. UT is an equal opportunities employer.

INFORMATION AND APPLICATION

Submit your application before June 21, 2021, and include:

  • Cover letter of at most 1.5 page A4, explaining specific interests, the motivation for the application, and why you qualify for this project;
  • Full Curriculum Vitae, with a short summary of your previous research, contact information for at least two academic references, and if applicable, a list of publications.

Note that Master students who graduate next coming months are also welcome to apply, and we can make reasonable accommodation.

Additional information can be obtained from Professor Vera Araujo Soares, [email protected].

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

At HTSR, multidisciplinary expertise is combined to support decisions on process and innovation development, evaluation and implementation, based on (clinical) effectiveness. HTSR research seeks to evaluate the impact of new health technologies to optimise healthcare. HTSR is a leading Innovation Hub equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure, seeking to improve healthcare by personalized technology (https://www.utwente.nl/en/techmed/).

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

The Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences (BMS) aims to play a pivotal role in understanding, co-engineering and evaluating innovation in society. Innovation is driven by advances in technology. By means of 'social engineering', we are here to integrate these advances in society. As a people-first tech university, we align these advances with the needs and behaviour of humans. We ensure proper public and private management as well as robust, inclusive and fair organisational structures. The faculty of BMS does this by developing, transferring and applying high-quality knowledge of Psychology, Business Administration, Public Administration, Communication Science, Philosophy, Educational Science, and Health Sciences. Our research and education in these disciplines is challenge-based. The BMS research programmes are directly linked to our research institutes: Mesa+ Institute for Nanotechnology, the TechMed Centre and the Digital Society Institute.
As an employer, the BMS Faculty offers jobs that matter. We equip you as a staff member to shape new opportunities both for yourself and for our society. With our Faculty, you will be part of a leading tech university that is changing our world for the better. We offer an open, inclusive and entrepreneurial climate, in which we encourage you to make healthy choices, for example, with our flexible, customizable conditions.

University of Twente (UT)

University of Twente (UT) has entered the new decade with an ambitious, new vision, mission and strategy. As ?the ultimate people-first university of technology' we are rapidly expanding on our High Tech Human Touch philosophy and the unique role it affords us in society. Everything we do is aimed at maximum impact on people, society and connections through the sustainable utilisation of science and technology. We want to contribute to the development of a fair, digital and sustainable society through our open, inclusive and entrepreneurial attitude. This attitude permeates everything we do and is present in every one of UT's departments and faculties. Building on our rich legacy in merging technical and social sciences, we focus on five distinguishing research domains: Improving healthcare by personalised technologies; Creating intelligent manufacturing systems; Shaping our world with smart materials; Engineering our digital society; and Engineering for a resilient world.

As an employer, University of Twente offers jobs that matter. We equip you as a staff member to shape new opportunities both for yourself and for our society. With us, you will be part of a leading tech university that is changing our world for the better. We offer an open, inclusive and entrepreneurial climate, in which we encourage you to make healthy choices, for example, with our flexible, customisable conditions.