PhD vacancy Physical and digital healthcare accessibility

Job description

The University of Twente (UT) is looking for two PhDs on the mobility and accessibility impacts of local and digital healthcare provision. The positions are part of the NWO funded TRIAS project. The TRIAS project is a collaboration between the University of Twente, Radboud University, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, and 10 partners in the mobility and health sector. Research will be conducted in Field Labs in the healthcare practice of the Connected Care Center of the Isala hospital (Zwolle) and homecare organisation TWB (Roosendaal). In the Field Labs integral mobility and healthcare capacity planning strategies will be tested, aiming to deliver more local and digital healthcare for patient groups with very different characteristics and needs.

This fully-funded PhD project on Physical and digital healthcare accessibility. This Phd project focusses on user perspective of local and digital healthcare provision. It involves the development of a joint physical and digital healthcare accessibility decision support tool. The research should give insight in the mobility, accessibility, and wellbeing impacts of combinations of physical access to healthcare facilities (including hospital and local healthcare provision) and digital access (e.g., telemonitoring of patients at home, e-health services). Key aspects of healthcare accessibility to be examined include the needs of patients and healthcare staff, the (perceived) ease of reaching healthcare facilities and (physical and digital) possibilities of access healthcare.

This PhD project will be conducted at the Transport Planning Group, Department of Civil Engineering and Management, Faculty of Engineering Technology, University of Twente. The project will be conducted in close collaboration with the TRIAS PhD project on Integrated mobility and healthcare capacity planning.

Your profile

• You are an MSc-level graduate in Civil Engineering, Transport Studies, Industrial Engineering and Management, Health science, Geography, Geoscience, or similar
• You are enthusiastic, independent and looking for a challenge.
• You have good writing and communication skills and you have a strong interest in operating at the crossroads of different disciplines. You are able to collaborate and communicate with academic and non-academic counterparts.
• You are interested in working in an interdisciplinary research team, in close collaboration with partners from the healthcare and transport practices.
• You have an excellent command of English (C1; above IELTS 7 or equivalent)
• A good command of Dutch (B2 to C1) will be considered as a strong plus.
• You are able to do independent research and have publication skills.

Our offer

• A full-time 4-year PhD-position with September 1, 2024, as starting date.
• We provide excellent mentorship and a stimulating research environment with excellent facilities;
• You are offered a professional and personal development program within the Twente Graduate School;
• A starting salary of € 2.770 gross per month in the first year and a salary of € 3.539 gross per month in the fourth year.
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• A solid pension scheme;
• Minimum of 29 holidays per year in case of fulltime employment;

Information and application

As a PhD candidate, you will be enrolled in the Twente Graduate School (TGS). Your work location is Enschede, but you will spend a part of your time at TRIAS partners to conduct research in the Field Labs. Additional information about the PhD position can be obtained from prof. dr. Karst Geurs (email: k.t.geurs@utwente.nl), professor of Transport Planning, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Twente or dr. Anna Grigolon, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Twente. (email: a.b.grigolon@utwente.nl).

Please submit your application before May 31 2024 (choose “apply now” below).
Your application must include:

• A cover letter (maximum 2-pages A4), emphasizing your specific interest, qualifications, motivations to apply for this position and research ideas for one of the two PhD project.
• A full Curriculum Vitae, including a list of all courses attended and grades obtained, references and, if applicable, a list of publications.
• A short description (maximum 1-page A4) of your MSc research.

Since only three documents can be uploaded per application, please combine documents if needed.

The interviews will take place on June 18th and 19th.

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.