PhD student position in Design: ITS solutions for increased bicycling

Do you want to contribute to making urban mobility more sustainable and better suited to citizens' needs?
At the division of Design & Human factors we seek a PhD candidate to join our research team "Sustainable Urban Mobility" to explore how ITS solutions can lead to increased cycling.

Project description
The position is tied to the EU Interreg North Sea project MegaBITS (Mobilzing Europe's Green Ambition through Bicycles and Intelligent Transport Systems). In the project the cities of Copenhagen, Hamburg, Antwerp, and LeHavre, together with the province of OverIjssel will introduce new ITS solutions for increased, and safer, cycling.

Information about the division and the department
The Division of Design & Human Factors develops knowledge about the relationship between humans and artefacts. We also develop methods and tools that can be used to study the relationship between human–artefact, as well as designing and evaluating safe, sustainable and satisfying products, services and workplaces. We have developed our expertise since mid 1970s, and we continuously use it to educate future engineers with a user-centred perspective and to conduct high-quality research in close collaboration with industrial and public partners resulting in innovations with real-world impact. One of our research themes at the division is Sustainable Urban Mobility, where we explore how to enable people to travel in sustainable ways by designing appropriate products and services.

Major responsibilities
Your main responsibility in the position is to carry out design-oriented research and communicate the results, both in scientific publications and to industry and public. The research will involve planning, conducting and analysing different kinds of studies with different forms of stakeholders, both citizens and commercial actors. The studies will primarily concern the use of planned ITS-solutions and evaluating their effects, but can also include the design and implementation of the solutions, as well as exploring ways of making use of data collected to help the cities and other stakeholders to improve cycling conditions and enable more people to cycle. The position requires you to contact and interact with many stakeholders - so social skills and tenacity are valuable qualities.

You will also be expected to:
- Be an active and contributing member of the research group
- Attend division and project meetings and conferences
- Take PhD courses as part of the Doctoral Programme "Human-Technology-Design"
- Teach (20% of total work time) at bachelor and/or master level and supervise thesis students.

Qualifications
To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a Master's degree  corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in design, industrial design, product development or equivalent, or a Bachelor degree in design combined with a Master in a topic relevant for the position. You should have experience of working with design methodology and in particular user studies. A genuine interest in sustainability, mobility solutions, and urban planning is meritorious. You must have obtained a master's degree (or equivalent) in the relevant field or expect to complete such degree by the time the employment starts.

You are expected to conduct empirical research as primary activity, foremost by applying a qualitative research approach in close interaction with citizens and other stakeholders. Research results are expected to be disseminated through interactions with professionals as well as through publications in highly ranked journals within the subject area which require good writing and communication skills. Other merits include working experience from industry, collaboration, and management of relationships with stakeholders and project management.

The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in English. If Swedish is not your native language, Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Contract terms
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

We offer
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20230427 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.

CV: (Please name the document: CV, Family name, Ref. number)
• CV
• Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust.
• Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)
1-3 pages where you:
• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous experience of relevance for the position (e.g. education, thesis work and, if applicable, any other research activities)
• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Other documents:
• Copies of bachelor and/or master’s thesis.
• Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates, e.g. TOEFL test results.

Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form. 

Application deadline: August 7, 2023



For questions, please contact:
Pontus Wallgren
Head of division Design & Human Factors
Email: pontus.wallgren@chalmers.se, ext.1397

Helena Strömberg
Design & Human Factors
Email: helena.stromberg@chalmers.se, ext.1047

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***