Job Delft University of Technology - PhD: Virtual Reality Training for Mental Resilience

As part of the Brain and Cognition Program, a vacancy position for a PhD student is available. As a PhD student you would participate in the ‘Virtual Reality (VR) training for mental resilience’ project, which studies the combination of VR exposure of stress scenes and bioneural feedback to help prevent post-traumatic stress disorders. With the envisioned VR feedback system, professionals (e.g., soldiers or fire fighters) could learn to better cope with stressful situations, in advance or immediately after specific missions. This system will provide the trainers and care-providers with a tool that supports a personalised diagnosis and treatment. You will be part of the project team, which consists of a project leader, information and communication experts, psycho-social scientists, medical and health scientists and informatics experts. Your responsibilities include the preparation, conducting, analysis and reporting of the research that focuses on the combination of VR exposure and bio-neural feedback (starting with controlled experiments in the lab and ending in a randomised controlled trial). You will publish in renowned journals and present the research at international congresses.

You have a university master’s degree in the area of media and knowledge engineering, human-technology interaction, cognitive ergonomics, or applied cognitive psychology. Your performance in the master’s degree can be classified as excellent. Experience with controlled (psycho-physiological) experiments, statistical analysis, and/or human-computer interaction is an advantage. An affinity for information technology in the care domain is required. Knowledge of and experience with programming are not necessary, but you will have to learn to make software modifications for experimentation. You have a creative mind, like to work at a meticulous level and have stamina. You have excellent communication skills, in both spoken and written Dutch and English.

The successful candidate will be employed full-time by TU Delft for a fixed period of 4 years within which he or she is expected to write a dissertation leading to a doctoral degree (PhD thesis). The starting salary for a PhD is €2042 gross per month increasing to a maximum of €2612 gross per month in the fourth year. TU Delft offers an attractive benefits package, including a flexible work week, free high-speed Internet access from home, and the option of assembling a customised compensation and benefits package (the 'IKA'). Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.

For more information about this position, please contact Prof. Dr. M. A. Neerincx, phone: +31 (0)15-2787106, e-mail: mark.neerincx@tno.nl.
To apply, please submit the following:

• Curriculum Vitae including contact details of references.
• Course lists with grades.
• A letter of application in which you explain both your interest and the relevance of your skills and experience in the context of this research project.

Please e-mail your application by 20 September 2010 to J. Eddini, peno-ewi@tudelft.nl.
When applying for this position, make sure to mention vacancy number EWI2010-22.

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is a multifaceted institution offering education and carrying out research in the technical sciences at an internationally recognised level. Education, research and design are strongly oriented towards applicability. TU Delft develops technologies for future generations, focusing on sustainability, safety and economic vitality. At TU Delft you will work in an environment where technical sciences and society converge. TU Delft comprises eight faculties, unique laboratories, research institutes and schools.

The Department of Mediamatics comprises the media-oriented computer science groups in the Faculty of EEMCS and is responsible for a major part of the Bachelor and Master programmes in Computer Science. The department’s mission is to be internationally recognised for its excellent researchers in the field of data processing and interpretation using model- and knowledge-based algorithms. The department aims thus to enable man and machine, in close cooperation with their intelligent environment, to deal with ever increasing information flows. The section’s mission is to engineer adaptive intelligent systems to create intended user experiences. We consider the entire chain, from analysis, modelling and system design to implementation and evaluation. Our research focuses on the combination of the research disciplines (1) Artificial Intelligence (AI) including the themes of agent reasoning and programming and computational intelligence, and (2) Cognitive Engineering (CE) including the research themes of user-centred design and human perception. Application areas include negotiation, incident management, lifestyle experience, and eHealth. The group currently comprises nine faculty members, four post-docs, and 17 PhD students.The group runs an Experience Lab equipped to perform perception, psychophysical and behavioural experiments.

Prof. Dr. M.A. Neerincx
+31 (0)15-2787106
mark.neerincx@tno.nl
Technische Universiteit Delft