Departmental setting

The Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences (IE &IS) engages in research and teaching in the areas of industrial engineering, management science, and innovation science. The mission of the department is closely tied to its pioneering work in developing an engineering perspective on business processes, as well as its interdisciplinary research on transitions in societies in relation to technical changes. At the heart of its academic philosophy is the synergy between research and teaching. The department offers an academic environment in which scholars and students work on critical problems at the interface of engineering, management and innovation. The department has two schools: Industrial Engineering (IE) and Innovation Sciences (IS). The school of Industrial Engineering focuses on the design, behavior and performance of operational and innovation processes in industrial and service organizations. It covers the complete business chain of product design, process design, production, purchasing, outsourcing, distribution and marketing & sales.

The School of Industrial Engineering currently includes the following research groups:

The open position is part of the Human Performance Management group.

Human Performance Management group

The Human Performance Management group (HPM) at Eindhoven University of Technology are looking to appoint a one-and-a-half year postdoctoral fellow (0,7 FTE) for a project funded by the NWO-MVI (Responsible Innovation) program.  

Starting date: (preferably) April 1, 2018 (but no later than June 1, 2018)

Description of the position

The introduction of advanced robotics in logistics significantly affects quality of work and workers' competence profiles. The fear that robotization will strip all motivating aspects from jobs is widespread and may lead to worker resistance. Successfully addressing these 'human' issues requires an interdisciplinary approach. This project aims to answer the question of how robotization in logistic warehouses can be utilized and developed in a way that does not conflict with workers' sense of meaning in work and general well being. To answer our research question, we will combine analysis of leading theoretical frameworks on meaningfulness and well-being with empirical data collection (i.e., job analyses, interviews and questionnaires) among employees in robotized warehouses from three different organizations. In order for the human worker not to be left behind with the introduction of advanced robotics into the workplace, and to find meaning and flourish in such a work environment, this project aims at delivering an evidence-based theoretical framework of key social/human factors that have to be taken into account in the implementation and operation of robotics in warehouses, as well as a practical roadmap to chart and monitor these factors.

In addition to this postdoc, to be appointed at the Human Performance Management group, we are looking to appoint a second postdoc on the same project at the Philosophy & Ethics group of the same faculty, who are supposed to collaborate during the course of this project.

Research

The selected postdoc performs active research, collaborates with the other project members (including the other postdoc that will be appointed in this project), and publishes on the research in academic journals. In addition, the two post-docs are expected to co-develop a practical tool (i.e., roadmap) to chart and monitor the empirically identified factors.

We strongly encourage women to apply for this position as TU/e aims for gender-balance.