Are you eager to uncover how technology and AI can be implemented at work to help employees learn at work and perform more efficiently? Are you interested in how high-risk professionals, such as those working for the military and the police, respond to new technology at work? Is it your ambition to achieve impact based on systematic and evidence-based research? Do you like a challenging and independent job in a dynamic setting in close collaboration with the Dutch military? In this joint research project with TNO and the Ministry of Defense, the department of Work and Organizational Psychology of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is looking for a PhD student on "Rethinking the Workplace: How Technological Innovations Can Improve Employability and Efficiency".
Project descriptionTechnological innovations, including artificial intelligence, robotization, VR/AR and data analytics are rapidly transforming the workplace. These technological developments promise increased efficiency, sustainable employability and better decision-making: much-needed outcomes in a continuously changing and increasingly tight labor market. However, without careful consideration of employee needs, motivation and well-being, such technological innovations can backfire and threaten the quality and continuance of people's jobs. In this PhD project, we aim to uncover how technological innovations can help to redesign jobs in such a way that they optimize individual employability and development, as well as organizational efficiency. We argue that this can only be realized if high-risk professionals are willing and able to adopt and implement the new technology, and, hence, that they should be included as active agents in the adoption of technology.
The PhD project aims to answer the following research questions using a multi-disciplinary and multi-level approach, combining organizational psychological principles with the principles of human-centered social innovation:
- Which work characteristics (work design) help/hinder employee attitudes toward (the use of) new technology?
- How can we deploy technology to (re-)organize work in such a way that it stimulates learning, employability and (organizational) efficiency?
- How does the work environment (organizational culture, socio-economic conditions) influence the impact of technology and work design on employee efficiency?
The University of Amsterdam and TNO collaborate on this PhD project. You will be based at the Work and Organizational Psychology Research Group of the Psychology Research Institute at the
Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, working under the supervision of Dr Matthijs Baas (UvA), Dr Jessie Koen (UvA/TNO Healthy Living & Work) and Dr Esther Oprins (TNO Defense, Security & Safety). In addition, you are expected to occasionally work at TNO (Soesterberg).What you are going to doTogether with the University and TNO, you will carry out an interdisciplinary research program dedicated to stimulating the employability and efficiency of high-risk professionals such as the military workforce in the Netherlands. With your research, you will contribute to a sustainable workforce that is ready to cope with digital and technological transitions.
Within the PhD project, your activities will include data collection using various methods (e.g., multi-level survey studies, daily diary and intervention studies), (systematic) literature review. You will analyze data and write articles for scientific publication. Based on research findings, you will also present relevant outcomes to a military audience from the Dutch Military of Defense or international communities such as NATO. You will also closely collaborate with TNO colleagues, participating in research program 'Arbeidsextensivering' for the Ministry of Defense. In addition to conducting research, you will be involved in teaching activities (15% of the time) in the teaching program of work and organizational psychology (e.g., supervision of thesis research of students, tutoring working groups).