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 Integrated mobility and healthcare capacity planning, examines the implications of local and digital healthcare provision on health care operations. It involves the development of a planning support tool to examine integral healthcare capacity planning incorporating travel costs of patients, healthcare and home care workers. Coordination of treatment schedules, shared physical resources and digital healthcare services, and the interdependence of those resources in a patient’s healthcare process, is complex. A planning support tool, incorporating analysis and prediction models, will be developed in close collaboration with project partners. The tool will allow the development of integral mobility and healthcare capacity planning scenarios and impact estimations including health care cost.

This PhD project will be conducted at the Center for Healthcare Operations Improvement and Research, within the Industrial Engineering & Business Information Systems section of the Faculty of Behaviour, Management and Social sciences, University of Twente. The project will be conducted in close collaboration with the TRIAS PhD project on Physical and digital healthcare accessibility.

• You are an MSc-level graduate in Civil Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Management, Health science, Operations Research, Operations Management, 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

• 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 € 3539,- 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;

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 prof. dr. Erwin Hans Center, professor Operations Management in Healthcare, Faculty of Behaviour, Management and Social sciences, University of Twente (email: e.w.hans@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 are scheduled on June 11th and 17th.