PhD researcher QoLEAD

The PhD position is part of QoLEAD (Quality of Life by use of Enabling AI in Dementia), a six-year research project supported by NWO and Alzheimer Nederland that started in 2022. In QoLEAD, 8 Dutch universities and 7 societal partners collaborate to bridge the gap between artificial intelligence and care for people with dementia. ​In QoLEAD the focus is entirely on the quality of life of people with dementia and their environment. Together with them, QoLEAD works on solutions to their challenges and wishes in important areas of life such as social contact, safety, meaning and personal autonomy.

The PhD position at Open University is one of 8 PhD positions in the project and you will become part of this inspiring and lively community. As successful applicant, you will work with the QoLEAD team to explore innovation pathways for person-centred AI technologies in dementia care. The underlying challenge for this PhD project is the tension between a desire and need for tailored solutions, paying attention to small-scale, more intimate moments of human care, versus the hope for “scaling” AI-based technologies as a way to tackle current challenges in health and social care. Conceptually, you will draw on Science and Technology Studies (STS) to think through how technologies in care can be scaled without losing local forms of tinkering and mundane practices of caring that are crucial for the quality of life of people living with dementia. You will also collaborate with the societal partners in QoLEAD, such as care professionals, AI developers and citizens, which offers the unique opportunity for conducting ethnographic and participatory research. In the project, we are also looking for innovative, creative forms of research dissemination.

Your role in the project

• participate in a collaborative, inter- and transdisciplinary research project;
• design and conduct qualitative, participatory research, including ethnographic methods and publish results in high-ranking academic journals;
• experiment with new forms of knowledge valorisation and multimodal scholarly output in the collaboration with care organisations and other societal partners.

We encourage applications from individuals with varied backgrounds and experiences to join our young research team. In particular, we are looking for candidates who meet some or all of the following criteria:

• Holding a Master’s degree in the social sciences or humanities (ideally in Science and Technology Studies, medical or social anthropology, health humanities, or a related field); experience in ageing, health technology, or innovation is a strong asset.
• Demonstrating a strong academic track record and a keen interest in conducting original, critical research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and dementia care.
• Possessing expertise in qualitative, empirical research methods; experience with ethnographic fieldwork is desirable.
• Showing interest in co-creation and participatory research methods, such as world cafés, focus groups, open spaces, or dialogue meetings.
• Thriving in inter- and transdisciplinary environments, working collaboratively with societal partners, engineers/designers, caregivers (formal and informal), and older people.
• Communicating effectively with diverse stakeholders and demonstrating strong analytical skills.
• Having excellent written and oral communication skills in English; while Dutch is not required at the start, a willingness to acquire a good command of the Dutch language within one year is expected.

The PhD candidate will be appointed for a period of 12 months. The appointment will be extended to 36 months after a successful assessment in the first year. The salary is € 2.901 gross per month in the first year and is expected to increase to € 3.537 in the third year, for a full time appointment, contingent on satisfactory performance. The OU offers good secondary and flexible employment conditions in areas such as training and mobility, working part-time, hybrid working, and paid parental leave.

At OU, you will become part of the OU Graduate School (OUGS) that is a vibrant community of PhD researcher from different faculties. The OUGS school provides a high-quality training program that offers abundant opportunities for personal and professional growth.

For 19 consecutive years, the OU has been recognized as one of the top 3 universities in The Netherlands, and it has been voted the “best university” in the Netherlands in 2025. A distinction we are proud to uphold!

Location

In good consultation, you are expected to be present in Heerlen on a regular basis (in the case of a full-time appointment 2 days a week).

Flexible studying anywhere in the Netherlands and (Belgium) Flanders

At the Open Universiteit (OU) in the Netherlands, students follow personalised and activating academic distance education and disciplinary research is carried out within the various fields of science. Students can complete bachelor and master programmes in seven fields of study. The characteristics of education are openness, flexibility and quality (see www.ou.nl/rankings). Much attention is paid to improving the study success of students. The OU has over 18,000 students and more than 750 employees. The OU has branches in the Netherlands and Belgium (see www.ou.nl/studiecentra). The main office is located in Heerlen, the Netherlands.

The latest technologies and educational insights are applied both in the bachelor's and master's programmes and courses and in projects and programmes with partners. Nationally and internationally, the OU plays an important role in the innovation of higher education. Education is interwoven with research, which also ensures that the current state of science is incorporated. The OU invests not only in disciplinary research in eight scientific fields, but also in research in a multidisciplinary programme: Innovating for resilience.

The Faculty of Humanities focuses on the cultural dimension of grand societal challenges of our time, such as those relating to technological innovation and digitalisation, identity, globalisation, urbanisation, climate and sustainability and (mental) health. The Faculty has more than 2500 students and 50 staff members. Based on their cultural-scientific view of these themes, they seek collaboration with partners within and outside the higher education sector. The Faculty is in the middle of a re-profiling process called Connected Humanities 2020-2025 (Cultuurwetenschappen in verbinding), which aims to seize opportunities that exist for a non-traditional form of humanities, tackling issues outside its traditional domain, consisting of history, art, philosophy and culture. As such, Connected Humanities seeks collaboration across the borders of the Humanities and the Social Sciences.

More information about the Open University and the Faculty of Humanities can be found on our website www.ou.nl.

Information

The PhD project will be supervised by Professor Alexander Peine at Open Universiteit and Dr. Susan van Hees at Utrecht University. For more information about this position, please contact Professor Alexander Peine, email: alex.peine@ou.nl.

PLEASE NOTE: The above e-mail address is intended only for obtaining further information about this vacancy. Please apply using the link below.